Nasir Bowers is a senior cornerback from Lakeland, Fla. A media communications major, Bowers moved into a starting role in 2024 and is one of five returners in the Toledo secondary in 2025.

Q: Tell me about your family and what growing up was like for you.
When I was young, I lived with my mother, two sisters and brother. I moved in with my dad when I was six or seven. His name is Michael Bowers. It was just me and my dad. He raised me. He put me into football and taught me everything I know.

Q: What was it like living with your dad?
It was incredible. I'm not gonna lie, I loved it. My dad was hard on me though. At first I didn't understand the reason why he was so hard on me, but it helped build me into the person I am today. He was big on respect and grades. He was like, "Football comes third. First, you gotta have respect and treat others how you want to be treated, then school, then football. If you don't have the grades, you can't play football."

Q: How did you react to that?
I struggled with that at one point in time when I was younger. I used to struggle in school. My dad was hard on me. He kept instilling it in me: "School, school, school. Lock in on school. You can't go to college if you don't have the grades, no matter how good you are in football." It finally clicked for me in middle school, and then I started doing even better in high school. I had a 3.3, 3.4 GPA.

Q: Sounds like your dad was a disciplinarian. What is his background?
His dad was in his life somewhat, but not always there. So, my dad always told me, "I don't want you to go through that, so I'm always going to be there for you through thick and thin, no matter what you're doing in life. No matter what happens, I'm always going to be there for you." And he's always been there for me, good or bad.

Q: What changed for you in middle school? Was it a simply a question of just working harder?
It was a hard moment for my dad and I. My dad used to give me a whole bunch of tutors, just trying to help me to improve in school, reading better and all that. I still wasn't getting it. It was in elementary school through the sixth grade when I wasn't getting it. He just broke down, and then we just started praying, and we both started crying. Then it just started working out. I finally started understanding it. It was just crazy how it all just happened and panned out at the perfect time.

Q: You must have felt a real sense of happiness when your academics started to improve.
I did. It was a huge relief for my dad because he already had so much on his plate. He was working two jobs - his main job at a warehouse and his lawncare business on the side. And then he had to deal with me, and I was causing more headaches by teachers having to call him and saying that I'm doing this, I'm doing that. That's very frustrating and it put a lot on my dad. So, when I finally started realizing how much stress I was putting on him, that's when I started doing better.

Q: Do you think you learned your work ethic from your father?
He doesn't complain and neither do I. That's where I get that from. It's "keep your head down and grind." I get that from him because that's all I know. That's all I see him do: don't complain, just get up and go. He'll work the late shift from 11 at night to seven in the morning. Then later he'll do yards until about eight or nine at night. And then go to work and do it all over again. I never heard him say, "I can't. It's too tough."

Q: What was that like for you to decide to come from Florida all the way to Northern Ohio?
Coach VK (Vince Kehres), he was on me heavy. He used to call me all the time, check up on me, just show the most love out of all the schools. And then Coach Candle called me, and then Coach (Robert) Weiner. I had heard of Coach Weiner since I was little. In Florida, Coach Weiner is like a legend. Everybody knows him. So he's texting me, calling me and stuff. I was like, dang, okay. So I started doing my research. I looked at the roster, and I'm like, hold on, more than half of the team is from Florida.

Q: Were there players on the team from Florida that you knew?
I knew RJ Delancy. I've known him since high school because he was a big, viral guy. Everybody knew him. I started getting a relationship with Quinyon Mitchell and Chris McDonald on my visit. And then I'm like, yeah, it's home. This is it right here. This is all I need. They showed me the way, they taught me everything that I know about the business side of this, studying, watching film, taking care of your body. Because it's more than just going out there and playing. You gotta do the other things to prepare to play. They taught me all those things. Coach (Perry) Eliano has taught me as well. I've learned a lot from him.

Q: I assume you mentor the younger guys now.
I do the same for the younger guys. It's just a recycle.

Q: Like most players, you didn't just come in and play right away. You had to work your way into the lineup.
My freshman year, I was a special teams guy, like most of our class of 2022, guys like Junior Vandeross, E Man (Emmanuel McNeil-Warren), Avery Smith, Eric Holley. My sophomore year, it was basically the same way for me. I had Chris McDonald, Quinyon Mitchell and RJ Delancy ahead of me. Those guys were great. I had to just stick with it, keep trusting the process, keep my faith, just keep preparing, so that when my time came, I'd be ready.

Those guys graduated and then we got a new position coach, Coach Eliano. Coach (Corey) Parker was a great coach, so we were like, what's this new coach going to be like? Coach Eliano came in and I'm just like, wow! He just blessed us. The stuff that he's teaching us is mind blowing. I never thought that I would have a coach like that in my life. He's the greatest coach I've ever had. It's not even close. I loved Coach Parker. He's a great coach as well. But I really love Coach Eliano. I appreciate him for everything he's done.

Q: You are a mass communications major. Why did you choose that major? What would you like to do after your football career is over?.
I chose communications because I like to talk, even though sometimes I get nervous talking to some people. But once I get into it and start really talking, I feel like I talk very well. After football, I would like to do something in communications, but honestly, I also want to get into real estate. I'd like to own my own properties, like having Airbnbs to rent out to people.