following the 1930 season, friedman retired to become an assistant coach at yale, and the team hired lineman steve owen as the team's new head coach. owen worked for mara as a supervisor in his harlem river area coalyard in the offseason. mara said that his leaderships skills displayed in that job earned him the top position. 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.