KU interim coach Clint Bowen ready to tackle new role

There’s a story that Clint Bowen likes to tell, one that helps explain his love for the Kansas football program. The story begins in the mid-1990s, when Bowen was a young KU graduate assistant. He was a Lawrence native, setting out into a career in football coaching, and even then he was an ambitious sort.

The confidence carried over to his love life. So one day, while on an ice-cream date with a young girl named Kristie, Bowen revealed his life’s goal:

“I’m going to be the head football coach at Kansas,” Bowen said.

Nearly 20 years later, Kristie Bowen sat in the back of Mrkonic Auditorium on Monday morning as her husband was introduced as the Jayhawks’ interim head coach, a homegrown replacement for Charlie Weis, who was fired on Sunday morning.

Bowen, a former Kansas player and long-time assistant, will have eight games to convince athletic director Sheahon Zenger that he is the right man to guide the program in the long-term. But as Bowen spoke for the first time Monday morning, not much about the situation suggested interim status. A black sign on a podium declared him “Head Coach Clint Bowen.” So did a glass board in the atrium of the Anderson Family Football Complex, a sign that used to be reserved for Weis.

“The University of Kansas has given me so much in my life personally,” Bowen said. “I’ve never known a day in my life that I wasn’t a KU football fan. I grew up a Lawrence guy, grew up going to KU football games, so to be standing here today is truly one of the greatest honors I’ve ever had in my life.”

A former defensive back who played for Glen Mason in the early 1990s — and later served as defensive coordinator under Mark Mangino and Weis — Bowen spent most of his first news conference outlining his goals for the program, which sits 2-2 after a loss to Texas on Saturday.

“I feel like we have a way of operating that is proven successful at the University of Kansas,” Bowen said. “I’ve seen the blueprint before here.”

The blueprint, Bowen says, includes ideals and elements learned under Mason and Mangino, the last two coaches to lead the Jayhawks to multiple bowl games. An emotional figure on the sideline, Bowen talked about integrity, toughness and embracing the culture and history of Kansas football.

“Our style will be different,” said Bowen, who also thanked Weis for helping him return to KU in 2012. “We have a philosophy where we believe these are college kids that need to be developed on a daily basis. The practices need to be structured.”

Bowen was also clear about one thing: He’s the head coach now, but he won’t be changing his animated style on the sideline.

“I can’t change that,” Bowen said. “Game day is too fun. Game day is too exciting. If a kid makes a great play … I’m not going to be a Tom Osborne, standing with my arms crossed. It’s not what I do.”

Monday had the feel of a fresh start. But reality will set in over the next few days. Just two days earlier, the Jayhawks were shut out against Texas on Homecoming. And now it will be up to Bowen to inspire a program that has known mostly losing over the last five years. The first opportunity will come Saturday, when Kansas travels to face West Virginia.

Zenger has said he will wait to make a full-time hire until after the season. But if the next eight games really are an extended audition for Bowen, he doesn’t want to think of the job in those terms.

“Honestly, that’s not where my mind is,” Bowen said. “My mind, right now, is 100 percent on giving the players in this program — the seniors, the guys that have been here, the guys that have worked so hard — the best possible opportunity they can have for success.”

Bowen hinted at some of the changes on Monday. Offensive coordinator John Reagan will likely start coaching from the press box in an effort to ignite a lagging offense. Practices will likely be more physical and focused on individual skills. But mostly, Bowen would like to cultivate a fresh energy around the program, a culture of toughness and enthusiasm.

On Sunday, Bowen said he heard from Mason, his former coach, as well as Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, his former position coach at KU. It was a reminder of his Kansas roots — and his start in coaching. For some, the KU coaching job might feel like a part-time stop to somewhere else. For Bowen, it’s always felt like a destination.

“Anyone that would consider this a stepping stone job is an idiot,” Bowen said. “This is a destination job. I’ve heard people say that before, and I’ll always defend it.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2014 at 1:47 PM with the headline "KU interim coach Clint Bowen ready to tackle new role."