SPRINGDALE
Mike Grace remembers his reaction when Jeff Bowerman, a friend and member of his umpiring crew, said he was quitting his full-time job at a bank to return to college.
It was a risky move by Bowerman, a divorced father with two children and a secure job for 13 years with Arvest Bank. Yet, the former college dropout made his decision and Grace wasn’t about to try and talk him out of it.
“He was fed up with the banking business and he said that he was going to go back to school to chase his dream of becoming a coach,” Grace said. “You could tell he was serious about it and I was completely supportive. Jeff has that rare combination of talent and likability that I knew he could do anything he wanted.”
Bowerman, 41, was an electrical data processing manager at Arvest Bank in Lowell when he decided to walk away from his job. He knew that going back to school in his 30s, especially without a full-time job and children to support, would be diftcult. But his worries about fi nances diminished after he quickly sold a duplex he owned and the money helped clear the way for his return to becoming a student.
“I had a good job and it was hard to walk away from that lifestyle of comfort,” Bowerman said. “But after the duplex sold, it was blatantly obvious to me that this is what God wanted me to do.”
BACK TO SCHOOL
Bowerman attended classes at Arkansas after graduating in 1990 from Fayetteville, where he was an all-state linebacker. But he slacked off from his school work and dropped out because of bad grades. Following his divorce, a more mature and determined Bowerman went back to college in 2006 and graduated from Arkansas in 2009.
He helped support himself and his two children with a series of part-time jobs that included umpiring and oft ciating ball games.
“I went through a spiritual phase after my divorce and I felt led to go back to school,” said Bowerman. “I couldn’t figure out how I could do that, financially, at first and I started praying about it. The more I prayed about it, the better I felt to pursue it.”
Bowerman traveled frequently throughout the region with Grace while the two worked mostly college games involving teams from the Missouri Valley and Sun Belt Conferences. They also worked nonconference games at Arkansas until the SEC passed a rule prohibiting umpires from doing games involving schools from which they graduated.
“Jeff and I put in a lot of miles together for over 10 years while umpiring games,” said Grace, who is also an Arkansas graduate. “I miss him and coaches still ask about Jeff and how he’s doing. I’m happy he’s back in Northwest Arkansas where he belongs and doing what he’s always wanted.”
STARTING OVER
Starting at the bottom of a new career is not easy, especially for someone older, but Bowerman never hesitated in paying his dues. He worked different jobs as an assistant coach, including Mountain Home where he met Springdale High coach Shane Patrick. Bowerman was coaching the ninthgrade team at Van Buren when he caught his fi rst big break by being selected as the first head football coach at Lakeside Junior High in Springdale, which opened in August.
“I got to know Jeff when he worked with me at Mountain Home,” Patrick said. “He is the perfect fit for starting the program at Lakeside.”
Lakeside got a late start and the Golden Eagles were without the benefit of spring football practices that other teams enjoy. Finally, after three assistants were hired, Lakeside convened as a team on a makeshift practice fi eld behind the school.
Bowerman was one of five head coaches hired at Lakeside, which is on the east side of the city toward Senora.
“It seems like I was destined to be here,” said Bowerman, who grew up in Northwest Arkansas between Knob Hill and Goshen. “A lot of things fell into place.”
From the beginning, Bowerman knew he and his staff had much work to do before the Golden Eagles were even close to being ready for their fi rst game against rival Springdale George Junior High on Sept. 5.
“Unfortunately, some of our ninth-graders just started playing football in the month of June,” Bowerman said. “They’re great kids, they work hard, but they have a seventh-grade football IQ. That’s not a slam on them. They’re just now discovering the game of football and it’s something that takes time. It’s not easy.”
STILL WINLESS
Success is measured in baby steps when building a program from scratch and the Golden Eagles stumbled forward a bit last week. Lakeside fell to 0-4 after losing 34-12 to Siloam Springs at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. The outcome was determined when Siloam Springs scored three touchdowns in three minutes and led 28-0 after one quarter. The Panthers also won the eighth-grade game, 22-0.
But Lakeside showed progress in the ninth-grade game with two second half touchdowns. That’s a bit of optimism the Golden Eagles hope to carry into Thursday’s game with Springdale Southwest at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
“It’s a process and these kids are in the early stages of the process,” Bowerman said. “ It’s like being an astronaut. You can’t wake up one day and say ‘I want to be an astronaut. You have to put in the work and the time and all the effort that goes with it.”