Why Billy Bowman Has Been Oklahoma's 'Most Consistent' Defensive Player

Brent Venables heaped praise on sophomore safety Billy Bowman this week for his performances in fall camp.

NORMAN — Billy Bowman has ridden his confidence to a great fall camp performance.

After a disjointed true freshman season, Bowman had to work to rebuild that faith in himself.

But since honing in on just playing safety in the spring, Bowman has shown head coach Brent Venables everything he needs to see mentally.

“I'm not really interested to know a whole lot more about him other than I respect how he shows up every day,” Venables said after practice on Tuesday. “Super mature. He wants to be excellent. Very quiet. Humble. One of our best workers.”

A former 4-star recruit and rated in the top 50 nationally by both 247 Sports and Rivals, Bowman’s athletic abilities were never in question.

But getting moved across different spots in the secondary last year due to injuries saw the Denton, TX, product’s play dip, leading to the previous coaching staff to lose faith in the budding star.

By the end of winter workouts, safeties coach Brandon Hall said Bowman was already back to carrying himself with confidence and that he’s done nothing but put in the work required to excel at safety.

“He’s been great,” Hall said at local media day ahead of fall camp. “… He’s a competitive person. I know he wants to win. I know he cares. So I think regardless of what Billy was asked to do in the past, he did it with his whole heart.”

Bowman and Key Lawrence are expected to start the year at the two safety spots that have been occupied almost exclusively by Pat Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell the past three years. And while Lawrence has played a bit of safety at the Division I level, Bowman will be making his debut this fall.

The lack of experience hasn’t been any kind of barrier for Bowman, however, as the 5-foot-10, 190-pound defensive back has caught Venables’ eye during fall camp.

“One of the most consistent guys on our team,” Venables said. “Right now, maybe playing better than anybody on defense. If I was to single one person out. The biggest thing is he just hadn't had a bunch of dips. He's had plenty of mistakes, like all of them.

“But he has shown up every day with the right mindset to improve, to get better — same thing in the meeting room — and be very mature. And he's hungry and he's prideful. But he's got great humility and toughness to him.”

Now Bowman has to show it on the field, where he believes his speed and athleticism will best serve him patrolling the back end of the new-look Oklahoma defense. 

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