Experience abounds among Concord defensive coaches

ATHENS — While Concord University football coach Mike Kellar is designing and directing offensive plans, he doesn’t have to worry about a lack of direction for the defensive unit.

Three former collegiate defensive coordinators will see to that.

Chris Bowers, one of Kellar’s first hires 16 months ago, has taken the job of CU coordinator vacated last winter when Brian Hill moved on to become defensive line coach for Division I Furman University in South Carolina.

Veteran defensive expert Paul Price got the additional title of assistant coach-defense, in addition to his role of linebacker coach. For a total of 18 years, he was defensive coordinator at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

William King, for the last three years the man in charge of the West Virginia State University defense, is now Concord’s defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

“You never know in this profession,” Bowers said. “I thought we’d have success here, and when you have success that creates opportunities for coaches.”

Kellar said just prior to Monday’s spring practice session, “It’s a team effort over there, a bunch of good coaches.”

He said he interviewed Bowers, Price and “about three other guys” to fill the vacancy. “We had multiple guys more than capable of executing those responsibilities,” Kellar said.

“Coach Bowers was the best fit, at this time, partly because of how well he knows the personnel here ... and he and I philosophically agreed a lot on the defense and what we needed to do.”

He cited Bowers’ organizational skills, paired up with Price’s knowledge of “the 50 front” on defense and King’s mastery of “the 40 front.” That adds up to the ability to deploy different alignments.

Kellar said, “You’d like to be multiple in your approach, but winning through fundamentals and technique. ... You want to be sophisticated without being complicated.”

Tracy Gravely, a former all-American defensive back at Concord, has returned to coach the cornerbacks. Drew Toth, who ran the defense for a state championship squad at Grafton High School, is a graduate assistant coach for the Mountain Lions.

“Having the staff that we have gives me a ton of confidence,” Kellar said.

Bowers said, “Our defensive coaching staff, in my opinion, if you exclude me from that, it’s the best staff you could hope for at this level. From top to bottom, these guys are great.

“Ultimately, no coach makes a tackle, no coach comes up with an interception. It’s about how the players play, and what we have to do is to give them the opportunity when they’re out there to be successful.”

Looking back on last year’s 6-5 season, Bowers said, “One of the things that sticks out for me, you really have to have a clear direction of the defense, of what you want to accomplish.

“When the seas get rocky, and your hand’s on the till, you have to know where you’re steering it, (or) you can drift astray. If you do have that direction, then you will be all right when you weather the storm.”

“We had a clear vision, a decisive vision ... and it paid off. You’ve got to know what you believe in, and you’ve got to be committed to that no matter what happens.”

Hill’s blend of intensity, brashness and humor brought the defensive unit together in a distinctive way, and his successor has a hard act to follow. Bowers understands that.

While reeling off stats to support his assertion that Hill “did a tremendous job” in upgrading Concord’s defense, Bowers said, “Brian had his personality. He just was who he was, and I’m going to be who I am.”

“My main mission is just to keep us on the right track. What we started when we got here is not finished, but at least we’re moving in the right direction.”

Bowers said on the Concord athletics website, “We’ll make some changes, but we’ll keep some things, too.”

One tweak is to pressure the offense more often. “We’re going to plan to use pressure effectively,” he said. “Last year we used pressure for a significant amount of time, but we applied it in a reactionary way.”

With last fall’s team adapting to a new system, he said, “There were times last year, just in the mindset of the players, that was just a little tentative, a little ‘sit back and see what was going on.’ (This season), we’ll take it another step.”

Bowers’ resume includes four years on the football staff at Northwestern University, working with the late Randy Walker and his successor, Pat Fitzgerald. “It really set a foundation for me,” he said.

Before coming to Concord, he was the defensive coordinator at Defiance (Ohio) College. Though he said that level of football did not have the amount of talent as NCAA Division II, he learned it was “really competitive. If you don’t show up every week, you could easily get beat.”

He made the move to Concord because “I wanted to be in scholarship football. I wanted to win, and to win championships. That was important to me.”

Jumping to “a high-powered offensive league” like the West Virginia Conference presents a huge built-in challenge for a defensive coach.

“You don’t want them to score any time you step on the field,” he said.

The good thing about being at Concord, he said, “There’s an offense here that’s going to score points. We know they’re going to be balanced, they’re going to run and they’re going to be able to pass. We know that as a defense.

“That’s a nice thing to have in your back pocket. You feel like you have a chance to win every Saturday.”

His second season in Athens is different from the newness of last spring, and the coaches have noticed the difference.

“The give-and-take has been a lot of fun,” he said. “Since we’re not brand new to the program this year, we have their feet under us, we spend a lot more time analyzing and discussing.”

But a lot of work remains to be done.

“We’re a younger defense than you might think,” he said. “We really don’t have many returning starters at all. There are some newcomers, some people moved around. We’re still so limited (in practice time), we have to make every minute count.”

As recruiting coordinator last season, Bowers said, “One of the advantages is that I had so many relationships with these kids, and they knew me.”

Now, he said, “That’s one of the best things about this time of year. You get acquainted with these young people again. As you go through the process, it’s really exciting, and get to know them a little better as players, and as people.”

“It’s a lot of fun.”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com

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