OU commit Billy Bowman gives slight jab at Texas football coaches

Losing the commitment from four-star Denton-Ryan athlete Billy Bowman Jr. from the 2021 Texas football recruiting class really hurt Tom Herman.

A rough stretch of late for both the 2021 and 2022 Texas football recruiting classes rounded out over the weekend with a flip of the former four-star elite Denton-Ryan athlete commit Billy Bowman Jr. to the rival Oklahoma Sooners. On the night of Nov. 1, Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley got the news from Bowman Jr. that he would be joining their 2021 recruiting class.

Riley and the Sooners get this commitment from Bowman Jr. less than one month after he decommitted from head coach Tom Herman and the Longhorns 2021 class. He originally decommitted from the Longhorns back on Oct. 7.

And Bowman Jr. opened up on his decision to commit to Oklahoma and where his head is at now with the Denton Record-Chronicle on Nov. 2. In that piece with the Denton Record-Chronicle, Bowman Jr. detailed both his patient approach to ultimately commit to Oklahoma and what led to that decision in the last few weeks.

Herman and the Longhorns (specifically the coaching staff on the Forty Acres) got a slight jab from Bowman Jr. in this piece from the Denton Record-Chronicle. Here’s more on what Bowman Jr. had to say on the matter of his commitment to Oklahoma and decommitment from Texas.

"“I feel like Oklahoma checked every single one of my bullet points,” Bowman said. “One of them was being able to play on one of the biggest stages in college football. I also wanted to be closer to home, be around coaches who know what they are doing, and be around a championship program. I feel like I made the right decision for me, my family and my future.”"

Bowman Jr. also discussed the reasoning to decommitting from Texas, citing that he wants to play on the offensive side of the ball in college and Oklahoma looks to let him do that. The Texas coaching staff might’ve held firm that they wanted him to play a position on defense. Here’s more on this matter from Bowman Jr.

"“Anyone who knows who coach [Lincoln] Riley is knows he is an offensive genius,” Bowman said. “I’m leaning toward offense, and I had conversations with him that if I can’t get on the field right away on offense, I’m willing to play defense.”"

And last but not least, Bowman Jr. talked on his advice to other recruits considering schools in a similar process to the one he went through. That advice will not be popular in the Longhorns camp, for good reason, but is important to note for anyone coming out of Denton-Ryan High School in Denton, TX.

"“If I could give advice to anyone who is being recruited, whether they are a freshman, sophomore or junior, it’s to make sure you weigh all of your options,” Bowman said. “You don’t have to be in a rush to make a decision, and I feel like I made a fast decision [with Texas]. It felt good this time to weigh out my options and see where I really wanted to go.”"

There were a number of notes relevant to the Texas coaching staff. The versatility and pitch that Riley and the Oklahoma staff gave to Bowman Jr. since he decommitted from Texas obviously had a massive impact on his decision. He also just seems to have more confidence in the stability and overall ability of Riley’s staff to lead compared to Herman’s.

What Oklahoma is getting out of the commitment from Bowman Jr. is the nation’s No. 33 2021 high school prospect, No. 3 athlete, and No. 6 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks Bowman Jr. as the nation’s No. 35 high school prospect, No. 3 athlete, and No. 5 prospect out of Texas.

Bowman Jr. wound up choosing Oklahoma over offers from Texas and more than 30 other schools. The other highlighting schools on his offer sheet included the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks, Penn State Nittany Lions, TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and USC Trojans.