Bowen snares top job on ‘D’

It appears that Clint Bowen will become the Kansas University football team’s next defensive coordinator.

The Sporting News, citing an unidentified source, said that Bowen – the best guess to replace outgoing coordinator Bill Young – indeed is the guy, and a source confirmed it to the Journal-World on Monday. Bowen has worked as co-defensive coordinator under Young for the last two seasons.

An official announcement by KU could be made this week, but probably has to wait until after Miami officially names Young its new defensive coordinator. That has yet to happen.

Young confirmed last week he accepted the defensive-coordinator position at Miami, but standard paperwork had to be processed before the Hurricanes officially could announce the hiring.

Young’s departure opened the door for Bowen, the longest tenured coach at Kansas, to be promoted again.

Bowen, a Lawrence High graduate who finished playing at KU in 1993, joined the Jayhawks’ coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 1998. From there, he slowly moved up the totem pole, becoming a full-time assistant in 2001 and the co-defensive coordinator after the 2005 season.

¢On his way: Former KU tight end Derek Fine temporarily has moved to Denver to train in preparation for a possible NFL career.

His desire to attract professional scouts got a huge boost recently, when he received an invitation to next month’s NFL Combine.

“I’m really excited,” said Fine, who graduated in December. “For me, it’ll be great.”

Fine, a 6-foot-3, 250-pounder, caught 46 passes for 394 yards last season. He was a three-year starter at Kansas.

Fine said that fellow seniors Marcus Henry and James McClinton also got invitations. In addition, early entries Aqib Talib and Anthony Collins are expected to be in Indianapolis for the Combine, where extensive physical and mental testing is conducted with every NFL team on hand.

¢Almost done: With the addition of running back Jocques Crawford and linebacker Josh Richardson over the weekend, Kansas now has 20 known commitments for the 2008 recruiting class.

As part of an NCAA punishment passed out in 2006, the Jayhawks can sign only 22 players in this class, meaning recruiting is just about wrapped up.

Some potential targets for the last couple scholarships, according to Rivals.com: Weatherford (Texas) defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore, Dallas safety Keanon Cooper and Waxahachie (Texas) defensive end Gary Mason.

Signing day is Feb. 6.