OU defensive back Peyton Bowen is entering his final season in Norman as one of college football’s rarest commodities: a senior who stayed put.
In an era defined by constant movement, Bowen has spent his first three seasons in Norman, turning down the chance to start over elsewhere in favor of building something lasting with the Sooners. The decision, he said, came down to the people around him, the relationships he built and the sense of brotherhood that grew over time.
“I love my decision. I think that staying here these four years was the best decision for me because of the people I know, the people I’ve met … and just everything that I’ve done here,” Bowen said. “I feel like leaving would have really just been … restarting somewhere else, and I didn’t really want to do all that because of all the connections I made.”
Bowen, in a secondary featuring 10 underclassmen, has been a vocal leader in communicating the standard.
“Daily, I got to pour it into these guys, make them make it known that we win,” Bowen said. “We win those games in the fall with practices that we have today.”
Bowen’s younger brother, Eli, is also part of OU’s secondary, giving the room a built-in family tie as it enters a season where the Sooners are trying to retain their defensive dominance to pair with their revamped offensive attack.
Eli enters his junior season with the kind of résumé that makes him one of the most important pieces in the room. Over his first two years in Norman, he has developed into a reliable playmaker in the secondary, starting 17 of 20 career games and recording three interceptions.
But Eli’s rise is not about taking over from Peyton. For now, it is about growing alongside him. The offseason has given the brothers a chance to lead together, with Eli embracing a more active role in workouts, the film room and the daily standard of the room, something he said he learned from his brother.
“For me, it all started with watching (Peyton) being more of a vocal leader and speaking his mind,” Eli said. “Whenever things aren’t going too well for the defense, or we’re messing up, or even in workouts or running and whatnot, just speaking up and holding everyone else accountable. And I feel like that’s just going to make him better at the end of the day because he’s not just trying to get by; he’s trying to elevate himself.”
Eli has developed his own style of leadership while studying his brother's.
“I’m usually a show-it-by-example (person),” Eli said. “It’s really doing it and then also making sure other people are doing it right and bringing them up with you.”
Eli said that mindset stems from him and sophomore defensive back Courtland Guillory’s experiences playing a significant role in the defense as freshmen. He wants the next wave of defensive backs to understand that playing time is possible early.
“I feel (Guillory and I) being young has really made the whole room grow and made the whole room see that you don’t have to wait two, three years to play,” Eli said. “You can play now, and I feel like it makes our room have a better competitive depth because they want to get on that field like people before them have.”
For new cornerbacks coach LaMar Morgan, the Bowen brothers are the standard for the room.
“Those guys are the heart and the heartbeat,” Morgan said. “Those guys really work hard together, and … they’ll challenge everybody that they come around to do things right.”
This story was edited by Josh McDaniel.
