For the first time since resigning after a 1-5 start at Auburn in 1998, Terry Bowden has found his way back to the big-boy level of college football.
In a tweet from the school’s official athletic Twitter feed -- and in a YouTube clip that you can view at the end of this post -- Akron announced that they have hired Bowden as their new head coach. The son of Bobby will replace Rob Ianello, who was fired late last month after two years on the job.
The Canton Repository reports that Akron officials met with Bowden Wednesday in the Cleveland area and offered him the job that night. After accepting the position, he flew back to Alabama and informed his team of the decision.
A source told the paper that it was Bowden who initially reached out to the school expressing interest in the position.
Bowden, who will be taking over a program that won a total of two games the past two seasons, compiled a 47-17-1 mark during his 90s tenure on The Plains, including a perfect 11-0 record during his first season at the school in 1993, but “philosophical differences” with both the athletic department and boosters led to his midseason demise 1983. He’s spent the past three seasons at Div. II North Alabama and has gone 29-10.
Bowden’s name has flown well under the radar prior to the announcement, with the likes of Ohio State assistant Luke Fickell, Wayne State head coach Paul Winters and UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson being mentioned as possibilities instead.
The hiring of Bowden at Akron, Tony Levine at Houston and Paul Chryst at Pittsburgh -- leaves Penn State as the only Div. 1-A school with an opening.