This is good feedback. I don't know of Bowen's players like him or not, but they seem to respect him without being afraid. That's the wheelhouse for a coach. Bowden strikes me as a coach who is completely honest with players, whether they want to hear it or not. Actually, I think Bowdent and KD are pretty similar in style. Kids don't want a best friend, they want a good coach.
Here is a story about a coach who everyone thinks is a "players coach" in a negative way, but in reality, he had an enormous amount of respect from his players because he won and was a good coach. I have a relative who coached high school football in central Ohio at a wealthy suburb. A few years ago now when usc played tosu, usc practiced at their school. It was totally top secret and only a handful of people knew it was going to happen because they didn't want a crowd or media. A lot of the players were goofing around before practice, which is normal. The second Pete walked on the field and blew the whistle to start practice, every single player snapped to attention and became immediately focused. There was no goofing off during practice. As soon as practice was over, they started to have fun again. That's what a "players coach" really is. I would bet UofA practices are very focused that way.