Eric Bailey
Tulsa World OSU Sports Reporter
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TUCSON, Ariz. — Clint Bowen’s journey to Oklahoma State could have happened much sooner.
The Cowboys’ interim defensive coordinator will make his debut in Saturday’s 2 p.m. game at Arizona. But the 53-year-old’s connection to Stillwater begins more than a decade before that.
When Oklahoma State was winning a Big 12 championship in 2011, former coach Mike Gundy reached out to Bowen with an opportunity to join his coaching staff.
Bowen, who had already spent a dozen seasons on Kansas’ football staff in some capacity, chose to return to the Jayhawks’ staff.
“He got kind of mad at me for a situation there, for not coming. And what’s ironic about it is everything he told me at that time was exactly right, like it played out exactly like he said,” Bowen said.
Bowen would be a KU defensive coach for eight more seasons — even becoming the interim head coach for eight games during the 2014 season.
What did Gundy say to him that turned out to be prophetic?
“That basically I needed to break away from Kansas. Sometimes you have to get away from your comfort zone and go do something to expand in this profession. He was exactly right. I didn’t listen. And then every time I saw Oklahoma State going to a bowl game, and me and my wife watching TV, she’s like, ‘Yeah, great choice.’ So I lived with that for about 10 years of watching Oklahoma State win 10 games and go to bowl games while I was sitting home at Christmas. So (Gundy) was right on that,” Bowen said.
“So, yeah, to be here, and then to come back around this time, and for Coach to give me the opportunity to come back at this time, I really appreciate it. And he looked out for me and helped me out. And so it worked out well. I didn’t want this to be the scenario, I was hoping I’d come here and we would work for Coach Gundy until we both gave this thing up. But this business kind of heads that way sometimes.”
Gundy was fired on Sept. 23 and, five days later, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was dismissed. Bowen was elevated from his quality control assistant role to a full-time coordinator.
Bowen has his work cut out for him. He inherits a defense that’s among the worst in college football.
His routine has changed. During September, he would do a pre-scout on an upcoming opponent. For example, while the team was preparing for Oregon during that game week, Bowen’s eyes were on the upcoming opponent, which was Tulsa.
Now he’s building relationships with players while scheming how to attack Big 12 opponents.
He’s been impressed with the character of his players. They’ve absorbed radical changes that no one expected.
“Kids show up and play. It’s in their nature. It’s in there. It’s in what they’ve done their whole life,” Bowen said. “So I think they’re going to look for us to give them a plan that they feel helps them get better, helps them accomplish their goals. They can see themselves improving. If they do that, it’s been my experience that players will buy into anything.”
He does have one favorite player on his team: His son Banks Bowen, the Cowboys’ backup quarterback.
Clint Bowen joined the OSU staff last December and, shortly after, Banks Bowen transferred from Tulsa to the Cowboys.
It was a Bowen family reunion.
Clint Bowen coached his sons Baylor and Banks at Lawrence (Kan.) High School from 2021-24, where they had a special father-son coach relationship.
“I learned that Banks got it better. My first son got it bad. I came home a few nights and my wife was like, ‘We need to talk. The way you’re running the Lawrence High program is not working for our son, and we’re going to fix this.’ So by the time I got to Banks, my wife had educated me on what it means to coach your son and how to treat him,” Clint Bowen said. “So I think Banks got a little bit better than my oldest one. I kind of calmed down a little bit for him. With him being the QB in your program for four years with him … I guess I don’t know how much he enjoyed having dad yell at his friends and all that every day and hold his friends accountable.
“But for me, it was something that I’m thankful that I chose to do. It might not have been the greatest for my career, but I would do it in a heartbeat over and over again.”
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com
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Eric Bailey
Tulsa World OSU Sports Reporter
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