Louisiana-Monroe will name former Auburn coach Terry Bowden as its next head coach, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
Bowden spent the past two seasons as an unpaid graduate intern on coach Dabo Swinney’s staff at Clemson, a position Bowden said he took to refresh his coaching education.
Terry Bowden was hired as Auburn’s coach in 1993, and the Tigers finished 11-0 that season. He was named Coach of the Year and was fired in 1998 after the team started the season 1-5.
He returned to the Division I ranks in 2012 and coached Akron to a 35-52 record before being fired in December.
Overall, his record as an FBS head coach is 82-69-1. He also coached at North Alabama, Samford and Salem.
Bowden, 64, will replace Matt Viator, who was fired after the Warhawks posted a 10-0 record. His first duty will be to rebuild the roster of the Sun Belt Conference team, which saw 24 players enter the transfer portal before the season.
Bowden played at West Virginia and began his coaching career in 1982 as a graduate assistant to his father, the legendary Bobby Bowden, at Florida State.
His older brother, Tommy, was Clemson’s head from 1999 until 2008, when he was fired six games into the season and replaced by Swinney.
Terry Bowden has said that he wanted to return to head coaching and thought his experience at Clemson would help. But it turned out to be more than educational.
“It’s been one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Bowden told The State in Columbia, S.C., before last year’s College Football Playoff championship game. “Getting back to sitting in front of a camera and studying football again, with a bunch of great people and great analysts and being a small part, I’ve really enjoyed it. I think most of us who are fortunate enough to still be in this game at my age just enjoy it. They do a lot more for me probably than I’m doing for them, and I’m very thankful for that.”
