Former Shrewsbury and Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards will be part of Cowan’s coaching team, along with Cowan’s assistant boss at Brackley, Jamie Haynes.
“This is about success and legacy and to give something back,” Cowan said.
“It’s 20 years since the chairman paid too much money for me when I came here as a player and I want to reward that now!
“This is an occupation but it’s more than that. It’s about three men who want to give something back to this club.”
Cowan inherits a squad struggling for consistency and wins. Salop are two points above the relegation zone having won only five of their 27 games and face the real prospect of losing their EFL status.
Despite having very little time to work with the squad before the weekend’s visit of Barnet, Cowan has been impressed by what he has seen.
“We’ve got a buy-in from the players already,” he said.
“It’s difficult. The manager goes out, no-one likes to see people lose jobs but they understand football and understand we’ve got 19 wars to go to now.
“The players will be leaving everything out on the pitch. We understand where we’re at but there is more than enough there to stay in the league – but we’re in a relegation scrap.”
