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“We are very excited to have Bob on board,” said Currey. “He has a tremendous amount of experience at all levels, in particular as a Division III head coach, and he has a great association with the SCIAC. His offensive coaching credentials speak volumes and we look forward to Bob taking this program to new heights.” Owens, who most recently served as the offensive coordinator at Humboldt State (2003-05) has made stops at every level of college football in his coaching career. Prior to Humboldt, he served as head coach at nearby Whittier College, where he led the Poets to two SCIAC championships (1997-98) and one second place finish (2000). From 1996-2001, Whittier had the second winningest program in the conference and he is the only Whittier coach to defeat Chapman since 1994. “Chapman is an exciting place to be right now in every aspect,” said Owens. “I don’t think there is a university in California that is growing faster or in a more positive direction than Chapman and it’s exciting to come in and be a part of that.”
His niche as a coach is the passing game. A proponent of the “West Coast Offense”, he ranked in the top-15 in NCAA Division II in passing offense at Humboldt State and helped the Lumberjacks to a second place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2004 – the school’s best finish in five years. “Another thing that impressed me most about Bob was his willingness to work with the current assistants we have at Chapman,” said Currey, referring to current defensive coordinator Dave Bishop and recruiting coordinator Fred Romo. “He already has a working relationship with them and keeping those coaches on board will help us maintain the great retention rate we’ve had with our football players under Visser.” The 2006 season will mark a new era for Chapman, not just because it will be Owens’ first as head coach, but because the Panthers will begin play on Wilson Field, the first completed phase of the Lastinger Athletics Complex in the heart of the Orange campus. The team meeting on Tuesday will also serve to officially kickoff two weeks of spring practices. Owens will make his Panthers coaching debut on Sept. 16 at Menlo and his home debut on Sept. 23 vs. Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) when Chapman will inaugurate Wilson Field. A graduate of the University of La Verne, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1970, Owens went on to earn his master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Oregon in 1974. He served as a professor of African-American sociology at Whittier (1996-2002) and at Chico State (1993-95), as well as a professor of African-American history at Oregon (1972-74). He and his wife, Debby, temporarily reside in Eureka with a permanent residence in Whittier.
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