Vic Rowen is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Defiance College

Defiance College

Defiance College, located in Defiance, Ohio, USA, is an independent, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary....

 from 1951 to 1953 and at San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...

 from 1961 to 1989, compiling a career college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 record of 132–173–10. His tenure of 28 years as head coach San Francisco State spanned over half of the length of time college football was played at the school. Rowen was also the head basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 coach at San Francisco State for a season in 1957–58, tallying a mark of 9–13.

Early years

Born Brooklyn, New York, Rowen played college football at Long Island University

Long Island University

Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...

, and later went on to earn a doctorate in physical education from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. Rowen got his start as a college coach at Ohio's Defiance College

Defiance College

Defiance College, located in Defiance, Ohio, USA, is an independent, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary....

 in 1951. He joined San Francisco State as an assistant coach in 1954 under Joe Verducci

Joe Verducci

-External links:...

, until becoming head coach in 1961.

San Francisco State

In Rowen's early years, San Francisco State was a west-coast small college football powerhouse, winning eight Far Western Conference titles before 1967. This early success lead his team to attract a great deal of football talent to the university and San Francisco State was well known for its football during this time. All of that changed during the student strike of 1968, which crippled football at SFSU.

San Francisco State did not have a winning season between 1973 and when the program was cancelled in 1995. While noted for producing outstanding players and coaches who would go on to win with other programs, San Francisco State football under Rowen’s later years was not as successful as other Division II college football teams.

Rowen was also the president of the American Football Coaches Association

American Football Coaches Association

The American Football Coaches Association is an association of over 11,000 football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "maintain the highest possible standards in football and the profession of...

 in 1986.

Coaching tree

Rowen has had two of his assistant coaches go on to lead teams as head coach in Super Bowls: Andy Reid

Andy Reid

Andrew Walter "Andy" Reid is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, a post he has held since 1999. Since 2001, he has also been the team's executive vice president of football operations...

 with the Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and Mike Holmgren

Mike Holmgren

Michael George Holmgren is a former professional football coach and current President of the Cleveland Browns. He served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998, and the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to 2008...

 with both the Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 and the Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

. Holmgren was a teacher of American history at Oakgrove High School in San Jose in 1981 when Rowen offered him his first collegiate coaching position. Gil Haskell

Gil Haskell

Gil Haskell is a long time NFL coach and the former Offensive Coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. He began his career in the NFL as a ball boy with the San Francisco 49ers while his uncle Dr. William O’Grady was a part owner of the franchise. Coach Haskell grew up in St. Brendan's Parish in San...

, now offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, also was an assistant coach to Rowen. Bob Toledo

Bob Toledo

Bob Toledo is a former American football coach and player. Toledo served as the head coach at University of California, Riverside , the University of the Pacific , the University of California, Los Angeles , and Tulane University...

, now head coach at Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, played quarterback at San Francisco State under Rowen. Floyd Peters

Floyd Peters

Floyd Charles Peters was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League and went to three Pro Bowls during his 13 year career. He played college football at San Francisco State University and was drafted in the eighth round of the 1958 NFL Draft.Later, Peters was an...

, former defensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, was a defensive lineman under Rowen.

Family

Rowen's son, Keith, has coached in the NFL

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

with various teams for over 25 years.