Rick Bowie arrives to San Antonio after one season at WKU. He will work alongside Owen McCown in 2026.
The UTSA Roadrunners’ offense will be under new direction in 2026.
Head coach Jeff Traylor hired Western Kentucky offensive coordinator Rick Bowie to the same position in San Antonio. Bowie replaces Justin Burke, who was an inaugural member on Traylor’s staff in 2020 and spent the last three seasons as offensive coordinator. With Burke off to Kentucky under newly-hired head coach Will Stein (another former UTSA offensive coordinator), Bowie arrives as the fifth different OC/co-OC of the Traylor era.
Bowie spent one season at WKU, guiding the Hilltoppers to a 9-4 record and New Orleans Bowl victory over Southern Miss. WKU finished 45th in total offense (407 yards per game) and 22nd in passing offense (272 yards per game), averaging a Conference USA-best 29.5 points per game.
Prior to his one-year run at WKU, Bowie directed the 4th-best total offense and 7th-best passing offense at the FCS level as Abilene Christian’s offensive coordinator in 2024. In 2023, Bowie spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Division II Valdosta State. He also held FBS roles prior to becoming a coordinator, serving as Houston’s wide receivers coach in 2021 and an offensive graduate assistant at Houston (2019-20) and West Virginia (2018).
Bowie played football at Dickinson College in 2010 and 2011 where he logged a collective 8 passing yards, 8 rushing yards, and 25 receiving yards while playing quarterback and wide receiver.
Bowie takes over a UTSA offense that ranked 14th in the FBS in scoring at 35.5 points per game, producing 419 yards per game for a national ranking of 28th. The Roadrunners featured a near-3,000-yard passer in Owen McCown and two 850+ yard rushers in Robert Henry Jr. and Will Henderson III. They posted 48 points or more on five of 13 opponents, dropping 48 on eventual American Conference champion Tulane and 58 on a 9-4 East Carolina squad.
The former WKU offensive coordinator enters 2026 with a sense of stability as McCown will return at quarterback after amassing 2,995 passing yards, 30 touchdowns (sixth in FBS), and seven interceptions on a 67.6 completion rate.
Bowie’s first game will be Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Alamodome, taking on FCS opponent UTRGV.
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