ASHLAND — As he rides off into the sunset, Lee Owens can rest assured he left Ashland University’s football program in a better place than he found it.
The 66-year-old Owens, a Madison graduate, announced his retirement Friday afternoon inside the VIP Room of AU’s Robert Troop Center, bringing an end to a wildly-successful 45-year coaching career that began shortly after his graduation from Bluffton College in 1977.
Associate head coach Doug Geiser, a longtime Owens assistant, has been promoted to interim head coach.
In 39 years as a head coach at the high school and collegiate levels, Owens compiled a record of 266 victories, 154 losses and two ties. He spent his final 19 seasons at AU, where he was 137-61 with four conference championships and six NCAA Division II playoff appearances.
“I’ve been blessed to be a lot of places and around a lot of great people,” Owens said during a Friday afternoon press conference attended by about 100 people. “This will always be our team, the Ashland Eagles. This is our school, Ashland University. And this is our town, Ashland, Ohio. I am honored to be a part of it.”
Moreover, Owens shepherded AU’s football program into the 21st century. When he arrived in Ashland in December of 2003, the Eagles shared an aging natural grass field with Ashland High School.
During his watch, AU moved into its own on-campus facility, the 6,000-seat Jack Miller Stadium, in 2009. Jack Miller Stadium is the crown jewel of the sprawling Dwight Schar Athletic Complex that includes the Troop Center and the new Niss Athletic Center, a 125,000-square-foot indoor training facility that includes an 80-yard artificial surface football field surrounded by a 300-meter, six-lane track.
“Lee Owens came to Ashland and provided us with a blueprint for a successful football program,” Ashland athletic director Al King said. “By successful, I mean in every aspect — academic performance, athletic excellence, facilities, fundraising, a long-range vision, and so much more.
“He lifted the football program, the campus, and the community to a new level.”
As for his on-field accomplishments, Owens’ résumé speaks for itself. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Waynesfield-Goshen High School near Lima, before returning to north central Ohio as an assistant to Ashland University Hall of Famer Bill Seder at Crestview.
He took over at Crestview in 1981 and guided the Cougars to a perfect 10-0 record in 1982. Crestview finished third in the final regional ratings, just missing out on a playoff spot (only the top two teams in each regional qualified for the postseason at the time).
Owens left Crestview for Galion in 1983 and piloted the Tigers to the Division II state championship in 1985, still north central Ohio’s only football state crown during the playoff era. Galion beat heavily-favored Youngstown Mooney 6-0 in the championship game at The Horseshoe, capping a perfect 14-0 season.
“By far the most significant victory of my coaching career,” Owens said.
Owens guided Galion to a second straight Northern Ohio League title and another playoff berth in 1986 before taking over at Lancaster in 1987. He coached the Golden Gales for one season before being hired to lead one of the premier high school programs in the country, Massillon Washington.
Owens led Massillon to three playoff berths in four seasons. The Tigers reached the Division I state semifinals in 1989 and 1991, falling to eventual state champ Cleveland St. Ignatius both years.
“My favorite job of all time, without question,” Owens said of his time at Massillon. “Our last game was a one-point loss to St. Ignatius (14-13 in the 1991 state semifinals). By far the most painful loss of my coaching career.”
Owens left Massillon after the 1991 season for Columbus, where he was an assistant on John Cooper’s Ohio State coaching staff from 1992 to 1995. He was hired as the University of Akron’s 24th head coach in 1995 and piloted the Zips for nine seasons from 1995 to 2003. Akron was 7-4 in 1999, 6-5 with a Mid-American Conference East Division championship in 2000 and 7-5 in 2003, Owens’ last season with the Zips.
To date, Akron has had just seven winning seasons since transitioning to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly Division I-A) in 1987. Owens accounted for three of those seven seasons and his successor, J.D. Brookhart, had two winning seasons in the first two years after Owens’ departure (using Owens’ recruits).
“He’s impacted a lot of his players along his journey. That’s one of the main things I take away from him,” said Charlie Frye, a Willard graduate who starred at Akron during the Owens years before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. “He really poured into his players, invested in them. We had a special relationship (and) still have a special relationship.”
Akron’s loss turned out to be Ashland’s gain.
Owens was announced as the 14th head coach in AU’s history on Dec. 3, 2003, replacing Gary Keller. He piloted the Eagles to a playoff berth in 2007 and the first postseason victory in program history the following year.
Ashland won Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 2012, 2015 and 2017, qualifying for the Division II playoffs each season. AU joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2021 and won the GMAC title this fall. Ashland reached the second round of the playoffs before falling to Indiana University Pennsylvania in the super region semifinals last weekend.
“Ultimately, he gave me a great opportunity as a player and he built that program from where it was,” said former AU quarterback and Ashland High School product Taylor Housewright, who is now the offensive coordinator at FCS power Montana State. “Just an unbelievable human being, unbelievable coach.
“He’s a leader of men and a leader of young men trying to be adults. That’s what makes him so great. He had a great impact on my life.”
The search for Owens’ long-term replacement will begin immediately. Whoever gets the job will have big shoes to fill.
“Lee Owens took one of the best Division II programs in the nation to a higher level and his legacy at Ashland University will be long remembered for its commitment to excellence,” AU President Carlos Campo. “His winning attitude and extraordinary coaching skills have left an indelible mark on our campus and we are grateful to Lee for shaping the lives of young men for good over these years here at AU.”
