Why Doug Meacham Named Offensive Assistant Clint Bowen Interim Defensive Coordinator

STILLWATER — On Saturday night, Clint Bowen’s top priority as a quality control assistant for the Cowboys was breaking down Arizona’s defense.

The next morning, he woke up to the news that he would be moving to the other side of the ball and skipping his way up a few steps as the new interim defensive coordinator.

“Mike Gundy recruited unbelievable players to this program,” Bowen said. “He built an unbelievable culture. I’ve been at a lot of places and coming here, I told Coach (Rob) Glass and Coach Gundy that the first winter workout I watched, the first spring ball that I watched, I went to him and I said this is unbelievable.

“The things I’ve seen our guys do to help each other, to listen to coaches, to be respectful, everything, it’s the most unbelievable culture I’ve ever seen. And so these kids will handle it fine. And this will be good.”

Although the specific circumstances are rather unique, Bowen’s no stranger to the position itself. He previously coordinated defenses at Kansas, North Texas and Western Kentucky.

He also has experience serving in an interim capacity after he took over as the temporary head coach of the Jayhawks for the final eight games in 2014, and Bowen believes that transition will serve him well now.

“If things aren’t handled correctly behind the scenes, you can end up being a big bear with no teeth as an interim,” Bowen said. “Because people kind of know that, hey, I’m dealing with this cat for eight weeks, nine weeks, whatever it is, you know, and he’s out the door. … That’s the reality of this dynamic.

“But I truly do believe that if you go out and you help players and they see that you’re helping them get better — because they all want to be the best they can be — and if you can prove to them that you’re capable of doing that, the kids will run through a wall for you.”

Interim head coach Doug Meacham did not address the dismissal of former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham following Saturday’s 45-27 loss to Baylor, but he did discuss what made Bowen the right guy for the job.

“He’s such a great guy, and I think he’s a player’s coach,” Meacham said. “I think the players feel like he cares, and I think the players feel like he’s in it to get the best out of them. … I think his MO is gonna be carry over what we’ve done and plug in the things that we feel like fit based on the opponent and just mesh with the staff from here moving forward.”

Bowen and Meacham previously served on the same Kansas staff from 2018-19, so they had an existing relationship. The Cowboys interim said it also helped that Bowen’s background involves a lot of work with defensive backs.

“I think a lot of people struggle with things on the back end because there’s so much schematics now back there because people try to disguise everything,” Meacham said. “I mean, what you see pre(snap) is not what happens 75% of the time. … I just feel good about him handling it because for me, like when he was on my side of the ball identifying coverages. What the heck is that Cover 2, no, it’s actually bracketed. For offensive guy, you think it’s one thing, but it is really not and he could explain it, how do you attack it. The switch route here, you know, whatever he’s a great source of information on coverages and stuff like that.”

Meacham made himself laugh a little bit around this time, remembering how he used to criticize Bowen’s drawings when it came to coverages because Bowen drew everything up from the defensive coaches’ point of view.

“I taught him how to draw plays the other way because defense, they draw it upside down to me,” Meacham said. “So now he’s struggling to draw it the other way, where the defense is facing the other way.”

Bowen acknowledged “the unique situation” of taking over someone else’s defense midseason. He plans to overcome that by playing to this strengths and core beliefs, most notably that the coaches make mistakes not players.

“We go out and ask a kid to do something that he hasn’t had the experience level or the knowledge to learn, that’s our fault,” Bowen said. “If we ask a player to go out there and do something that he’s not physically developed enough to do, he doesn’t have enough experience, that’s our fault. If we go out there and haven’t put them in a situation, that’s our fault.”

Oklahoma State missed a season-high 19 tackles on Saturday against Baylor so it’s no surprise that Bowen had a lot to say about fundamentals.

“Defensive football, I always think there’s a process that kids have to go through,” Bowen said. “One, what do I do coach? Where do I stand? What do I read? What should I do? Two, get enough reps. The repetitions build muscle memory to where they don’t even know how to react different. They see and react. They see and react.

“And then third, when you got all that mastered, now you start going, all right, what are those guys on the other side of the ball doing. Oh, the tailback is a yard behind the QB. Oh, this splits a little tighter. That’s when you start anticipating plays and being good.”