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Virginia Tech fans are losing their minds because new head coach Brent Pry has yet to officially name an offensive coordinator. For days, we’ve said that Pry likely has his offensive staff in place, but they are working somewhere else. Now, it appears, the proverbial cat is out of the bag.
Virginia Tech is expected to hire Jacksonville Jaguars assistant coach Tyler Bowen as offensive coordinator at the conclusion of the Jaguars' season, sources tell @On3sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 9, 2021
Bowen worked with new Va Tech head coach Brent Pry at Penn State.https://t.co/Bu2WXKE9Bt
Bowen, 32, is in his first season as tight ends coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before going to the NFL, Bowen spent three seasons at Penn State from 2018-20, where he served in various roles. Bowen began as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator before moving to interim offensive coordinator in 2019. In 2020, Bowen worked as a co-offensive coordinator in addition to his other duties.
Bowen played offensive line at Maryland. He immediately began his coaching career as a student assistant with the Terps in 2010 under head coach Ralph Friedgen and offensive coordinator James Franklin.
He spent the next two years as a graduate assistant for the Terrapins under Randy Edsall. He would receive his first full-time coaching role in 2013 at Towson as tight ends coach. In 2014, we moved to Penn State as an offensive graduate assistant, reuniting him with his mentor, Franklin. In 2015, he went to Fordham as offensive line coach and, one year later, was promoted to offensive coordinator.
He returned to Maryland in 2017 as offensive line coach.
He would again join Frankin at Penn State in 2018.
Not much is known why Bowen left Penn State after 2020, other than perhaps to get some experience at the NFL level under Urban Meyer. While there are some things to question about his offensive scheme and play-calling ability, Bowen is young and has some serious recruiting chops. From a recruiting perspective, this is a big-time hire.
Check out what Adam Friedman of Rivals had to say about Bowen to the Hokies:
Big move by Brent Pry to hire Tyler Bowen as offensive coordinator. The Hokies are going to be ACTIVE in DMV recruiting. Bowen was a recruiting rockstar in that hotbed of talent. @Hokie_Haven | @adamgorney
— Adam Friedman (@RivalsFriedman) December 9, 2021
This should ease the minds of some of the recruits who expect to sign next week. The next big question is who will be the quarterbacks’ coach? That’s an important position, and Bowen isn’t likely to double as a QB coach, so that hire is critical.
I love this hire from a recruiting perspective. Some people will crush the hire because they expected Pry to land Sean McVay as his offensive coordinator (joking, I think). However, let’s allow things to play out.