His intervention saw the Ivorian winger go on to contribute 14 goals and four assists in one of the Championship's outstanding individual loan seasons.
The Daily Mail published Mowbray's account ahead of Manchester United's Premier League trip to the Stadium of Light on Saturday — the first time Amad has returned to Wearside since his transformative 2022/23 loan spell.
Mowbray had been in charge at Sunderland for only a day when Amad arrived on loan from United in August 2022, the teenager having already endured an unhappy spell at Rangers after failing to establish himself in first-team football at Old Trafford.
"Unfortunately for Amad, he'd obviously not had a great experience at Rangers. I think he was damaged a little bit. He didn't have the confidence. He wasn't believing in himself. That shirt weighs really heavy."
Mowbray drew on his own experience as a young Celtic player coming up against Rangers legends Paul Gascoigne and Ally McCoist to explain the empathy he felt.
"I felt Amad probably was questioning if he was going to make it in football. As a young player at Celtic coming second to Gascoigne and McCoist, I could associate with how difficult life would have been for him. I had an affinity with him and could put my arm around him."
Once Amad found his footing in training, Mowbray said the decision to play him was not a difficult one.
"The ball seemed to stick to his left foot. Nobody could get it off him. I just remember sitting after training one day and thinking we had to get him in the team. It was just hitting you in the face."
He placed Amad in a lineage of players whose talent announced itself the same way, having previously worked with James Maddison at Coventry City and Harvey Elliott at Blackburn Rovers.
"You can feel it with these players — give them the ball and let the magic happen. That's what Amad was for Sunderland. Get him the ball and let him dance. All I do is try and give them a platform. Once we gave that to Amad, he was flying."
Amad himself has described Mowbray as "like a dad" — an assessment the former manager received with characteristic warmth when reflecting on what the loan produced.
"I'm happy that I've been able to play a little part in his development. I feel proud when he does something special — and he's done some special things. Yet last weekend he cost them a goal, didn't he? I feel all the hurt and the enjoyment for him."
Mowbray closed with a memory of the season's end — Amad heading back to United, new baby in tow, a different player to the one who had arrived.
"I shook his hand and wished him well. Sent him off on his life really."
On Saturday, Amad runs out at the ground where that life changed. The reception he gets from both ends of the stadium will tell its own story.