 Owen was decidedly blue collar; he grew up on a farm in Oklahoma where he was raised by a "prairie schoolmarm and a Cherokee strip farmer", and spent his summer vacations in high school working as a roughneck in a Burkburnett, Texas oil field.An accomplished player who was noted for his toughness and physical strength, Owen had to learn on the job as a head coach.He became an innovator who was responsible for introducing the A formation on offense, and the Umbrella defense, the latter of which helped the team control several high power passers during his tenure.