10 years ago today ...

By Joe McAdory

Published: October 23, 2008

Coach Terry Bowden and Auburn officially parted ways 10 years ago today. The circumstances of his midseason departure were bizarre and are different depending on who you ask. From what we gather, the dude was told he would not be coaching the next season and pretty much quit right there on the spot. Didn’t his brother, Tommy, have a very similar situation at Clemson just last week?

Bowden’s record at Auburn remains amazing—47-16-1. That’s better than Pat Dye, Shug Jordan and Tommy Tuberville percentage-wise. But under Bowden, it was obvious the program was slipping. Behind-the-scenes friction between Bowden and some in power, or claimed to have power, regarding the way Auburn’s football program should be run and other differences ultimately led to the break up.

These days, Bowden works as a motivational speaker and writes a column for Yahoo! Sports. Here’s his Web site: http://www.terrybowden.com/Home.html

My attempt to interview Bowden last week for a story today was denied by his publicist. That’s their call.

The day Oct. 23, 1998, was a bizarre one indeed. One day before a football game with Louisiana Tech, Auburn didn’t have a head coach. Under defensive coordinator Bill Oliver, Auburn won the next day, 38-23, and finished the season a miserable 3-8. The day after Thanksgiving, Tuberville was named head coach.

It’s kind of ironic ... 10 years after Bowden and Auburn split on less than kind terms, Auburn faces Bowden’s alma mater, West Virginia. You know who he’ll be for.

Today’s mood music: Crazy Train by Ozzy Osborne