ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been a little more than a week since five-star safety Peyton Bowen stunned the recruiting world during what became a stressful 24 hours for the now-Oklahoma signee.
Bowen, who played at Denton (Texas) Guyer, entered the early signing period committed to Notre Dame but was long considered a potential flip to Oklahoma. He eventually ended up with the Sooners — signing with coach Brent Venables’ program at 11:58 p.m. on Wednesday night — but not before first committing to Oregon in shocking fashion.
Peyton Bowen chooses Oregon.
The five-star Denton Guyer safety flips from Notre Dame to the Ducks. pic.twitter.com/597uOxGqFn
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) December 21, 2022
Now, Bowen, who is in Orlando, Fla., this week for the Under Armour All-America Game, is ready to set the record straight about how he ended up as arguably the biggest story of the early signing period.
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“So I went into the week very indecisive just because there were a lot of things tying into my decision, obviously,” Bowen said. “And so whenever I got down to it, I made the decision off of just what I thought was best for me and my family at that certain time and I was kind of in that mindset of trying to please everyone. I was trying to please my brother, my mom, my dad. I was trying to do too many things and not think about what I wanted.
“And so whenever I got home that night, I kind of just thought about it and was like, ‘What’s best for me?’ And not, ‘What’s best for everyone to try to make everyone happy?’”
Bowen said his parents never explicitly said they did not want him to sign with Oklahoma but that about a week before the early signing period they encouraged him to “look at these” other options.
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Bowen talked with the Notre Dame coaches in mid-December about his recruitment to let them know where things might be trending. Several members of the Fighting Irish staff, including head coach Marcus Freeman, travelled to Denton for an in-home visit on Dec. 15. Bowen said he still considered the Fighting Irish heading into signing day, but the plan for him to commit to Oregon was clearly already in place.
“That’s what the game plan was for a while. My dad was like, ‘You should go to Oregon,’ stuff like that. And I was kind of like, ‘Yeah, yeah I see that.’ And my little brother, he was like, ‘That’s my dream school,’” Bowen said. “So it was those things that kind of tied in, where I was just trying to make everyone happy. And so I was just like, ‘Yeah, let me just do it.’”
At his signing day ceremony on Wednesday, Bowen first put on a Notre Dame hat before shaking his head and trading it in for an Oregon one. He has since apologized to both fan bases on social media for the way he handled the situation and has vowed that the experience is “something I will learn from.”
Respect my Decision just want peace for me and my family
Boomer Sooner ⭕️U!! pic.twitter.com/ERfET7lIyG
— Peyton Bowen (@PeytonBowen10) December 22, 2022
After the ceremony, he didn’t communicate much with the Oregon staff as coaches awaited his paperwork. He said he exchanged texts with them about his thought process but indicated he was otherwise “just kind of in my own space.”
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Later that night, he gained some clarity while sitting in his bedroom and thinking about his future.
“I was like, ‘This is my decision. It’s not anybody else’s. It’s not what they want. It’s what I think I want,’ sort of thing,” he said. “And if I go somewhere and it was for my parents, then I’ll be blaming them for what happened and I’d rather be blaming myself for the decision I made.”
Asked about how much of a factor NIL was in his decision, Bowen acknowledged that the opportunity to profit off of his name, image and likeness is important to him. He compared his situation to that of Jackson Arnold, his teammate at Guyer High School and a five-star quarterback signee at Oklahoma.
“For Jackson, a quarterback is 10 times more marketable than any defensive player,” he said. “That’s just that simple. So whenever I think of NIL, I think about trying to market myself as early as possible so that I can try to get my money so if anything happens, it puts myself in a better position. So NIL was and is a priority, but it’s not the biggest thing because if I play good, I’m gonna get NIL anywhereI go. So it really wasn’t that big.”
But he also said that NIL did not factor in his decision to specifically commit to Oregon.
“They weren’t gonna give me anything. I wasn’t gonna be like some special player,” he said. “It was just gonna be the same things (as everyone else), like having Phil Knight there to endorse Nike and stuff like that. Just those NIL opportunities.”
Bowen said he sent his papers into OU two minutes before midnight on the night of Dec. 21. He then FaceTimed Arnold to share the news with his former — and future — teammate: “I’m Boomer, I’m Boomer.”
Arnold didn’t attend Bowen’s signing day ceremony and instead streamed it via Instagram live. The two are close friends, and Arnold very publicly recruited Bowen for much of the past year.
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But despite their friendship, even Arnold didn’t know what was going on last Wednesday.
“I was honestly really shocked,” Arnold said of Bowen picking up the Oregon hat. “The OU hat wasn’t on the table, so I really thought he was about to pull a pump fake and reach under the table and grab the OU hat. And when he picked Oregon, I just — I don’t know. It kind of surprised me. It really did.”
Arnold said he and Bowen spoke for about an hour that night. Throughout the process, he did his best to strike a delicate balance between making his pitch and giving his friend some space.
“After recruiting a kid like that for a year, I mean, he’s one of my best friends, you don’t push it too much,” Arnold said. “Like the other night, I’m hanging out with him, I don’t ask him on and on and on where he’s going to school or (convince him) why he should go to Oklahoma and stuff like that.
“After a while, it gets old. So I try not to push his buttons all the time.”
Last Thursday morning, Venables sent out a cryptic tweet with a poker chip that hinted at a potential flip coming down the pipeline. In reality, Bowen’s paperwork was already signed, but he had yet to make his decision public.
Asked about the symbolism of his tweet at this week’s Cheez-It Bowl, Venables admitted he was just having a little fun with all of the drama.
“I’ve got a million things going on. I don’t know, I had a little time on my (hands). We had a little break,” Venables said with a chuckle. “The players went home for a few days. It was boredom, I guess, and excitement.”
With Bowen now officially signed, Oklahoma currently has the nation’s No. 5 class in the 247Sports Composite — its highest ranking since 2010.
In Bowen, Venables said his defense is getting a well-prepared defensive back who is used to playing at the highest level of high school football.
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“Peyton brings a tremendous skill set, dynamics, instincts, speed, just great, great instincts, natural feel for the game,” Venables said. “He is going to bring a wealth of experience at a very high level from a competition standpoint.”
And for Arnold, it makes the transition to college a smidge easier.
“I have a roommate now,” he said with a smile. “Most kids don’t have your teammate going to college with you. Most kids don’t have two five-stars on the team going to the same school. So it’s definitely a relief just going up there with somebody that I know.
“It’s definitely nice to have a familiar face.”
Bowen said he’s at peace with his decision and indicated that his parents are too, adding that both of them realize that Oklahoma is the best fit for their son. He didn’t mean to become a signing day story, but he is “really happy” in the aftermath.
“Everyone was like, ‘You did everything right,’” Bowen said. “‘You did what was best for you and that’s all you can say. You took a terrible situation and you made it OK.’”
(Photo: Grace Raynor / The Athletic)
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