Former Penn State football assistant Tyler Bowen is headed to Blacksburg with Brent Pry.

Virginia Tech officially announced Bowen as its new offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Monday. Reports of this hire surfaced in early December, just a few weeks after Penn State’s former defensive coordinator was hired as the Hokies’ head coach.

Got our guy @TylerBowen joins as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) January 10, 2022

After serving as the Nittany Lions’ tight ends coach, Bowen spent this past season in the same role for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Georgia native spent four seasons on James Franklin’s staff, holding titles as the tight ends coach, offensive recruiting coordinator, and co-offensive coordinator.

Bowen has made many location changes throughout his eleven years of coaching college football. He began his career as an assistant at Maryland under then-offensive coordinator Franklin for two seasons from 2011 to 2012. Since then, he has been on staff at Towson, Fordham, again at Maryland, Penn State, and most recently, in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 32-year old will now add Virginia Tech to the list.

While Bowen has never held the position of sole offensive coordinator, he proved himself as interim offensive coordinator when calling plays in the 2019 Cotton Bowl. The Nittany Lion offense posted 53 points under Bowen in the win over Memphis.

Bowen also served as a valuable recruiter during his time in Happy Valley. Penn State football registered top-15 recruiting classes nationally every year that he was on staff.

Along with Bowen, Pry also managed to bring Penn State’s former Director of Football Ops Michael Hazel to Blacksburg earlier this month.

About the Author