After Not Being 'Allowed to Return Kicks,' Oklahoma's Billy Bowman Eager for His Shot

Lincoln Riley didn't value kickoff or punt returns, so this year Bowman and others are excited to get the football under their arm on special teams.

NORMAN — Just a few hours before he took the USC job, Lincoln Riley was emphatic that Oklahoma didn’t need a special teams coach.

It was minutes after the Sooners’ disastrous special teams performance in the season finale loss at Oklahoma State, and it was the final question anyone asked Riley as OU’s head coach.

Riley’s special teams were, at best, ordinary, at worst — such as that night in Stillwater — catastrophic.

Those days may be changing — at least on punt returns and kick returns.

“I feel like this year,” OU sophomore Billy Bowman said Monday, “we'll be able to be more freely returning kicks and stuff like that. Last year, we weren't really allowed to return kicks unless we needed it. So I feel like if I can show that I can do that, then it’ll be a show.”

Bowman — a talented and dynamic return man in high school — was, like his teammates, neutralized in the return game by his head coach’s unwillingness to allow his players to return kicks.

Riley’s analytical assessment of the risk versus the reward made fair catches on special teams a pedestrian task rather than an opportunity.

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So in January, Brent Venables hired Jay Nunez to coordinate OU’s special teams. Nunez, from Alva, OK, worked previously as special teams coordinator at Eastern Michigan. 

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At OU, Nunez' gig is as a quality control coach, meaning he’ll be removed from the normal sideline duties on gameday, but it’s clear the coaching staff’s view of special teams has changed as OU opens spring practice every day calling for the special teams units: extra point block, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return, etc.

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And although it’s only spring practice — and it’s still early in the process — Bowman has finally been allowed to run with the football.

“I can be a crazy impact on special teams," Bowman said. 

“It’s a different story,” Bowman said. “That’s where I feel like the most confidence ever. With the ball in my hands, I feel like nobody can do anything (to stop me).”

Bowman’s versatility — his unique ability to play any of the three defensive back positions under Alex Grinch last season — often left his head swimming as a true freshman.

Under Venables, Bowman has been exclusively playing safety this spring.

“Billy’s a guy, I get why he played three positions last year as a true freshman,” Venables said. “Incredibly talented, great instincts. Tremendous skill set. Great toughness. Very intelligent. Can do a lot of things. We’re just trying to get him to be really good at one thing. Sometimes when you do too much too soon, everything’s neutralized. All your ability, your instincts, your intelligence. Most of the time, it’s that way for a freshman. You gotta be that dude, a generational type of person, at any position, to pick up everything right away.

“So we’re really trying to have him focus at safety and put him in position there where he can play in space, use his ability, cover a lot of grass and play man technique, all those type of things. He’s had a really good start. … Billy’s hungry. He’s got great maturity to him. Great focus. He’s really hard on himself. Very demanding. On top of being really skilled. Expect huge things from him. How he finishes up the spring, going into the summer, going into next fall, his development, which has been trending, the needle moving in the right direction, will allow us to have some position flexibility with some other guys.”

Bowman said he wants to also play offense “at one point my career,” but said right now, he’s focused on learning the defense — and returning kicks.

“I can’t wait for my opportunity,” Bowman said, “and once it comes, it comes. It’ll be shown to the world.”