Albany State football opens fall camp with David Bowser’s national vision

ALBANY — The whistles sounded. Helmets cracked. The first day of preseason practice looked much like every other opening day in Albany State football history.

The vision, however, is entirely different.

As the Golden Rams took the practice field this week to begin preparations for the 2026 season, first-year head coach David Bowser wasn’t talking simply about winning another SIAC championship or returning to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

He’s thinking much bigger.

Bowser wants Albany State football to become a nationally recognized brand.

“My style coming in is more of a CEO type,” Bowser said during a recent appearance on the SIAC Sitdown podcast. “I’ve hired an offensive coordinator. I’ve hired a defensive coordinator. … I’m trying to help think of creative ways to grow the brand.”

That philosophy explains nearly every move Bowser has made since arriving in Albany.

The practices.

The recruiting.

The coaching staff.

Even the way he talks about the future.

While many first-year coaches spend August trying to survive their first camp, Bowser is already thinking about what Albany State football can become five years from now.

“We’re getting ready for 2026,” Bowser said. “But understand a lot of our moves are going to benefit us even in 2030.”

Those comments aren’t empty slogans.

Bowser inherited one of Division II’s premier football programs after replacing Quinn Gray, who guided the Golden Rams to a top-10 national ranking and three NCAA Division II playoff home games last season.

Rather than reinvent a winner, Bowser wants to amplify it.

“Tuskegee, Florida A&M and Grambling tend to have a national brand,” Bowser said. “But if you look at the last 15 or 20 years of college football in this area, Albany State has been the most consistent and probably the most successful. We want to push that out there so people know it throughout the country.”

His blueprint begins close to home.

Soon after arriving in Albany, Bowser toured Southwest Georgia with longtime assistant Anthony Kelly, visiting high schools throughout the region. Before long, he had settled on what he believes should be the foundation of the program.

“If we’re going to recruit, we need to draw a circle 90 miles around right here in South Georgia,” Bowser said.

The results came quickly.

Albany State signed 28 players from South Georgia in Bowser’s first recruiting class, reinforcing his belief that the area’s high school talent should remain the lifeblood of the Golden Rams.

“My recruiting philosophy is high school has always got to be your bloodline,” Bowser said. “Development is what you want. With the portal, you just plug. Find guys who fit a need.”

That philosophy extends beyond recruiting.

Bowser intentionally assembled one of the most experienced coaching staffs in Division II, hiring veteran coordinators and former head coaches so he could step back from calling plays and focus on the larger picture.

“I got a very talented staff,” Bowser said. “These kids are really buying into what they’re wanting to do, and that’s what allows me to be more of a CEO.”

His first lesson about football in Albany arrived before he had coached a single practice.

A woman recognized him inside a grocery store just days after he accepted the job.

Her message was brief.

Coach Quinn Gray had taken Albany State to the third round of the NCAA playoffs.

“We don’t expect no drop off.”

Bowser laughed as he recalled the conversation, but he understood exactly what she meant.

“I knew then this thing was real,” he said.

Now the work begins.

Albany State officially opened preseason camp this week with practices leading toward its Aug. 29 season opener at Florida A&M before returning home Sept. 6 to face Johnson C. Smith in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic.

There will be plenty to evaluate over the next few weeks — quarterbacks, offensive line combinations, defensive depth and special teams.

Bowser, though, believes those questions will eventually answer themselves.

Football, he says, has a way of doing that.

His job is making sure Albany State becomes known for much more than what happens on Saturdays.

The Golden Rams already have one of Division II’s richest traditions.

Bowser’s mission is to make sure the rest of the country knows it.