the broadcasting booth for the 2008 season. At the end of the year, Bowden took the head coach position at a Division II school, North Alabama. North Alabama On December 31, 2008, it was announced that he would be the next head football coach at the University of North Alabama in Florence. He was officially introduced as the head football coach at the University Center on January 1, 2009. Bowden was tapped to replace Mark Hudspeth, who left after directing the Lions to a 66–21 record and a third berth in seven years in the national playoff semifinals to become the passing game coordinator at Mississippi State University under new head coach Dan Mullen. During Bowden's tenure at North Alabama he guided the Lions to three appearances in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Akron On December 22, 2011, it was announced Bowden would be hired as the next head football coach at the University of Akron, and he was formally introduced on December 28, 2011. He replaced Rob Ianello as the Zips' head coach, who was fired on November 26 after compiling a 2–22 record in two seasons. In his first year, Bowden duplicated Ianello's 1–11 record from 2011. On September 14, 2013, Bowden led Akron against Michigan in Ann Arbor and came within a few yards of defeating the Wolverines. The Zips lost, 28–24, after an incomplete pass from the Wolverines' three-yard line on the final play of the game went out of the back of the end zone. Akron led at various points during the game: 10–7 in the third quarter after a 28-yard passing touchdown from Kyle Pohl to Zach D'Orazio; and 24–21 in the fourth quarter after a one-yard pass from Pohl to Tyrell Goodman. Bowden's 2013 team showed improvement, compiling a 5–7 record on the season and snapping the nation's longest road losing streak (28) with a 24–17 victory against the Miami RedHawks. For the signs of improvement shown by the Zips, Akron extended Bowden's contract by two years through 2017. Bowden led the Zips to an 8–5 season in 2015, his first winning season as Akron's coach. He also got Akron their first ever bowl game victory against Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. On September 15, 2018, Bowden led Akron to the school's first victory over a Big Ten opponent since 1894 (when Akron, then known as Buchtel College, defeated Ohio