LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – During a practice shortly after he was appointed interim coach at Kansas, Clint Bowen lined up next to his players on the sideline and took off at the first whistle.

He was running sprints with them. And not just one or two players, all of them.

Imagine Charlie Weis doing that.

It was the first of many instances in which Bowen bridged a disconnect that developed between the players and Weis, who was fired four games into the season. Bowen runs onto the field at full speed when the Jayhawks emerge from the locker room and leaps to bump chests with players after a big play.

“We can relate to him more,” said running back Tony Pierson, a senior now on his third head coach. “He played ball. He’s from Lawrence. He brings a lot of energy to this team.”

In other words, Bowen couldn’t be more different from his predecessor.

Weis may have been a successful NFL assistant, but he failed as a college head coach at Notre Dame and Kansas. He was born and raised in New Jersey, about as far as one can get from the Heartland, and went to school at Notre Dame, where he did not play football. He was an offense-minded coach whose pro style seemed woefully outdated.

Meanwhile, Bowen was born and raised just down the street from Kansas’ campus. He played for the Jayhawks before beginning his career as a KU assistant in 2000. The defensive-minded coach has never worked in the pros, instead working brief stints at Western Kentucky and North Texas before returning to Kansas two years ago.