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Rich Rodriguez to be interim head coach at ULM as Terry Bowden takes leave of absence to care for Bobby Bowden

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

It appears the Bowden family is preparing for the loss of a legend in former head coach Bobby Bowden.

It was announced by the Bowden’s in July that the former Florida State head coach was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He is 91 years old.

According to Adam Hunsucker with the Monroe News-Star, new Louisiana Monroe head coach Terry Bowden is taking a leave of absence to be with his father in Tallahassee. Bowden was hired in December but was not with the Warhawks when they began preseason practices Friday.

Filling in for Bowden will be former Michigan and Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez who was hired to be the OC and associate head coach at ULM:

“There’s a spiritual side of me that thanks God for all the good times I’ve had with my father,” Bowden told the News-Star. “We’ve known for a couple weeks that it was terminal. As it gets closer, we’re thankful that it hasn’t been a difficult or painful process for him.

“The knowledge that with Rich here and us being close, I have no problem turning it over to him because he’s done it almost as long as I have. I’m comfortable enough in my shoes to let him step in and know that our program will run smoothly.”

Rodriguez last coached as an OC at Ole Miss during the 2019 season. He was head coach of the Wolverines from 2008-10 and also has stops at West Virginia and Arizona as a head coach.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.