The University of Maine football team lost a captain and one of its biggest offensive threats this offseason.
Tight end Shawn Bowman, a two-time third team All-Colonial Athletic Association pick, transferred to Football Bowl Subdivision team Rutgers University in New Jersey earlier this summer.
He would have been one of four UMaine captains this fall.
Bowman caught 31 passes for 377 yards and five touchdowns in eight games last fall before a leg injury forced him to miss the final three games. He led the Black Bears in receiving yards per game at 47.13 and was second in touchdown receptions.
UMaine went 2-9 last fall, 2-6 in the CAA.
He finished his UMaine career with 86 receptions for 960 yards and 11 TDs.
He will rejoin former UMaine head football coach Joe Harasymiak, who is Rutgers’ defensive coordinator, and Corey Hetherman, who was UMaine’s defensive coordinator and is now the linebackers coach at Rutgers.
UMaine is in the Football Championship Subdivision, which is a notch below the FBS. FBS schools offer 22 more scholarships and have many more resources for athletes.
The 6-foot-5, 255-pound native of Bear, Delaware, told NJ.com that Rutgers has “resources for athletes to maximize their potential in every single aspect. From football, to weight training, recovery, nutritional, even sleeping at night.”
Bowman added that he has a long-term goal of playing in the NFL, and that “Rutgers will teach me how to be a professional before I even get there.”
Bowman was ranked the third-best blocking pass-catcher in all of FCS by Pro Football Focus.
The tight end added that he wanted an opportunity to prove himself in a Power Five conference, as Rutgers is in the Big Ten.
“If I want to play in the NFL, I need to prove it to scouts that I can compete and dominate in one of the best conferences in the country, and I truly believe that I will be able to do so at Rutgers,” Bowman said.
He will be joining a Rutgers team that went 1-8 in the Big Ten last season, 4-8 overall, and lost eight of its last nine games.
The Scarlet Knights haven’t had a winning season since they went 8-5 in 2014. They have gone 25-69 since then.
