ABILENE, TEXAS - Head Football Coach Keith Patterson added Rick Bowie to the football staff as the new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in January 2024. Awaiting his first season as a Wildcat, Bowie offers his perspective relative to his time in the Big Country and shares what his expectations are for the upcoming football season.
Before his move to ACU, Bowie was the offensive coordinator for Valdosta State for two years. In his first season as a Blazer, the offense averaged 476 yards per game, 6.9 yards per play and averaged 36.6 points per game. His offense was the only at the Division II level to be ranked nationally in the top 25 for passing and rushing.
Bowie started his coaching career in 2011, as a football coaching intern at Florida International University. His experiences are diverse at all NCAA levels. From playing Division III football, to now coaching Division I, Bowie has the opportunity to leverage those experiences and give ACU an advantage in their pursuit of a 2024 United Athletics Conference Championship.
ACU: Can you tell us where you are from, where you graduated, what your role is and a little backstory on your experience prior to coaching football?
BOWIE: I was born and raised in Baltimore. When I got done playing high school ball, I got the opportunity to play Division III football at a small school called Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. And that was an enjoyable experience for me. I met a lot of really great people there. Then I got into high school coaching immediately after that at a K through 12 school. They gave me a chance, I didn't have a certificate or anything, so I taught fourth grade math, and I was able to coach the basketball team. That was a great experience.
I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do, and [coaching] was a positive experience. Then I figured, football was something I was passionate about, so I went to coach at a school called Saint Francis Academy in Baltimore. Immediately after that, I got my first chance to go coach college, and had a graduate assistant position at West Virginia with Coach Holgorsen, and it means a lot to me.
ACU: How did your journey lead you into accepting a coaching position at ACU?
BOWIE: I don't know. I guess along the way, the connection with Coach Patterson was the start of it all. He was on staff with Coach Holgorsen at West Virginia prior to me being there. That's a relationship, among a bunch of other people, that were on that staff that I stayed close with. That led me to Coach Patterson, and that's probably the main reason we had some success the last couple of years. The ability to come here and work for Coach Patterson is what really put it over the top for me. I have so much respect for him and so do the people all around him. An opportunity to come work for him was something that seemed like a no-brainer.
ACU: Can you share a defining moment or experience from your coaching career that has shaped your approach to the game?
BOWIE: Defining a moment is tough. There's so many highs and lows around the game of football, but when you look at it from between the white lines, it's not nearly as fulfilling. We talk about it a lot here. That's something that I'm passionate about, I want to see the 35 year-old version of our players. So for me, a defining moment was when my first quarterback called me and wanted me to hop on a zoom when he proposed to his future wife. Or when you get updates about your players having kids and they still want to reach out and give you those moments. I think a lot of us get into coaching because you miss that kind of camaraderie we experienced when we played.
ACU: How does the ACU mission and the importance of faith align with your coaching philosophy?
BOWIE: I think the beauty of this place is that it knows who it is. It's un-apologetically itself. The ability to talk about how faith and our relationship with God has approached each of our lives and not have to be secretive about it, is what really makes this place great. We talk about the type of players that we get to recruit and the difference ACU makes in their lives through our mission. It is a place that allows you to talk about your journey and my journey, and how it relates to our players' journeys while we all try to chase the most important thing - a relationship with Christ.
ACU: What excites you most about coaching at ACU, and what do you hope to achieve during your tenure here?
BOWIE: We have a really great group of young men in that locker room, young and old. It's a mature group and I'm really excited about that opportunity to spend time with them. I think this place is really growing. As a university, and as a football program, when you have these different opportunities in this strange world of college football, you see places that are trending. You have buildings being built and there's cranes around. People are really passionate to learn from and be transformed by this place. At ACU, you have to dive into the culture of the university. I think when you're around people that really have a vision for what this place can be in the future, from the administration and beyond, that's what excites me most.
ACU: Coming into a new university and a new team, how were you able to grow a connection to players that may have been hesitant to new leadership?
BOWIE: I think you have to be genuine. These kids know when you're being fake. I personally try to be there for them as much as possible, and spend time around them. I try to just be myself. I let them see that my heart's in the right place. I know I want what's best for our players and getting them to realize coaching is something that we do for them, not to them. Coach Patterson says its a discipline, something we do for you, not to you. And that's so powerful. I tell the guys all the time, if I'm not coaching you, I'm doing you a disservice. This is a service based business. And so my job is trying to serve these players and make them the best that they can be. I hope that through time we build a natural trust, which is vital, but I hope that through time they can see that I'm genuine and our staff is genuine. We genuinely want what's best for our players. And we do that through pushing them beyond their limits to try to be the best version of themselves.
ACU: What are some specific ways you plan to encourage spiritual development and character formation among your players?
BOWIE: The beauty of any development, spiritually or beyond, is that my favorite part about the game of football is that it's difficult, and you're asked to do difficult things together.
So from a spiritual perspective, it's very easy to draw similarities between life spiritually and when things get hard in the game of football. It's a really great microcosm of that. It's great being able to be there as a mentor for these guys and push them when they need to. To help push them in areas of their faith, through the game and areas of their life. That's why I think this is, in my opinion, the greatest game because it's so physically straining. I believe it shows that football reveals character. It's such a great game, because it allows people to grow within it.
ACU: Outside of coaching, what are some of your interests or hobbies that you enjoy in your spare time?
BOWIE: I don't have a ton of hobbies, if I'm being honest, I just kind of coach. I tell my players, I don't really do anything else other than prepare and think about the game of football, other than spending time with my wonderful wife. We spend as much time together as we can, and we love all that there is to do here in Abilene. She grew up in Texas, in the Cypress and Houston area. So, being able to spend time around her as much as possible is my hobby. She really is great. We watch movies occasionally. I play golf, maybe twice a year. I don't do much else. Any time you're not tired from what you do, they say you don't work a day in your life. So I've never felt like I've worked a single day in my life. I joke with everybody that I pinch myself every day, that they pay us to do this. It really is the best job in the world. I know it's a boring answer, but I don't really have much else. I get a chance to pay my bills doing this and it's truly such a blessing. I can't even wrap my head around it. We also have such a great group of young men and it makes it so much easier.
ACU: What do you believe sets apart Abilene from other cities where you have previously coached?
BOWIE: It's certainly different compared to previous college stops, like Morgantown and West Virginia. It is very different from a weather perspective. The food is super delicious. We love to go try to find new places to eat, and that's one thing that we weren't really expecting here. But the food is top notch, but the people are even greater!. Here we have the best of both worlds, a small town feel, but Abilene can stand alone.
ACU: Who are some of your coaching mentors, and what lessons have you learned from them?
BOWIE: Initially I think we say all the time it's not about us, it's about players. And that's something that has been pretty consistent throughout all the people that I worked for and were mentored by. Starting with my high school coach, Biff Poggi, who is a really profound man. He is the first mentor that I had in coaching. Then I had a chance to go to work for him as well. He's now in the college game at Charlotte. That's really cool to see him have that opportunity. More recently in the college game, Dana Holgorsen is a big mentor of mine. That man has done a lot for me getting my first college job and has been a great help. Whether it's just making a call to ask him a question or just being there from a mentor perspective.
Offensively you get different types of people along the way. Jake Spavital was a person that I got a chance to work with at West Virginia, which was a great opportunity. Shannon Dawson and others have opened my eyes from a schematics perspective. Many coaches have shaped the way I think about the game. In regards to relationships, Dana (Holgorsen) definitely played a big role in my development. I'm forever grateful for all that he's done for me.
Come see Bowie and his exciting brand of offense on display this season when the Wildcats begin their season in Lubbock on August 31st. ACU opens against Texas Tech that evening at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased at this link. Season tickets, including experiences in the Brown Family Club Level are available here.
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