Brian Gowins will be guiding the kickers for the Panthers and brings a great deal of experience to the position having reached the heights of professional football. Gowins got a brief taste of the NFL in 1999 with the Chicago Bears and connected on 4-of-6 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points. Gowins also spent eight seasons in the Arena Football League with the Grand Rapids Rampage, Las Vegas Gladiators, and Orlando Predators. He connected on 99-of-185 field goals and made 679-of-767 extra points. Gowins was named AFL Kicker of the Year in 2001 and made the All-Rookie Team in 2000.
Gowins is a native of Birmingham, Alabama and chose Northwestern University to attend college. He kicked from 1995-98 for the Wildcats and made an incredible 82 extra points and 56 field goals. He is the third all-time leading scorer for NU and won two Big Ten titles with the Wildcats. He connected on 20 field goals during the 1997 season which led the Big Ten. He also was in the top 20 all-time in field goals made in the Big Ten upon his graduation in 1999. He holds a degree from Northwestern in economics.
