U.VA. ALUM RAS-I DOWLING FEELS AT HOME COACHING
Former cornerback returns to home area with London’s Tribe
The injuries were too much to overcome, and Ras-I Dowling came to the realization that his playing days were over at the too-early age of 28. But he wasn’t ready to give up the game. So Dowling contacted Mike London, his former coach at the University of Virginia, who was going into his first year at Howard. London wanted him on his staff but had to make sure Dowling was certain about his career path.
“He said, ‘I’ll let you volunteer to see if you really want to do this,’ ” Dowling said. “You know, the profession is tough with long hours. But I did it for a year and fell in love with it.
“I can remember coming home every night and telling my wife about the players and enjoying the process of everything. If you can enjoy doing something when you’re not getting paid for it, that’s something you love to do.”
When a full-time position opened a year later, Dowling became the Bison’s cornerbacks coach. And when London offered him the same job at William and Mary, Dowling came along.
London, who was hired as W&M’s 30th head coach on Nov. 19, sees Dowling as a natural.
“Even when he was playing at Virginia, he came in and studied film and was one of those guys who wanted to know the why of doing things,” London said. “You saw his aptitude as a player and knew there was something about him.
“When he spent a year with me as a volunteer assistant, I saw the work ethic. He’s played the position he’s coaching at a high level in college and the NFL, which is significant. Ras-I is a great man and he’s a perfect fit for what we have here.”
Though Dowling saw himself as a coach one day, it came sooner than expected. After intercepting eight passes in his U.Va. career, he was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2011 NFL draft.
Dowling, also an alum of Deep Creek High in Chesapeake, started
the first two games of his rookie season before tearing his hip labrum. He missed the remainder of the season and underwent surgery. He played seven games in 2012 but missed the rest of the season with a torn thigh muscle.
Over the next three seasons, Dowling was with three different organizations. And played in only three games. Retirement came at least five years earlier than hoped, and it was hard to accept.
“One thing about football that’s different from other sports, you can do basketball and baseball in intramurals,” Dowling said. “With football, you can’t strap on the pads and helmet and say, ‘Let’s go play for fun.’ When you hang them up in football, you really hang them up.
“I struggled with that for a little bit, but it was time for a change. And there was no better thing for me than hopping right into coaching. Being around the kids and getting to know them, building relationships, you live through your players.”
Dowling, a husband and father of two, spent the 2017 season as an unpaid volunteer at Howard who had a multitude of tasks. The hours were long and tiring, but Dowling loved it.
After the ’17 season, Howard cornerbacks coach Chip West left to become co-defensive coordinator at Charlotte. London offered the fulltime gig to Dowling, who quickly accepted.
Now 30 and going into his second full year as an assistant coach, Dowling sees coaching as his natural career path.
“You still get the emotions of the game,” said Dowling, who will also be W&M’s assistant recruiting coordinator. “The excitement, the thrill of somebody making a play on Saturday that you practice all through the week. It’s a great feeling to be close to the game and do something I love.”