Bobby Bowden was a genuine, personable as they come, and I should know

The first time I met Bobby Bowden was not in Tallahassee or in Clemson or at an ACC event or press conference.

Nope. It was at none of those places.

The first time I met the Hall of Fame head coach was in a small South Georgia town called Douglas. I was a young sportswriter then that was still wet behind the ears.

This is the first memory that popped in my head this morning when I learned the news that Coach Bowden passed away.

So, how did I come to meet Coach Bowden in Douglas, Georgia? A lot of you don’t know this, but this is the birthplace of Coach Bowden’s career as a Hall of Fame head coach. Bowden coached at South Georgia College, now known as South Georgia State College, from 1956-’58,…