Tim Bowens is in his fourth season on the University of South Alabama coaching staff and will work with Jaguar running backs coach for the the third year in a row.
Under his direction in 2015, Xavier Johnson set school season records with 956 yards rushing and five 100-yard games while scoring seven touchdowns and averaging more than six-and-a-half yards per carry; after ranking among the top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference and top 75 nationally, he received honorable mention all-league accolades. Â Bowens also helped Tyreis Thomas surpass 500 yards rushing in his first season at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as well, with a total of four Jag running backs gaining at least 100 yards on the year with his help.
Last year Johnson once again earned all-conference recognition after gaining 831 yards and scoring 10 rushing touchdowns, ranking in the top five in the Sun Belt in rushing, while both Dami Ayoola and Thomas chipped in with 300 or more yards and six scores apiece.  His group helped contribute to the team’s 25 touchdowns on the ground, the most since the program moved up to the NCAA FBS level.
In the fall of 2014 — his first with the Jags — Bowens served as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.  His efforts helped Shavarez Smith pick up second-team all-SBC honors for the second time in as many years, as he led the team with school records of 54 catches and eight touchdowns receiving while posting 748 yards and ranking among the top 10 in the league in receptions per game.
Actually, the top three individuals on the team during the 2014 campaign worked under Bowen’s direction, as Jeremé Jones added 36 receptions for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Danny Woodson II supplied 382 yards and four scores on 30 catches.  Jones finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in receptions and second in receiving yards, while Smith ended up first on the list for yards and third in catches.
Bowens joined the Jaguar program after spending two seasons as wide receivers coach at Samford, where his efforts helped the 2013 Bulldog squad become the school’s first to earn a berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs since 1992.
SU led the Southern Conference in 2013 in both passing (292.8 ypg) and total (415.6 ypg) offense as three of Bowens’ wideouts were among the top six in receiving yards per game.  Under his direction, Kelsey Pope caught 68 passes for 789 yards to earn first-team all-league honors from both the league’s coaches and media panel — he would end the year the school’s career record holder with 250 receptions — while Karel Hamilton was voted first-team Freshman All-American and to the conference’s All-Freshman Team after adding 38 catches for 657 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns.
The effort helped the Bulldogs claim a share of their first SoCon championship since joining the league in 2008 and record a top-20 finish in both The Sports Network and coaches’ polls, going 8-5 overall and 6-2 in conference action.
In his first season at Samford, Bowens helped Pope earn all-conference accolades after ending up in the top five in the league in receptions and receiving yards per game.
Bowens also coached wide receivers at UAB for five years, where he helped Frantrell Forrest reach second on the Blazers’ all-time receptions list.  Prior to that, he was tagged assistant wide receivers coach at Alabama in 2006 while Charlie Harbison was sidelined due to injury; that was the last of a four-year stretch on the Crimson Tide staff during which time he also was in roles as assistant director of operations and director of high school/NFL relations.  While with the ‘Bama program, more than 30 Crimson Tide players were picked up by NFL squads and 25 were chosen to play in postseason All-Star games.
He was a wide receiver at Alabama from 1996-99 — making the Academic All-Southeastern Conference Team his senior year — helping the Crimson Tide to three bowl games and a pair of appearances in the SEC Championship contest.  During that time ‘Bama had a pair of 10-win seasons and twice won the league’s West Division title, going on to play in the Orange Bowl Bowens’ senior year after defeating Florida in the SEC title game.
After the conclusion of his playing career, Bowens served as a student assistant on the Tide staff in the spring of 2000. Â The next two years he was the offensive coordinator at Coffee (Ala.) High School before moving on to be head coach at Tanner (Ala.) High; the Decatur Daily named him the Limestone County Coach of the Year in 2002.
Bowens — who earned his degree from Alabama in 2000 — and his wife, Kesha, have four children; sons Timothy, Taylor and Tanner and daughter Kallie.
The Bowens File
Born: Oct. 16, 1977, in Florence, Ala.
Education: Alabama ’00, bachelor’s degree in human environmental sciences
Collegiate Playing Experience: Four years, wide receiver, Alabama
Coaching Experience:
Alabama — student assistant, 2000
Coffee (Ala.) High — assistant coach, 2000-01
Tanner (Ala.) High — head coach, 2002
Alabama — director of high school/NFL relations, 2003; assistant director of football operations, 2004-06; assistant coach, 2006
Alabama-Birmingham — assistant coach, 2007-11
Samford — assistant coach, 2012-13
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2014-
Family: Wife, Kesha; Four sons, Timothy (16), Taylor (13), Christian (9) and Tanner (7), one daughter, Kallie (2)
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