Countdown to Kickoff: No. 57
Shane Bowen
The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.
Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.
With it now 57 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 57 Shane Bowen, who was impactful on the field for the Jackets at linebacker before an injury ended his playing career prematurely, sending him into a coaching career on the sidelines that is still going strong today.
Bowen came to Georgia Tech in the 2006 recruiting class as a two-star outside linebacker according to Rivals out of Pickerington North High in Pickerington, Ohio and chose the Jackets over other offers from Vanderbilt and Iowa State.
After converting from safety to linebacker after high school, Bowen found his way onto the field routinely on special teams and defense for Georgia Tech during his first three years on The Flats from 2006-2008. In all during those three seasons, Bowen played in 36 games and recorded 54 total tackles (33 solo) with five sacks and seven tackles-for-loss. His most productive season came in 2007 as a sophomore when he racked up 34 total tackles (17 solo) with four tackles-for-loss, three sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Late in his junior season at Tech, however, a medical check-up showed that Bowen had a cervical disc displacement which suddenly brought his playing days to an end. That injury didn’t keep him away from the game of football though as he quickly transitioned to coaching and became a student assistant for the 2009 season. He was eventually named a graduated assistant on the Jackets’ staff under head coach Paul Johnson and served in that role for two years (2010 and 2011).
After his early coaching stint at Georgia Tech, Bowen went on to be a graduate assistant for Urban Meyer at Ohio State in 2012 and was hired after that season as linebackers coach at Kennesaw State where he served from 2013-2015.
Bowen got his first opportunity in the NFL with the Houston Texans as he took a job as a defensive assistant coach and was there from 2016-2017 before moving on to the Tennessee Titans as an outside linebackers coach from 2018-2020. He was promoted the Titans’ defensive coordinator in 2021 and continued in that role until the 2023 season.
Bowen’s latest coaching stint is with the New York Giants as he was hired as the team’s defensive coordinator under head coach Brian Daboll prior to the 2024 season and is now getting ready for his second season there in 2025.
Honorable Mention
–Roger Frey (offensive lineman from 1951-1954, member of the 1952 Georgia Tech National Championship team, played in two Sugar Bowls and one Orange Bowl, was named an All-American)
