You can say what you want to about Terry Bowden, but the guy has a pretty impressive resume.

No, he did not leave Auburn on good terms back in 98, but other then that one year, he has had a pretty impressive career as a coach both on and off the field.

It never hurt that his last name was Bowden or that he was the son of a legend in college football.

Be that as it may, from the time he was 26-years-old and hired as th youngest college football coach in America at Salem College, through his years at Samford, Auburn, and in the media, Bowden’s name has been associated with college football, and for the most part in a positive manner.

Sure, father Bobby helped jump-start his career, but the little guy with the law degree knows his X’s and O’s. At Samford, he put together a record of 42-22-1 and helped get a program that had been on hiatus back to Division I-AA in just five years.

His years at Auburn were truly stellar years, minus the last two. In 1993, Bowden became the first head coach in Division IA history to lead a football team to an undefeated season during his first year.

That year brought him all sorts of accolades including the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, the Football News Coach of the Year Award, and the Scripps Howard Coach of the Year Award.

He took the Tigers to three bowl games during his 6-year tenure, and only lost 16 games.

After leaving Auburn, Bowden never left football. We have seen him as part of the ABC Sports college football coverage, and he has been on ESPN radio on a regular basis.

We have heard him toy with the idea of getting back into coaching, and low and behold, Bowden decides to return to the state as head coach of the University of North Alabama Lions.

I’ve heard many question why he would decide to come back into football coaching a Division I-AA team, but as it turns out, this may be the best decision he has ever made.

There are not too many big time D-I programs that, despite Bowden’s connection to college football, would hire a guy who hasn’t walked the sidelines in over 10 years.

As it turns out, Bowden is taking over a very impressive looking Lions team. They recently added Brandon Fanney, who was Alabama’s third leading tackler last year but who was dismissed from the Tide for undisclosed reasons, and former Florida State running back Jamal Edwards. He has also picked up transfers Will Furlong and Kyle Futch, two offensive linemen from Florida State, Kyle Thornton, a 6’4”, 320-pound offensive tackle from University of Texas, and Kenton Thornton, a 6’4” 230-pound receiver from University of North Carolina.

UNA went 12-2 last season, is returning 33 lettermen from that squad, and was picked to finish second in the Gulf South Conference coaches preseason poll.

With a solid core of strong defensive players returning, add to that Fanney, and add to that a punter (Will Batson) and kicker (Kenny Spencer) who were picked pre-season All-GSC, Bowden may have put himself in perfect position for a run at the National Championship and a good job in Division I in 2010.

This will be a fun story to watch. Good luck coach!

-Hit ‘em straight

Dale Jones is a staff writer for The Islander.