Charlie Durbin’s time behind the steering wheel came long before Google Maps and other digital travel apps that now make trips as smooth as possible.

Step aside Siri.

Legend has it Durbin — the bus driver for all Florida State athletic teams, in addition to the FSU Flying High Circus, during the early era of the department — knew the location of every Morrison’s Cafeteria in the South when it came time to stop for a team meal. He communicated in his deep Southern drawl with other drivers on a CB radio and was alerted to every backroad speed trap. And Durbin could drive all day and night without stopping, earning the nickname “Iron Bladder Charlie" from the FSU swim team.

No other coach or team, however, relied on Durbin’s skills, dedication and loyalty more than Bobby Bowden’s football Seminoles.

Self-taught in film production technology, Durbin taped all of FSU’s practices and games, in addition to his driving duties. Durbin developed the 16-millimeter film in a makeshift photo lab under the east stands in Doak Campbell Stadium, next to the gift shop. Once processed, he immediately delivered it to coaches, like clockwork. He also helped local high school football teams on Friday nights with their filming needs.

“It would take three people now to do the job Charlie did for us,” Bowden said Monday morning. “I don’t know how he did it.”

Durbin, known for his professionalism and unbridled love of FSU during his 41-year career in Seminole athletics, died last Friday. He was 92.

“Nobody in FSU athletics has done any more than what Charlie did for the department,” said Jimmie Callaway, who was linked to the Seminoles’ program as a ball boy, volunteer and football equipment manager for 50-plus years. “Charlie's work ethic, all that he did for FSU, it’s unreal.

"I don’t think he ever got enough credit.”

Durbin, oft-described as "a true Seminole," leaves a remarkable legacy in a bygone era.

Durbin started at FSU in 1948 — a year after the women's college went coeducational — in the maintenance department. He was later hired in athletics by Athletic Director Vaughn Mancha, and the two became fast friends. Though a behind-the-scenes employee, Durbin was center-stage worthy. He was inducted into FSU’s Hall of Fame in 1989. A trunk in his daughter’s utility room is filled with Durbin’s handwritten notes from his heartfelt experiences at FSU.

“They are his personal interactions with people he came across at FSU,” daughter Linda Chase said. “He always said he wanted to write a book. He knew all the coaches and just about all of the athletes. I can tell you when it came to traveling and driving FSU’s bus, he was all business.”

Chase described her father as “always prepared for almost anything.” However, she recalled — with a laugh — that the only time she saw her father lose his temper happened during the football team’s bus ride to Gainesville to play the Florida Gators.

Somehow and someway, somebody removed the tires from the Seminoles’ Silver Eagle bus during the game.

“Daddy let anyone and everyone know that those tires better be back on the bus by the end of the game — and they were,” Chase said.

"From that time on though, once everyone unloaded, he stayed on the bus to make sure nothing went wrong and nobody tried to mess with it. He always referred to it as his bus. Of course, it wasn’t. But he took care of it like it was, like he bought and paid for it.

“He felt totally responsible for it.”

Nobody likes to experience a breakdown, not even Charlie. Bowden recalled a Saturday morning return trip from Thomasville, Georgia, to Tallahassee for a game that evening at Doak Campbell Stadium in the late 1970s. Halfway to Tallahassee, FSU’s bus sputtered and stopped. It had plenty of petro; Durbin always had the bus fueled and prepped. The dashboard gauges didn't signal any issues.

“Charlie tried and tried and tried, but he couldn’t get it to start,” Bowden said.

The Seminoles improvised. Players hitchhiked to the stadium.

Durbin didn't tell coaches how to coach, so naturally coaches didn't tell Durbin how to drive. Like the time in the 1980s, when Durbin drove the FSU baseball team to Orlando. As the bus made its way on a busy highway through city traffic, a player in the back of the bus shouted, "We are going the wrong way." Chip Baker, an assistant coach at the time, alerted coach Mike Martin.

"Mike sat there and didn't say a word, out of respect for Charlie," Baker said and laughed. "Charlie was an icon."

Without a peep being uttered, Durbin exited the highway, wheeled the bus around and headed it in the right direction.

“Charlie was a man of very few words when he was driving, but he always got us there on time and, most importantly, he always got us there safely," said Larry Lovelace, a swimmer at FSU from 1972-76.

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Durbin had a heart, too.

Lovelace recalled a weekend road trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and New Orleans for dual meets against LSU and Tulane. Scheduled to leave early Sunday morning, Lovelace said Durbin slowed and stopped the bus for three team members chasing it out of the hotel parking lot following a late night on Bourbon Street.

“He’d do anything in the world for you,” said Bill Shults, the former swim coach at FSU from 1979-92. “He worked tirelessly for FSU and loved everything about the university. I bet he worked 100 hours a week. He would do whatever he could, whenever he could, for anybody.”

Durbin’s grandson Mike Chase has a room in his Tallahassee home dedicated to FSU memorabilia, including keepsakes from Durbin’s career. Yet it’s the bond between Durbin and FSU that should be showcased as well.

It was 1948 and Durbin needed a job.

Born and raised in Concord — 15 or so miles north of Tallahassee via Old Bainbridge Road — Durbin attended Hinson School. He joined the Army and served during World War II in the infantry division. Discharged in February 1947 and married two months later, Durbin lived briefly in California before he returned home.

Soon thereafter, Durbin found a second home — and a second love — at FSU. Nobody ever worried about a trip when Durbin was behind the steering wheel. He learned to be innovative and proficient behind the camera. He was always willing to help.

“All of his great friends were tied to FSU. It was a big family,” Mike Chase said. “He spent countless hours there, especially during the football season. But It really wasn’t a job for him. He loved it.

"He loved everything about it.”

Editor's note: Durbin and his wife Leo, who died last year, had five children, nine grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. A service for the pair will be held in September at the Tallahassee National Cemetery.

Reach Jim Henry at jjhenry@tallahassee.com