Column: Bowen discovers dual roles daunting

Kansas head football coach Clint Bowen gives his opinion as he and members of the special teams unit watch game film on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014.

In wearing multiple hats on one head, Clint Bowen routinely has given the good-soldier response to questions regarding how to juggle the duties of a head coach and defensive coordinator.

Come in earlier, leave later, he typically said.

He talked Tuesday about how much he has learned as interim head coach, and I figured it would be a good time to ask if he one of the things he has learned is that there is a reason coaches tend to do one or the other, but not both.

“That is probably the biggest lesson I learned,” Bowen said. “That is in my opinion a virtual impossibility. It’s just too trying — there’s just too much time commitment for both positions.”

So if the interim is dropped from his title after athletic director Sheahon Zenger’s search is completed, Bowen will definitely employ a defensive coordinator. “I know some guys have the head coach/coordinator role, and I believe that a lot of times in those situations there’s a guy behind the scenes doing a lot of the work, and one guy standing there on game day calling it and appearing to be the guy that did all the work,” Bowen said. “I personally don’t know how you could survive in that dual capacity. I did learn that that’s tough.”

One thing wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau learned in the time he took on offensive coordinator duties was that he wants to stay in Lawrence and work for a head coach in whom he believes.

“It’s been a crazy ride,” Kiesau said. “I always tell people this will be a year that I’ll look back and I’ll say, ‘I can’t believe what happened that season.’ From the coaching change to the quarterback change to the coordinator change.It’s one of those things that I don’t think it’ll ever happen again. It can’t. There’s just no way. The way the kids have handled it in the big picture of it all they’ve really done a good job.”

Kiesau would like to see his daughter not have to go to a third high school in a third city in three years.

“As a father you’re like, ‘Man, I should probably just sell cars down the road, stay in Lawrence, let her finish out school, coach my little guy in Pee Wee football, you know what I mean? Be a dad. In the grand scheme of things, being a father, you have to look after your family, what’s the best thing for them. That’s why I hope it works out.”

He has professional reasons as well. Working in an important position at a time that the staff executes a big turnaround appeals to Kiesau as well and he said he believes the transformation can take place.

“I feel very strongly that we could do some positive things and get this thing going in the right direction,” Kiesau said. “Just the way Clint and I work together behind closed doors and the conversations we have. We’re on the same page with a lot of things. I think he trusts me with the offense and he kind of lets me do my thing. I can do that, he can be the head coach and get a defensive coordinator and we can get some young guys in here, some energetic guys and recruit and get some players.

“There are a lot of dynamics. The unfortunate thing is I hope the whole head coach thing doesn’t come down to this one game. I hope it’s over a body of work. Whatever decision they make it’ll be a great thing. There are some things set in place here that can get this thing going in the right direction.”

He pointed to Kansas going from 6-6 in 2006 to 12-1 in 2007.

“If you can recruit the right guys in here, you can have a productive, positive football program, there’s no doubt about that,” Kiesau said. “I truly believe that.”

It wouldn’t take as long to build a winner coaching his son’s Pee Wee football team, but the challenge of doing it in the Big 12 appeals to him more.