The University of Akron Athletics
Terry Bowden Named Football Coach
December 22 | Football
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AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron has named
Terry Bowden, who owns a 140-62-2 record (69.3 winning percentage)
over an 18-year coaching career, as its 27th head football coach,
President Dr. Luis M. Proenza and director of athletics Tom
Wistrcill announced Thursday.
Bowden, who served as a studio analyst and color commentator
with ABC Sports' college football for 10 years, was the head coach
at Auburn from 1993-98 and spent the previous three seasons at
Division II North Alabama.
Bowden, 54, was an assistant coach at Akron in 1986 under then
Zips' head coach Gerry Faust.
"We welcome Terry Bowden back to campus. He brings with him an
outstanding record of success and a true football coaching
pedigree," Proenza said. "We know the entire Akron community will
support Coach Bowden in his mission to cultivate a championship
program here."
"We're thrilled to have Terry join the Akron Athletics family,"
Wistrcill said. "It's great for our student-athletes, fans and
community to bring in a head coach with his track record of
success."
A press conference to formally introduce Bowden will be held on
Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. ET on the Towpath Credit Union Press
Level (floor 7) of InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field. The
proceedings will be web cast live through GoZips.com, and also be
available on SportsRadio 1350 (WARF) in the Akron area and online
via SportsRadio1350.com. "Voice of the Zips" Steve French
and long-time UA Athletics personality Joe Dunn will anchor the
coverage.
"I'm so excited to be a Zip," Bowden said. "With the great
resources and the commitment to winning by the administration and
community, it's just a matter of time until we build a championship
program."
Bowden will meet with fans at the Zips women's basketball team's game versus Providence on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. That event will be free of charge. He will also address the crowd at the Dec. 29 men's basketball contest versus VCU, which tips off at 7 p.m. Football season ticket holders will be E-mailed a link to purchase tickets to the VCU game at a special group rate.
In his time at North Alabama, he led the Lions to a 29-9 record and three-consecutive playoff appearances. In 2011, the squad went 9-3 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. He was named Gulf South Conference Co-Coach of the Year in 2009 when the team went 11-2 and won the GSC championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. He followed that in 2010 by guiding the Lions to a 9-4 record and another trip to the playoffs.
As head coach of Auburn, he went 47-17-1 (73.4 winning percentage) and posted the best opening, five-year run of any head football coach in school history. Also during his time with the Tigers, Bowden became the first collegiate coach in 50 years to win his 100th career game by his 40th birthday.
In his first season at AU, he became the first coach in Division I-A (now FBS) history to have an undefeated and untied season in his inaugural year at that level.
Prior to his stint at Auburn, Bowden built two programs from the
ground up as head coach at Salem College (W.Va.) and Samford
University (Ala.). When he took the job at Salem in 1983 he became
the nation's youngest head coach in college football at age 26.
Inheriting a Samford program which had won just six games in three
years prior to his arrival, Bowden led the Bulldogs to a 9-1 record
his first year, tying the record for the best season in school
history. The squad led the nation in total offense (523 yards per
game) and scoring offense (51.7 points per game), both national
Division III records. The team's 40 touchdown passes were also a
national single-season record.
Bowden then engineered and directed Samford's move from non-scholarship Division III football to Division I-AA (now FCS) scholarship football. With only one freshman class on scholarship, the Bulldogs went to a full Division I-AA schedule in 1989. By 1991, Samford was competing for the national championship. His 1991 Samford team had the best record in school history at 12-2, and reached the Division I-AA national semifinals.
Bowden was named head coach at Auburn on Dec. 17, 1992. In 1993,
Auburn had a perfect 11-0 record and he swept virtually every
national coach of the year award in his rookie season, including
Walter Camp, Scripps Howard, Football News, Toyota and the Paul
"Bear" Bryant Award presented by the Football Writers
Association.
Bowden was again a finalist for coach of the year following his
second season at Auburn as the Tigers had reeled off 20-straight
wins, an Auburn record, and finished 9-1-1. He posted a 47-17-1
record at Auburn and led the Tigers to three bowl games.
During his time away from coaching, Bowden first served as a studio analyst and color commentator with ABC Sports' college football coverage. He was also an analyst for Westwood One Radio's College Football National Game of Week, co-hosted "The Coaches Show" on Sirius Satellite Radio with Jack Arute, and was the exclusive college football columnist for Yahoo! Sports.
Bowden is a member of one of the most famous and successful college football coaching families. His father, Bobby Bowden, turned Florida State into a national champion and his 389 collegiate wins rank second in Division I history.
His brother Tommy had an 18-4 record in two seasons as head coach at Tulane and a 72-45 record in 10 seasons as head coach at Clemson, taking the Tigers to eight bowl games. His brother Jeff also has 25 years of collegiate coaching experience, working at Salem, Samford, Southern Mississippi, Florida State and most recently at North Alabama, with Terry.
During the decade of the 1990s, Terry, Tommy and Bobby all led their teams to undefeated seasons.
As a student-athlete at West Virginia, Bowden lettered two years as a running back (1977-78), held a 3.65 grade-point average in accounting, the highest GPA on the football team, and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
He did post graduate work at Oxford University in England, and
earned a Juris Doctorate from the Florida State School of Law in
1982, while a graduate assistant coach with the Seminoles.
Bowden has five daughters (Tera, Jordan, Erin, Cori and Jamie) and
one son (Terry, Jr.).
Fans interested in purchasing season tickets for 2012 can secure
their seat by paying a non-refundable deposit. Seat locations will
be assigned at a later date, with priority based on the time
payment was received. The 2012 schedule features six home games at
InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field, including four against
Mid-American Conference opponents as well as non-league contests
versus UCF on Thursday, Aug. 30 and Morgan State on Saturday, Sept.
15 (MAC schedule to be announced).
Deposits start as low as $30 for general admission, with upper
reserved seats requiring a $50 down payment, priority reserved $100
and club seats $200. The deposit for priority reserved and club
seats will go toward a required Z-Fund seat license donation, of
which 80 percent is tax deductible.
Deposits can be paid from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on Mondays through
Fridays by either calling 1-888-99-AKRON (25766) or visiting The
C.P. and Cornelia S. Chima Athletics Ticket Office at InfoCision
Stadium - Summa Field (located at 375 E. Exchange Street, near Gate
1 at the southwest corner of the venue, at the corner of E.
Exchange and S. Union streets). The ticket office accepts payments
by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover), cash or check. The
ticket office will be closed Monday, Dec. 26.
