John Bowlin had no intention of ever leaving Iowa Valley High School.
Bowlin has coached football and taught math at Iowa Valley the last 15 years.
But when the opportunity to return to his alma mater to coach football arose, Bowlin jumped at the chance.
Bowlin has been hired as the next head football coach of the Panthers. He takes over for Shawn Striegel, who resigned after an 0-9 season last fall.
Striegel had a 30-59 record in his 10 years at the helm.
Bowlin is anxious to get started at Mount Pleasant, where he also will serve as an At-Risk teacher and his wife will teach high school English.
“My parents live in Mount Pleasant and my sister and brother both live there. We are very excited about moving back there and getting started,” Bowlin said. “My wife and I always talked about if we ever left Iowa Valley it would be to move to one of our hometowns. We have three kids ages seven, five and two, so it was pretty much now or never.”
Bowlin played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Jensen during his time at Mount Pleasant. Jensen replaced Hall of Fame coach Bob Evans, who built the Panthers into a state powerhouse.
Bowlin is excited to get a chance to add to that tradition and legacy.
“They have a great tradition there,” Bowlin said. “I know Coach Striegel had some great teams. It’s going to be exciting. I have a lot pf prepping to do before I will be comfortable.”
Bowlin will have to adjust to the 11-player game after spending the last eight seasons coaching the eight-player game at Iowa Valley. Bowlin’s teams were known for high-powered offense and sturdy defense.
Bowlin said when push comes to shove, the basic principles are still the same.
“The biggest difference is that in the 11-player game you have two safeties in the middle of the field, so you have to attack a little differently. We had a lot of speed here at Iowa Valley, so we were able to put up a lot of points,” Bowlin said. “I played offensive line at Coe College, so I really love the power running game. I still believe you have to run the ball to be successful. We want to establish the running game and be physical.”
DANVILLE AND NEW LONDON, TOO
Two decades ago, Danville and New London shared a football program, one that was fairly successful.
Since then, the school have parted ways. Danville eventually dropped football after the 2016 season, while New London went on to switch to the 8-player game, winning a state championship in 2018.
Both teams recently hired new coaches for the 2023 season.
Danville, which is bringing football back and will be in Class A District 5, reached out to hire Cody Thompson, a Graettinger native who has spearheaded the Bears’ junior-high program the last several years.
“My goal for our football program is to establish a culture that will help our student-athletes be successful now and in the future,” said Thompson, a fifth-grade teacher at Danville. “Due to the fact that I coached many of these guys in junior high, I believe that we have a chance to make a lot of progress early this year. This is a talented group of kids and I know what we’re working with right away.
“Football coming back to Danville is extremely exciting for everyone involved. I believe the atmosphere that Friday Night Lights brings will bring people together and really demonstrate the pride that our community has for our school.”
New London turns to a familiar face to take over its program.
Darin Loyd, who previously coached the Tigers and served as an assistant coach under Mark McSorley, will step back in as head coach.
McSorley recently resigned after six years as head coach. He had a 42-17 record in those six season, taking the Tigers to the postseason each year and winning a state title in 2018.
Loyd is excited to get back to being a head coach.
“I love working with young people. I’m excited to get back to work,” Loyd said. “I really like the eight-man game. It forces you to focus more on fundamentals. You can’t really outscheme anybody. You have to try to get your kids in one-on-one matchups.”
The Tigers graduate seven senior starters from a team which went 6-4 last season. Loyd is ready to start building the program back up.
“It’s going to be a little bit of a building project. We only had three juniors, so we are going to be very young and inexperienced,” Loyd said. “Winfied-Mount Union is going to be very tough with a really good senior class. They will be the team to beat (in 8-Player District 6). I think we will be very competitive with the rest of the teams in our district. Everybody is pretty excited to get started.”
