COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — NaVorro Bowman was able to see as a player how quickly Jim Harbaugh could turn a team into a Super Bowl contender.
Bowman has reunited with Harbaugh, albeit in a different capacity.
Harbaugh hired Bowman in February to be the Los Angeles Chargers’ linebackers coach. It is Bowman’s first coaching job in the NFL after spending last year at the University of Maryland as a defensive analyst.
“Being able to understand (Harbaugh’s) message and get his nod, his approval on how I played, it’s my job to get guys to play that way and do the things that he expects us to do — or the players to do, I should say,” Bowman said.
Bowman — a four-time All-Pro selection — played in the league for seven seasons. He spent most of his career in San Francisco, where he was a third-round pick in 2010 before being released in October 2017. Bowman then signed with the Raiders and played more 10 games.
Harbaugh and Bowman were together for four seasons (2011-14), with the 49ers reaching a Super Bowl and three NFC championship games. But Bowman tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee during the NFC title game at Seattle and missed the 2014 season.
Bowman grew up in Maryland, and his family relocated to McLean, Virginia, after he retired. Midway through the 2022 season, Bowman called Maryland coach Mike Locksley about getting into coaching.
Locksley had founded the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, so he told Bowman to come out for the final half of the season and serve as a volunteer assistant to get a feel for coaching and make sure it was what he wanted to do.
“I think he got the bug and liked the process of what being a coach is about,” Locksley said. “His experience of being an NFL great helped around the building.”
As an analyst at Maryland, Bowman didn’t do any on-field coaching. He broke down film, worked with position coaches and was a sounding board for players in meeting rooms to help them understand the defense.
“As a…
Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/navorro-bowman-transitioning-pro-linebacker-210911312.html
Author : The Canadian Press
Publish date : 2024-05-24 21:09:11
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