Pure Gold: Bobby Bowden An Inside Look
Bill Vilona has spent the past 17 years covering the Florida State athletic program for the Pensacola News Journal and the network of Gannett-owned newspapers nationwide. He joined the News Journal in 1988, after spending six years at the Bristol Herald-Courier in Bristol, Virginia, where he covered East Tennessee State University, auto racing, and high school sports. A Pittsburgh native, Vilona graduated from the University of Tennessee and has been involved in sports journalism since 1981.Steve Ellis is in his 25th year of covering Florida State football and Bobby Bowden. His coverage of Florida State began in 1982, when he helped start The Osceola, a weekly publication dedicated to Seminoles athletics. He served as the publication’s editor for eight years. He joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1990. Ellis worked on ESPN’s 2002 special The Season: Florida State. He detailed Florida State’s march to its first national championship in Seminole Glory: A Look Back at Florida State’s 1993 Championship Season. Ellis then coauthored the 2004 book Bobby Bowden’s Tales from the Seminoles Sideline that captured the fun and serious stories from Bowden’s Florida State experience. The 1978 graduate of Clemson began his sportswriting career as editor and cofounder of The Orange and White, a weekly publication about Clemson sports.