Mangino promotes young brain to head defense

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

His long list of coaching duties have included being a high school coach, an assistant director of football operations and a graduate assistant. He has been the special teams coordinator and has coached the tight ends, running backs and safeties. But now, after 10 seasons of coaching, Clint Bowen enters this one with his greatest job title yet — defensive coordinator.

A football standout at Lawrence High School, Bowen has been a life-long Lawrence citizen and a life-long Jayhawk. After waiting for his time and paying his dues, Bowen was chosen this offseason by coach Mark Mangino to replace former coordinator Bill Young as the man to lead one of the nation’s top defenses.

Photo by Jon Goering

“He is dedicated, loyal and he loves the University of Kansas,” Mangino said of Bowen. “When I first came here, I realized this wasn’t just a job for him. He has a passion for the football program here at Kansas.”

Young left for the same position at the University of Miami soon after the Jayhawks’ 24-21 win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Mangino began interviewing candidates for the job soon after. Mangino eventually decided to promote Bowen, who he’d been grooming for the job for the past few seasons as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

“I thought I had a good chance but he had his decisions to make,” Bowen said. “Fortunately, he chose to keep me on. From the beginning, coach always treated me very fair and was honest with me in letting me know where I stood and what the plan was.”

As a defensive back, Bowen helped lead Kansas to an 8-4 record, a No. 22 national ranking and a win over Brigham Young University in the 1992 Aloha Bowl. In his senior season in 1993, he led the Kansas defense in tackles with 114, a figure that remains third on the single season tackle list by a Jayhawk defensive back.

He then spent a year as a defensive graduate assistant at the University of Minnesota under his college coach, Glen Mason, before returning to Kansas to start his climb up the coaching latter. He was promoted to co-defensive coordinator prior to the 2006 season.

“A lot of the schemes we did last year were from him,” said linebacker Joe Mortensen. “Coach Young was a great coach and we wish him well at Miami, but I was glad we didn’t bring anybody else in. I was really glad that coach Bowen got the job. He’s a great coach.”

Bowen and all of the defensive coaches bring a youthful atmosphere to practice each day.

“Our whole defensive staff, we’re young,” Bowen said. “We try to emphasize to our kids that we’re in this together and that we’re just like them. We’re just here to get them to play hard and well. I think the kids feel comfortable coming and talking to us.”

Onlookers at a Jayhawk practice won’t have to look hard to find Bowen. His high-energy style of coaching lets players know when they did both something right or wrong.

“He is very intelligent and he’s very smart in the way that he deals with the players,” Mangino said. “He can be tough on them, but they understand him. He has been a guy that, behind the scenes, has played a major role in coverages and blitz packages. He’s been a major player on that side of the ball for us so it was just a natural choice.”

As Bowen readies the defense for Saturday’s season opener against Florida International University, he has the confidence and backing of both the coaching staff and the players.

“He’s a defensive genius,” Mortensen joked. “Don’t tell him I said that though.”

— — Edited by Andy Greenhaw

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