} Benjamin McDowell is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of the

Washington Valor The Washington Valor were a professional arena football team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Capital One Arena. The Valor were owned by Ted Leonsis throug ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL).

College career

McDowell attended Lenoir–Rhyne, where he was a First Team All-

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as ...

player in 2005-06.

Coaching career

When the

fired

Dean Cokinos Dean Cokinos (born ) is an American football coach. He has held assistant coaching or head coaching positions with UMass Boston, Austin Peay, West Alabama, Noris Rams, Munich Cowboys, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, San Angelo Stampede, Nashv ...

on May 16, 2018, after a 0–7 start to the 2018 season, McDowell was named the interim head coach. Under McDowell, the Valor finished the season with a 2–3 record and the last place position for the playoffs of four AFL teams that qualified. The Valor then upset the top-seeded Albany Empire in a home-and-home series with the greater aggregate score. The Valor then defeated the

Baltimore Brigade The Baltimore Brigade was a professional arena football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Royal Farms Arena. The franchise was owned by Ted Leonsi ...

69–55 in

ArenaBowl XXXI ArenaBowl XXXI was the championship game of the 2018 Arena Football League season. The game was broadcast on CBS Sports Network, AFLNow and Twitter. It featured the fourth-seeded Washington Valor and the second-seeded Baltimore Brigade at the ...

. After the season ended, McDowell's interim tag was removed and was named the permanent head coach for the 2019 season.

Head coaching record

AFL

References

External links

ArenaFan statsStats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Benji Living people 1985 births Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football players Georgia Force players Alabama Hammers players New Orleans VooDoo players Washington Valor coaches American football defensive ends Tampa Bay Storm coaches