DOYLESTOWN — Rob Rowan became an assistant on Steve Devlin’s Archbishop Wood football coaching staff in 2009, and Bill Laphen joined a year later. Rowan and Laphen spent two seasons together with the Vikings.
Rowan coached the defensive tackles and tight ends, with Laphen coaching the defensive ends and offensive line.
“We worked together on both sides of the ball, and our relationship really grew,” Rowan said. “I had such a blast coaching with him.”
Today, Rowan is the ninth-year head coach at Central Bucks West and Laphen coaches the Bucks’ tight ends and defensive ends. Laphen’s son, Liam, is a senior standout defensive end/tight end for 7-1 CB West.
That they ended up coaching on the same staff at the school Liam Laphen attends is partially
due to happenstance.
Rowan was looking for a graduate assistant job after the Vikings’ 2011 PIAA state championship season, so Bill Laphen reached out to his Wesley College head coach, Mike Drass. Rowan got the position and spent two years at Wesley, earning a master’s in teaching.
After coaching one year at Kutztown, as well as at high schools in Virginia and South Jersey, Rowan learned of the CB West opening from former West and Wood coach Mike Carey and was hired as head coach in 2018.
Laphen, a starting center/linebacker on West’s 1993 team that reached the state title game, reunited with Rowan on the Bucks’ staff in 2025 when son Liam was a junior.
“The way everything has set up – what are the chances Rob starts applying for head coaching jobs and lands in Doylestown at Central Bucks West?” Bill Laphen said.
Rowan initially hoped to work his way up to being a Division I college coach, only to run out of money at the age of 26 while renting a room from the equipment manager at Kutztown. And so he went with his backup plan of being a high school teacher and football coach. He does not regret that decision.
“It ended up working out,” said Rowan, a CB West business teacher who has compiled a 71-30 record with the Bucks. “I feel so blessed. I love where I’m at.”
Rowan, who at 39 is nearly 12 years younger than Laphen, credits Laphen for believing in him when he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and for being available whenever Rowan needed him.
Laphen views himself as a kind of big brother to Rowan.
“We’ve always bounced thoughts and questions off of each other,” Laphen said. “We’ve had a very in-depth relationship throughout the years.”
“He’s somebody I trust immensely, and I know has my back – somebody willing to tell me the truth and vice versa,” Rowan said. “There’s no sugar coating that comes with our conversations.”
Rowan and the older Laphen, whose first season as a football coach was 2000 at CB West with Carey, stayed in touch during the 13 years they weren’t coaching together.
“They’re super close,” said Liam Laphen of his dad and Rowan. “They take each other’s advice seriously. They trust each other’s input, but you also see them joking around.”
The Bucks, who are fourth in the District One Class 6A playoff rankings, visit Pennsbury on Friday night before closing out the regular season at home against intradistrict rival Central Bucks East on Oct. 30. The top 16 teams advance to the playoffs.
Liam Laphen, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder, has accumulated 60 tackles (10 for loss) with four sacks this season, plus nine receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He’s getting attention from colleges at different levels.
“We've built this program on the importance of meaningful relationships,” Rowan said. “One of the things we talk about is celebrating those relationships. I get to witness a special father/son relationship. It’s a really neat thing.”
That Liam Laphen is part of the CB West equation makes this even more meaningful for his dad and Rowan, who has known the younger Laphen since he was 3.
“We started (coaching together), all went our separate ways, and fate brought this opportunity around,” Rowan said. “It’s come full circle. It’s special and I cherish it.”
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: CB West's Laphen, Rowan coaching football together again | Exclusive
