photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World photo

Lawrence High coach Clint Bowen observes his team against Wichita Heights on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022.

Former Lawrence High School and University of Kansas football coach Clint Bowen has accepted a job on Mike Gundy’s staff at Oklahoma State University.

Bowen — who spent over 20 years as a KU defensive coach and four years as the head coach at Lawrence High — wasn’t sure what his next step would be after coaching at his alma mater. The opportunity came with Gundy, whom Bowen has coached against and known for a long time.

“He’s one of the godfathers of college football,” Bowen said. “To be able to go and work with him, he’s one of the longest-tenured head coaches for a reason: He does a good job.”

The opportunity came after conversations with newly hired offensive coordinator Doug Meacham and others in the program — conversations about having coached at Lawrence that became conversations about coaching in Stillwater.

Bowen’s official job with the team has yet to be decided, but Bowen said it’ll likely be on the offensive side of the ball. Meacham was the KU offensive coordinator from 2017 to 2018, while Bowen was the defensive coordinator and the associate head coach for the Jayhawks.

Along with returning to a Power Four conference that Bowen knows well, the job provides an opportunity to be close to his son Banks Bowen, who will join the University of Tulsa football program in the fall.

“That was a bit of a fortunate sidebar; that wasn’t really planned or anything,” Bowen said. “It definitely makes it nice to be 45 minutes from where he is. Oklahoma State plays Tulsa in week three of the season, so I’ll get a good look at him on that day.”

Before coaching at LHS, Bowen was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Texas in 2020. From 1996 through 2019, Bowen spent most of his time on the Kansas coaching staff. The new job doesn’t just mean returning to college football, but also to the conference in which Bowen played and coached for most of his career. Seeing familiar faces at each venue will be a welcome bonus to the job, along with coaching at what he says is a very tough environment for visitors.

“I’ve played in Stillwater maybe 15 to 20 times, and it’s hard to play at,” Bowen said. “It’s one of those places where the crowd is right on top of you. They’re loud … banging those paddles on the wall. We’ve had some rough days in Stillwater — it’s a great environment.”

Bowen’s first day on the job was Tuesday.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas defensive coordinator Clint Bowen disputes a call with a game official during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.