Nick KrugIn the five weeks and four games since he took over, Kansas University interim head football coach Clint Bowen often has been asked what it would take for him to land the job on a full-time basis.
Each time, in no uncertain terms, Bowen has taken the focus off of himself with his answer.
As the Jayhawks (2-6 overall, 0-5 Big 12) prepare to play host to an Iowa State team that could represent their last real chance at a victory this season, Bowen was asked the question again on Monday morning’s Big 12 coaches teleconference. His answer did not change.
“That’s not what this is about,” Bowen said when asked whether Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. kickoff with the Cyclones (2-6, 0-5) was a must-win for him. “This is about our players and our program, about Kansas football and doing what Dr. Zenger and I talked about on the very first day and that’s trying to establish an identity of what we want Kansas football to be.”
Kansas enters Saturday as a four-point home underdog. That’s the lowest the point spread has been on a Monday morning in weeks. But Bowen said he and his players were not about to let that change the way they prepare or inspire them to let their guard down for what figures to be a tough match-up.
“Playing these guys is no different than last week, than playing Oklahoma in the future, playing Kansas State, it’s the next game and you do everything in your power to prepare yourself to play that game,” Bowen said. “The rest of that stuff will take care of itself, but my job right now is to give these players the best chance to win from a game-plan standpoint and a day-to-day working basis and establish where Kansas football needs to go.”
In many ways, Bowen and the Jayhawks already have taken steps in that direction.
“Oh absolutely,” he said. “The culture of our program, right now, is so much different than (it was) however many weeks ago this whole thing started. From the way we carry ourselves to the way we practice, the mindset of our players, it’s completely different. The culture of this team is moving in a positive direction.”
A favorable outcome this weekend, particularly on the heels of last week’s drubbing at Baylor — which came after KU had covered the spread in three straight games under Bowen’s leadership — would do wonders for taking even more steps in that direction, but Bowen again emphasized that he and his team would not make too much out of the opportunity in front of them.
“You know, I don’t really treat any game any different than the others,” he said. “Every one of them, you go out and it feels like a must-win game. It’s the next game on the schedule and, for our kids, I think it’s very important that they understand that every single second in your preparation counts for each game.”
