It has been an emotional week for the Florida State community, the city of Tallahassee and the sports world following the passing of legendary Seminoles head coach Bobby Bowden.
Many FSU fans may not have known Bowden personally, or ever met him, but they are still very eager to pay their respects to their beloved coach this weekend.
Starting today, the university and the Bowden family have provided several opportunities for the public to formally gather to mourn and celebrate his life and career.
Funeral services for Coach Bowden will take place in the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. The service is open to the public.
Doors to the Civic Center will open 90 minutes earlier at 9:30 a.m., and seats could fill up quick. Including upper-level seating, the Civic Center has a capacity of about 12,000.
Several additional memorials will take place in Tallahassee today as well.
Beginning at 10 a.m., Bowden will lie in honor at the rotunda at the State Capitol building for a visitation. The memorial will then continue on Florida State’s campus after concluding at the Capitol at 1 p.m.
Coach Bowden will lie in repose inside the Moore Athletics Center, his former offices for over 30 years as head coach, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Moore Center is located on the northwest side of Doak Campbell Stadium facing the FSU practice fields and indoor practice facility.
“Obviously, its an emotional week with Coach Bowden’s passing,” FSU head coach Mike Norvell said Thursday after the Seminoles’ first practice in Jacksonville. “But it is also an opportunity to celebrate his life and who he was. The legacy that he left."
During the service at the Moore Center, Florida State’s Sod Cemetery will also honor Bowden. An FSU gameday tradition, the Sod Cemetery is a unique area of grass that features grave markers and buried pieces of the actual field from numerous historic Seminole victories away from home.
Although the road victory tradition that the Sod Cemetery represents began well before Bowden became head coach in 1976, the College Football Hall-of-Famer roamed the sidelines for a majority of the “sod game” victories. A rose will be placed next to 63 grave markers today, and a framed photo of Coach Bowden will be displayed along with his iconic straw hat.
*ALSO SEE:
* Clark: Rest in peace, Coach ... Thank you for everything!
* Schoffel: Bowden stories are everywhere because he was always so giving
* Cox: My one chance meeting with Coach Bowden, plus more staff memories (8/10)
* FSU football team vows to honor Bobby Bowden 'in everything we do' (8/8)
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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council