[1] Dowhower went on to star at San Diego State and later became an assistant for his coach Don Coryell, serving as Aztecs offensive coordinator for five seasons.
After two seasons on staff, Dowhower was promoted to head coach at Stanford on January 9, 1979,[3] a day after Walsh announced his departure to lead the NFL's San Francisco 49ers,[4][5] After leading the Cardinal to a 5–5–1 record in 1979, he left in January 1980 to become the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Denver Broncos under head coach Red Miller.
Dowhower was later the head coach for two seasons at Vanderbilt (1995, 1996), but won just four games for a career college football record of 9–23–1 (.288).
Previously, he was the head coach of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts for two years (1985, 1986), where he tallied a record of 5–24 (.172), and was fired after losing the first thirteen games in 1986.
Dowhower was an assistant coach for seven NFL teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns (under Bill Belichick), New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles.