Eddie Ray Vowell (born December 13, 1946) is a retired

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. He is best known for serving as head football coach at

Texas A&M University–Commerce East Texas A&M University (ETAMU; formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce) is a public university in Commerce, Texas, United States. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in ...

from 1986 to 1998. He is second in program history with 73 career wins and led the Lions to the 1990

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas ...

championship and appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1990, 1991, and 1995.

Early life

Vowell was born in Oklahoma but was raised in the small Texas Panhandle community of Mobeetie. He graduated from Mobeetie High School in 1965 then attended

Southwestern Oklahoma State University Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) is a public university in Weatherford and Sayre, Oklahoma. It is one of six Regional University System of Oklahoma members. History SWOSU was first established through an act of the Oklahoma Te ...

Weatherford, Oklahoma Weatherford is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 12,076 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a gain of about 11.5% over the 10,833 figure from the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1969 and a master's degree in 1978. While at Southwestern Oklahoma State, he was a member of the Bulldogs track team and was also on the dean's list.

Coaching career

Early coaching

After graduating, Vowell coached at several high schools in Texas. He coached

David Bailiff David Edward Bailiff (born May 26, 1958) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach at Texas A&M University–Commerce from 2019 to 2022; prior to that he was the head coach at Rice University in Houston, ...

while in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and coached at Gainesville High School in

Gainesville, Texas Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. Its population was 17,394 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Texoma region and is an important Agri-business center. History Found ...

before joining the staff at East Texas State.

East Texas State

Vowell was hired by Ernest Hawkins in 1983 as East Texas State's

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

and track and field coach. He helped lead the Lions to a share of the 1983

title. In 1985, Hawkins announced his retirement from coaching and transitioned to athletic administration at East Texas State. Vowell was hired as head football coach. In Vowell's first two seasons, the Lions struggled, posting 2–9 records in 1986 and 1987, but the 1988 Lion team finished with an 8–3 record and reached as high as #2 in the national polls before dropping their two final games to lose out on a conference title and playoff bid. Nonetheless, he was named conference Coach of The Year. The Lions regressed to 4–6 in 1989, but then posted a 10–3 season in 1990 and won the Lone Star Conference with a perfect 7–0 record. They qualified for the national playoffs in 1990, losing in the National Quarterfinals, of which Vowell was once again named Coach of the Year in the Lone Star Conference. In 1991, the Lions finished second in LSC and returned to the playoffs, finishing as national quarterfinalists again and posting an 8–3 record in 1992. After two .500 seasons, the 1995 Lions returned to the playoffs, finishing 11th in the country. Vowell retired at the end of the 1998 season.

Arena Football League

Vowell was an assistant coach for the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

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 ...

from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2008. He also coached the

Austin Wranglers The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in af2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances ...

as an assistant.

Notable players coached

Bobby Bounds Robert Edward Bettis Bounds (born January 13, 1969) is an American former professional football quarterback who played two seasons with the Cleveland Thunderbolts of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at East Texas State ...

, starting quarterback for the AFL's Cleveland Thunderbolts *

Gary Compton Gary Compton (born May 9, 1968) is an American former professional football wide receiver and linebacker in the Arena Football League and briefly in the National Football League and World League of American Football. Compton played college footb ...

, wide receiver in the NFL, WLF, and AFL *

Mike Trigg Michael Trigg may refer to: * Michael Trigg (quarterback), American football quarterback and head coach * Michael Trigg (tight end) Michael Trigg (born June 27, 2002) is an American college football tight end for the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 ...

, quarterback and coach in the Arena Football League *

Clint Dolezel Clint Dolezel (born March 25, 1970) is an American American football, football coach and former quarterback in the Arena Football League (AFL). He currently serves as the head football coach at East Texas A&M University. Dolezel played as a qua ...

, Hall of Fame Arena League quarterback and current coach of the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

* Curtis Buckley, NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers. *

Kevin Mathis Kevin Bryant Mathis (born April 29, 1974) is an American football coach and former cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He currently serves as the cornerbacks coach for the University of Colorado. During his career as a player, Math ...

, NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons * Antonio Wilson, NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the CFL's Edmontons Eskimos * Cedric Bonner, NFL's Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins * Bo Kelly, fullback in the Arena Football League *

Billy Minor Billy Ray Minor Jr (born June 27, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver. He was in training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles NFL and played in the Arena Football League for the Dallas Texans in1993. He played college football at Ea ...

, NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and Arena League's

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs *Dallas Texans (arena football) The Dallas Texans were an ...

Personal

Vowell lives in

Campbell, Texas Campbell is a city in Hunt County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 542 at the 2020 census, down from 638 at the 2010 census. Geography Campbell is in eastern Hunt County. Texas State Highway 24 runs through the northwestern side ...

, just south of Commerce, with his wife Jan.

Honors

* 2 Time Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year (1988, 1990) * 2 Time Lone Star Conference Champion (1983 as an ASST), 1990 (As Head Coach) * 3 Time NCAA Division II Playoff Qualifier (1990, 1991, 1995) * Texas A&M University-Commerce Athletic Hall of Fame (2011)

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vowell, Eddie 1946 births Living people Austin Wranglers coaches Grand Rapids Rampage coaches Tampa Bay Storm coaches East Texas A&M Lions football coaches Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs men's track and field athletes College track and field coaches in Texas High school football coaches in Texas Southwestern Oklahoma State University alumni People from Mobeetie, Texas Sportspeople from Oklahoma Track and field athletes from Texas