JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The vetting system is simple for the bushel loads of mail delivered to Florida State coach Bobby Bowden at his office.

His secretary, Sue Hall, opens up each piece.

The not-so-nice stuff gets dumped directly in the can. The good stuff gets passed along to the boss.

In November 1986, in the week leading up to a game at South Carolina, correspondence was delivered to Bowden's office that didn't fit either category. It was scary.

The postmark was Pittsburgh and the gist of the letter was straightforward: A man, who didn't sign his name or leave a return address, lost a big wager on the Seminoles the week before and he was going to kill Bowden during Florida State's trip to South Carolina.

Billy Smith wouldn't let that happen.

No, never, not a chance.

This is the story of Bobby the ball coach and Billy the bodyguard -- one who relishes the spotlight always hoping for the best to happen, the other who stands nearby in his shadow, ready to react if the worst happens.

Bowden, 80, is easy to spot as the guy out in front of the Florida State program. He has been the coach since 1976 and is set to retire after tomorrow's Gator Bowl.

Smith, 78, is easy to spot, too. He's the no-nonsense guy standing about 6 feet 3, wearing a Florida Highway Patrol uniform complete with shimmering black shoes and a loaded sidearm that Bowden jokes, "has just one bullet in it, so he's got to make it count."

It has been that way since Bowden took the Florida State job. Smith -- who retired in 1985 and is left with this lone detail -- has been providing personal security throughout the coach's tenure.

With eyes rivaled in sharpness only by the creases on his pants, Smith watches over Bowden's every move, never strays too far from him, walks out of the tunnel with him in lockstep, is within arm's reach on the sideline and even hawks over the media interview sessions.

"Someone might think, 'why are they doing that, they are doing it for show?' " Bowden said. "No we don't, there's a reason. I've come off the field and have had somebody take a swing at me before."

A swing is one thing. That letter from Pittsburgh was quite another.

It was the one time Smith -- who, like Bowden, speaks with an engaging drawl -- knew he had to step from the shadows and act.

So in the days leading up to that trip to South Carolina in '86, Smith made a few calls in case that guy from Pittsburgh really did show up.

"Got together some people and there were 132 law enforcement officers, 20 in plainclothes there," Smith said. "As you go through life, there are some weird folks out there who do some strange and mysterious things. You just have to do your best to prepare for them."

Recalling the gauntlet he walked through that night after the South Carolina game on the way to the bus still moves Bowden.

There have been special games for the coach who has 388 career victories, but what his old buddy did for him that day -- and in some regard has done, quietly, every day -- is as big as any winning touchdown.

"I will never forget coming out of the dressing room after the game and it looked like 1,000 highway patrolmen in a line down through there," said an obviously moved Bowden. "And he had them lined up to make sure I got to the bus OK."

Smith shrugs off corralling all those officers -- it was just his duty, he says.

Nothing happened that day in South Carolina, just like there has never been a breach of security harmful to Bowden under Smith's watch in 34 seasons.

Smith wants that streak to continue for one more game.

And then after that, everyone knows what will be become of the ball coach, but what will become of the ball coach's bodyguard?

"That's something [coach in waiting] Jimbo Fisher and I will sit down and talk about after the Gator Bowl," Smith said. "After things slow down, we get back to Tallahassee and we figure out where we're all at."

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