VIN'S PEOPLE: 'Old school' coach, AD praised by Manatee County peers

Curt Bradley’s first season as a high school head football coach was a bust.

“We started out 0-9, getting our brains beat in,” he said, recalling his 2012 debut at Braden River High. “We won our last game, finished 1-9. Kids are unhappy. Parents are unhappy. Everybody’s unhappy.”

Everybody except Bob Bowling.

The late Pirates athletic director believed in the 26-year-old defensive coordinator he’d hired from Leesburg High, critics be damned.

Bowling’s conviction proved right.

The Pirates became a state playoff program.

“Coach Bowling was the rock our coaching staff needed, especially me,” said Bradley, now Southeast High’s head football coach. “He’s from this area, knew the landscape and hired some outside guy – me and Eric Sanders (now Palmetto High’s head football coach) – but he always had our backs. He put his arm around you, always knew what to say, always encouraging. Such a loving father figure for a young coach. He told us you’re doing the right thing. It just felt like everything is going to be OK.”

Bradley’s words will resonate with Bowling’s legion of admirers who are mourning the recent passing of the respected coach and administrator for 41 years. Bowling, a 1966 Manatee High alum who will be inducted into the MHS Athletics Hall of Fame in October for his lifetime achievements, died on July 4. He was 78.

“A very caring man,” Erin Spivey said. “He had a great way of inspiring people.”

Now head softball coach for Parrish Community High’s two-time state champions, Spivey was an athlete at Palmetto when Bowling was AD and head football coach (1993-2004) before becoming AD at Braden River (2005-14).

As he did for Bradley, Bowling gave Spivey her first head coaching job with the Pirates.

His wit and wisdom still rings true.

“He used to say, ‘It’s not about X’s and O’s; it’s about the Jimmies and the Joes,’” she recalled. “Being a female athlete playing softball, we really don’t have X’s and O’s, per se. But as I got older I remembered that saying – that it’s the relationships. Investing more time with my players as human beings and building relationships with them has really transformed my program.

“These are kids 14-18. For me to be able to guide them, help them resolve problems or deal with life’s stresses has made me a more impactful coach – and that’s Coach Bowling.”

Mick Koczersut learned a lot, as well, his nine years coaching with Bowling at Palmetto and has some fond memories.

Funny ones, too.

Seems Bowling could never get that paint spraying machine to work right lining the football field.

“There’d be paint all over him and he wasn’t happy,” Koczersut kidded.

Since then he’s spent 22 years at Lakewood Ranch High – 13 on the football staff, including four as head coach before resigning in 2018.

That experience gave him a deeper appreciation for Bowling.

“With all the other stuff going on, the last thing I got to do is coach football. I joked this is what Coach Bowling felt like every day. He was the one who always had to deal with the parents, kids getting in trouble, things that went on in school.

“Bob never brought any of that to us. He allowed us to just coach. I was too young and dumb to know what was going on.”

Jim Pauley knew.

Now retired after 43 years in education, he was Bowling’s principal five years at Palmetto and seven at Braden River.

Whether it was helping a player’s parents pay an electric bill, making sure players had transportation or food for lunch, Bowling always lent a hand.

“Bob was very connected to his kids and helped a lot of them, but didn’t want anybody to know,” Pauley said. “It didn’t matter who the player was, either. When he felt a need he did it. As demanding as he was on the field, he looked out for their welfare off the field. He was ‘old school.’ He was tough, but he had a big heart.

“That was Bob Bowling.”

Email Vin Mannix at vinspeople@gmail.com. Or call 941-962-5944.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: VIN'S PEOPLE: 'Old school' coach, AD praised by Manatee County peers