TALLAHASSEE \u2013 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Tuesday renaming the Tallahassee International Airport after Florida State University\u2019s legendary head football coach Bobby Bowden, calling it a fitting tribute to one of the most celebrated figures in Florida sports history.<\/p>\n
The airport will officially be known as Bobby Bowden Tallahassee International Airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could think of no better person from this community that people have looked up to for decades to name the Tallahassee International Airport after than our renowned head coach of Florida State University for all those years, Bobby Bowden,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue said FDOT crews were dispatched immediately following the ceremony to update road signs leading to the airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we get done with this ceremony, you\u2019re going to see FDOT crews out there on the road updating every single sign leading to the Tallahassee International Airport, and it will now have Bobby Bowden on the sign,\u201d Perdue said.<\/p>\n
Bowden\u2019s legacy at FSU<\/p>\n
Bowden, who served as FSU\u2019s head football coach for decades, built one of the most dominant programs in college football history. <\/p>\n
From 1987 to 2000, his teams finished in the top five of the final national rankings for 14 consecutive seasons \u2014 a streak DeSantis called \u201cunprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s an unprecedented run of sustained success and particularly in this era, may never be matched,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n
Bowden also delivered FSU\u2019s first national championship. \u26a0\ufe0f\u00a0Verify: DeSantis noted that under a modern playoff format, Bowden likely would have won even more titles given the program\u2019s consistent dominance in the 1980s and \u201990s.<\/p>\n
\u2018More than a coach\u2019<\/p>\n
State Sen. Corey Simon, a former FSU national championship player under Bowden, offered a personal tribute to the coach he described as far more than a football strategist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is less about Coach Bobby Bowden and more about Bobby Bowden, because coaching was what he did part time,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell folks all the time I talk more with Coach Bowden about life and Christ than I ever did about football,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Simon said Bowden\u2019s vision for his players extended well beyond the field \u2014 including an expectation that every young man he recruited would graduate and go on to serve their communities.<\/p>\n
Ginger Bowden Madden, Bobby Bowden\u2019s daughter and the state attorney for the Panhandle, represented the Bowden family at the ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who was privileged and honored enough by God to have Bobby Bowden as a father has a definite advantage in life,\u201d she said. \u201cHe taught me my temperament, kindness, patience, hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowden Madden recalled fond memories of the airport itself, describing how fans would line the roads and pack the terminals in the late hours to welcome the team home after away games during the 1980s and \u201990s.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose of you who\u2019ve been around long enough will remember those days when you would fly in, the team would fly in at 1, 2, 3 o\u2019clock in the morning back in the \u201980s and the \u201990s, and this road would be lined up on left and right side with cars welcoming the team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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