Tyler Bowen


Tyler Bowen is an American college football coach and former player. He played college football at Maryland and is currently the offensive recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach at Penn State.

Early life

A native of Helena, Ga., Bowen as was a four-year letterwinner at Telfair County High School. He was a first-team Class A all-state selection by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a senior as well as a first team All-Region 2A, Macon Telegraph Georgia Top 50 and All-Middle Georgia first-team choice. Bowen earned the Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for Region 2A from the Chick-Fil-A Bowl after allowing just three sacks in his junior and senior years.

College playing career

Bowen played three years of football at the University of Maryland before becoming a student assistant in 2010 when it was determined that he couldn’t play football anymore due to injuries. During the 2010 season under the tutelage of head coach Ralph Friedgen and offensive coordinator James Franklin, he helped Maryland post a 9–4 record and a win in the Military Bowl.

Coaching career

After he received his degree in 2010, Bowen joined Coach Randy Edsall’s staff as a graduate assistant. During his two seasons as a G.A. at Maryland, he worked with the offensive linemen and the wide receivers. In his final season at Maryland, he coached for Mike Locksley, the Terps’ Offensive Coordinator. Bowen spent the 2013 season as the tight ends coach at Towson University where the Tigers advanced to the FCS Championship Game and finished No. 2 in the country. In 2014, Bowen spent the season as an offensive graduate assistant for the Nittany Lions, he assisted primarily with the offensive line. In 2015, he served as Joe Moorhead's offensive line coach at Fordham, and then as Andrew Breiner's offensive coordinator the following season. In 2017, Bowen joined Maryland and head football coach D. J. Durkin as their offensive line coach.
After spending just one season at Maryland, Bowen rejoined Penn State and Coach Franklin as the Nittany Lions tight end coach for the 2018 campaign. In his first season in this new position, true freshman Pat Freiermuth finished second among FBS tight ends with eight touchdowns. Freiermuth claimed The Athletic All-America and All-Big Ten honorable mention recognition for his efforts.

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