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PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- In 1998, coming off a No. 8 ranking and an 11-0 regular season at Tulane, Tommy Bowden was one of the hottest names in college coaching.

Bowden, the son of legendary Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden and considered part of college football royalty, would soon find his way to Clemson to succeed Tommy West, following the Tigers' 3-8 mark, the program's worst season since 1976.

From 1999-2004 Clemson ranked dead last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in football facilities spending, yet in that span Bowden managed to take home ACC Coach of the Year honors twice. But while Bowden's staff lifted the program's recruiting, also averaging eight wins a season and dominating arch-rival South Carolina, the Tigers' drought of conference titles would continue under his watch.

In August of 2008, Clemson was billed nationally as one of college football's top 10 teams, but stumbled to a 3-3 start. Following a 12-7 defeat to Wake Forest on an ESPN-televised Thursday night matchup, the fallout began the following Monday with Bowden resigning under pressure, and then position coach-turned interim head coach Dabo Swinney firing Bowden's offensive coordinator, Rob Spence.

In May of 2011, I met with Bowden at his home in Panama City Beach, Fla. for what was his first, one-on-one, exclusive interview since his departure from Clemson on October 13, 2008. It was here where the 57-year old placed himself back in Clemson's head coaching chair one more time to revisit his nine-and-a-half seasons as the program's leader.

PUBLISHER's NOTE: When Tommy Bowden began his first season in Clemson in 1999, the Tigers had not won 10 games in a season since 1990. The Tigers had not won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 1991. Not only was Clemson no longer nationally relevant, but the Tigers were just coming off a 3-8 campaign, the program's worst showing since 1976.

Ultimately Bowden was able to improve the product on the field, winning nine games in 2000, 2003 and 2007. But it should be noted that for six of his nine-and-a-half seasons as Clemson's head coach, the program would rank dead last in the ACC in football facilities spending (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004). In fact in 2004, the dressing room Bowden's team used in Death Valley was essentially the same facility Danny Ford's team had used in 1989.

Bowden sought advice from all of Clemson's former living head coaches in late 1998 upon taking the job, including Tommy West, who immediately told him to stay on Clemson's administration for a facilities push. As readers will see later in this interview, I ask Bowden what he wants to be remembered for as the Tigers' head coach. But before the coach can answer, his wife, Linda Bowden, chimes in and simply states, "He should be remembered for helping get the West Zone off the ground because they (Clemson's administration) were in no hurry to get it."

One way or another, Bowden was always fighting for his job at Clemson. And one way or another Bowden was always fighting battles on his own campus.

In the summer of 2004, I remember driving out to Bowden's home on Lake Hartwell. I was working on a feature and I wanted to see if I could locate a different side of a coach who by his own admission a year earlier had gone from the hot seat to the "fiery furnace." I didn't expect Bowden to let his guard down. I was wrong.

As we stepped out onto his dock, he pulled out a rod and reel, a rod that had his name inscribed on it. As we talked for a few moments, he looked out over the lake. I had never seen the expression he wore on his face that afternoon. For that moment, he no longer looked like a coach who was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

I never saw that look again while he was head coach at Clemson.

For this interview, I met with the Bowdens at their condo in Panama City Beach, Fla. in 2011. Bowden had purchased a tract of land directly on the ocean alongside his father a number of years earlier. He told me we'd look at the house he was building on his land after the interview. And we did. As the coach stepped out onto the beach that afternoon, there it was again ... that same carefree expression I had seen on his face on Lake Hartwell back in 2004.

As time has gone by, I believe Bowden's retroactive approval rating with Clemson fans has risen. As time has gone by, I believe more people have come to realize the battles Bowden, Tommy West, Ken Hatfield and Danny Ford fought on their own campus during their tenure while an administration at Clemson was not yet aligned; in simplest terms meaning the President, the Board of Trustees, the Athletics Director and head football coach singing off of the same sheet of music.

This is Tommy Bowden, in his own words.

This is his story.

PART V

Ard. Tommy, we're now into Monday, October 13, 2008 at 6:15 a.m. and Terry Don Phillips comes to your office to visit with you. What did he tell you?

Bowden. "It was one of two things. He said, 'We are going to make a change at the end of the year if you don't either win the conference or if you don't play in the championship game.'"

Ard. So you were not told you had to win out?

Bowden. "Correct. I had to get to the title game or win it."

Ard. And at that moment you didn't feel your team could turn it around and get to the title game?

Bowden. "No."

Ard. Terry Don left your office and then an hour or so later he'd come back. But after your initial discussion that morning, when he left your office briefly, did you know at that moment that it was over?

Bowden. "Yes. I figured if I was perceived as the reason why we weren't having success, if the administration, if the Board of Trustees, if whomever felt that I was the reason for us not having success, then let's get that out of the way so that Clemson can accomplish the objective. If I'm that reason, then I don't need to be here."

Ard. How did you feel at this moment, as it was obvious your run was about to end?

Bowden. (Pausing) "If this was the confidence that I had after signing a seven-year contract 10 months earlier, if I was the guy back in December and we were 'connected at the hip,' and now this is the confidence I have and now I'm not the guy ..."

Ard. What were some things - outside of the (financial) agreement - you conveyed to Terry Don in the initial or second meeting that morning?

Bowden. "I said, 'Hey, you like Dabo. He can be the guy, we just signed the #2 (by ESPN) recruiting class in the nation, you can have a smooth transition and won't miss a beat, I will be out of the way and Clemson can keep right on rolling. It won't be ugly next week and the next week where you can't recruit from booing.'

"And I suggested Dabo. I knew they liked him. I knew he would probably be the next guy."

Ard. When you told your coaching staff that you were out, how difficult was that? What did you tell them?

Bowden. "It was a short meeting. Because at that point, what do you say? I just apologized. I told them, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't get it done.' Then I left.

"They had a game to prepare for, there was work to do, so I left. I met with them and then he (Terry Don) went in and talked to them."

Ard. The afternoon comes, you've gone home, you've talked to Linda, you've called your son and daughter, your father, you've met with your team and now it's time for a press conference. You make a brief statement, then exit the McFadden Auditorium, walk back in through your office and out the back door where Donald Hymel is waiting for you in a car. You drive off and go back home. What were you thinking at this point? Where were your emotions at this juncture?

Bowden. "I had gone home at 10:30 and prepared what I was going to say to the team.

"When I got back home (after the press conference), I don't know, but I know we waited about a day and then came down here to spend three or four days. But when I got back into town, I didn't hide. I was disappointed but I wasn't embarrassed over what we did.

"You have a list of objectives you want to accomplish when you become the head coach. Obviously you want to be competitive and not have a losing season. You want to go to bowl games, you want to graduate your players, you don't want to have discipline problems, you want to set attendance records, you want to avoid NCAA trouble, you want to beat your rival and you want to win championships. We did everything but win the championship. We did everything we set out to do but win the title. So I wasn't embarrassed over what I had done.

"You know, I lasted twice as long as those other guys, not including Danny Ford. That's a pretty long time at Clemson. I never had a losing season.

"When I got back home, we went out to the movies, we went out to dinner, we went to church, we didn't hide. Because we weren't ashamed or embarrassed about what we did. I carried on. I did some ESPN work, went down to Atlanta and talked to Mississippi State about that job. I carried on."

Ard. How closely did you follow your team the rest of the 2008 season?

Bowden. "I watched the Georgia Tech game. ESPN called me and wanted me to go on at halftime and comment about everything during that game and I did not. When they were on, I watched them."

Ard. In the ensuing weeks after the transition, did Dabo call you or consult with you about anything?

Bowden. "No. His biggest obstacle was separating himself from me. If they wanted me, I'd still be there. They didn't want me, so his biggest thing was creating his own identity."

Ard. And you didn't call him to offer any insight or perspective on the position?

Bowden. "No. I didn't. If he would have wanted that, he would have called."

Ard. I know Dabo was not fully on board with the direction of the offense under Spence, and this was before the hammer fell in October. I take it you were not surprised when Dabo fired Spence on the same day you left?

Bowden. "You know, I called Rob a couple days later and asked him how practice was going. He said, 'Didn't you hear? He (Dabo) let me go.' That shows you how close I was following things right after I left.

"I assumed in order for Dabo to get the job, that's what he was going to have to do.

"Now, Terry Don never discussed that with me. He never told me that I'd have to let anybody go."

Ard. Hypothetically speaking, had Terry Don or Bobby Robinson come to you and asked you to fire one of your assistant coaches, would you have done so?

Bowden. "I probably would have. I think it's better to have one guy and his wife mad at you than nine. Because if not, you'll be fired and the rest of those coaches will be gone. But that never happened. Neither ever asked me that."