Bowman ready to lead Red Raiders under Wells and Co.
Alan Bowman addressed the media for the first time since joining the Red Raider football roster. Here’s how the session broke down and how Bowman seemed like a natural with the media in a few key takeaways.
- First key thing is Bowman will be leading the team in 2019. Here’s how he responded to the opening question on his status with the team. “I’m here for Texas Tech. I love the university. I love the team. Met with the coaches yesterday, really enjoyed it so excited for it.”
- Second, Bowman complimented coach Matt Wells on his energy and what he’s bringing to the table. The key figure to look out for here though is new offensive coordinator David Yost. He’s familiar with Bowman and vice versa. Yost recruited Bowman when he was still on staff at Oregon and had him throw the ball around during a visit to Grapevine when Bowman was a sophomore.
“So like my sophomore year, or after my sophomore season, he came and worked me out in my high school so I kinda knew him – not very well, but I knew who he was. So it’s kinda good to have a familiar face.”
Bowman said Yost putting guys in the NFL like Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniel is something that puts him at ease and is something positive for him moving forward. “Putting dudes in the NFL speaks volumes for who you are as a coach. So I think having those guys be in the NFL is huge."
- The third thing is Bowman dealing with his collapsed lung. He said he was told it would take ten weeks to completely scar over the puncture in his right lung, which would actually result in the muscle becoming stronger, he said. Up to the re-injury he said things were slowing down and he was on the right track so he was upset whenever he was told he wouldn’t get a go out of halftime against Oklahoma.
Bowman said they put a tube into him to suck out all the air from his lung when he arrived at the hospital. He described it as very painful and he had to go through it twice. That video of Bowman slamming his helmet was “because I knew I had to go get a tube back inside me.”
He described the injury as “weird.” The pain wasn’t there for him since it is his lung but he knew along with coaches that he couldn’t risk going out there even if he could throw the football. Bowman said a third injury would have led to big time surgery so the time off and the rest is only helping him for next year, which he’ll go into 100 percent healthy.
- Finally, we all know Kliff Kingsbury and Bowman were close. Bowman said following the Baylor game that Kingsbury told him to take over the program and keep leading. He stated the two didn’t know Kingsbury’s fate at the moment but that he wanted to let him know how much he appreciated the Grapevine product.
When the new broke of Kingsbury’s dismissal, Bowman said it was frustrating. “Yeah, that was tough. That was really really, really tough. Obviously, he’s not here anymore, which really sucks, but it was really tough to handle but you got to move on in ... life.”