By Logan Jones
Asst. Sports Editor
As a young boy, Ryan Bowen learned first-hand what responsibility meant when he got his grandfathers’ ATV stuck in the mud.
In an attempt to be responsible, he took it upon himself to pull it free. However, his predicament got even worse when a farm truck and a tractor also fell victim to the thick mud. Eventually, Bowen told his grandfather who, instead of responding with anger, calmly offered his assistance in freeing the vehicles. It was then when Bowen understood the maturity in asking for help when needed.
Now, he takes it upon himself, his coaching staff, and his players to offer their assistance in any way they can.
Bowen is Northwestern Oklahoma States’ head baseball coach and following his inaugural first season in Alva, he had time to sit down and talk about himself, his life and what brought him to Northwestern.
Bowen grew up all over Oklahoma, spending time in the southern, eastern and northwestern parts, but the place he considers his childhood hometown is the small town of Rosedale. There where he attended Wayne High School. He was introduced to baseball from the moment he was born. “My father was a high school baseball coach, so it kind of just ran in the family,” Bowen said.
He went on to play college baseball at Carl Alberts State College and later at Southeastern Oklahoma State. While there, Bowen was a first team NJCAA All-Region II player twice, and was named the Region II Player of the Year in his final season as a Viking. That same year in 2007 he was honored with a second team NJCAA All-American selection as well. Bowen played his final two years at Southeastern, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in recreation in 2009 as well as being named SOSU Male Athlete of the Year.
Following his playing days, Bowens’ coaching career began when he went back to CASC as an assistant coach for three seasons.
While there, he earned his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in sports administration from East Central University. After his tenure at CASC, Bowen returned to Southeastern where he became an assistant baseball coach and the recruiting coordinator. While a part of the Savage Storm coaching staff, Bowen assisted in the team getting to three-straight postseason appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
In the summer of 2017, Bowen said he felt the time was right to make the leap from assistant coach to head coach. He applied for the head coaching positions from all over the region, including Northwestern. A few weeks later, he received a call from NWOSU’s Athletic Director Brad Franz, saying that he had the job.
Now is there much of a difference from being an assistant coach to being a head coach? “It’s a big jump from assistant to head coach,” he said, “but it’s still fun. There are so many different roles and more challenges.”
During his brief time here at Northwestern, Bowen has already made a huge impact on the baseball program. In his first season, he has led the Rangers to a 22-24 record, the best record since the 2014 season. The team also has a chance to make the conference tournament for the first time since NWOSU joined the Great American Confer-ence in 2012.
To those who have never met Bowen, he may come off as quiet, intense and serious but according to those who know him best, he is actually quite the opposite.
Alyssa Bowen, his wife of six years, first met Bowen when he was still in college at SOSU. She describes Bowen as being serious when in front of people but goofy when alone as well as being a sweet and good guy who is ex-tremely hard-working.
“Because of how quiet he is, people don’t get to see the nice guy he really is,” she said. “He’s just such a humble guy. He could have just had a huge win and he would just give all the credit to his players. It’s amazing.”
To show how humble Bowen is, he leaves all of his baseball accolades to the side when he considers his greatest achievements.
He said he believes his Christian faith as well as being married and staying married and getting the head coaching job at Northwestern to be his greatest accomplishments.
Even more so, he gives such high regards to his own players. He said what he fears the most is not being a good enough coach and mentor to them.
Members of his current coaching staff also had nothing but praise for Bowen. Hitting coach Tyle Hankins first met Bowen while he was a graduate assistant at East Central University. He said Bowen is a hardworking and ded-icated coach who will do whatever it takes to win.
“He’s just an all-around good dude.” Hankins said. “He showed me respect when no one else did. He gave me an opportunity that I am very grateful for, and I admire that he is such a man of faith. It’s hard to find a guy like that.”
Infield coach Luis Reyes really appreciates the fact that Bowen is such a deep believer in his faith. “He’s a very Christian man and knows a lot about the Bible,” Reyes said.
Reyes met Bowen in 2015 when he was coaching at Murray State. During his time at Southeastern, Bowen es-tablished a bond with Reyes around baseball.
“Bowen is serious but easy going once you get to know him,” Reyes said. “If you don’t know him, he comes across as intense and serious, but the more you get to know him the more he opens up to you.”
Assistant pitching coach Charlie Letourneau had much the same response. “When I first met [Bowen], I thought he was a very serious dude,” he said. “But once you get to know him, he becomes a relaxed individual.”
Even when he is away from the baseball field, Bowen has plenty of other interests.
“I just enjoy being outside,” Bowen said, “whether it’s hunting, fishing, or hiking. Those are the times where I can just put my guard down and just enjoy myself.”
So what should people know about Ryan Bowen?
He just smiled.
“I just consider myself to be a pretty normal guy,” he said. “We’re happy to be here in Alva, and we hope to stay here for a very long time.”