Oklahoma flips five-star DB Peyton Bowen

One of the nation’s best game-changing defenders has delivered some Signing Day drama, and then some.

Five-star safety Peyton Bowen — who has been committed to Notre Dame for nearly a full calendar year before flipping to Oregon on Wednesday — has had one more trick in the bag before eventually flipping again and signing with Oklahoma. Brent Venables and the entire Sooners’ coaching staff played a hand in prying the Consensus‘ No. 2 safety away from the Irish as the Early Signing Period arrived.

After trying to pry Bowen away from the Irish since last January and then Oregon late, Oklahoma finally broke through.

“They’re on me for sure,” Bowen told On3 this offseason when asked about the new Sooners coaching staff.

“They’re a front-runner. … They have the best defensive mind as the head coach who can get me the right game plan and get me to the right places. You’ve seen who he’s produced.”

The Sooners were trending on multiple occasions throughout Bowen’s recruitment, and down the stretch, all three schools weighed heavily on the elite safety’s mind. That was even more evident after announcing in favor of the Ducks on Wednesday, but maintaining dialogue with Oklahoma.

The defensive-minded Venables had support from Jay Valai, Oklahoma’s DB coach who also recruited Bowen at his previous stint at Alabama. Assistants Brandon Hall, Todd Bates and Jeff Lebby also played a role.

“[Brent] Venables will text me, [safeties coach Brandon] Hall, [defensive backs coach Jay] Valai, [co-defensive coordinator Todd] Bates, those are really the main guys up there,” Bowen noted of important figures in his decision.

Bowen is the second Denton (Texas) Guyer five-star committed to Oklahoma in the 2023 cycle along with QB Jackson Arnold.

Over the past three years, Bowen has been a difference-maker patrolling the back end of Guyer’s secondary with fantastic instants and closing speed. He’s a Swiss Army Knife that’s thrived playing back deep back and multiple positions in the secondary. During Guyer’s title run as a junior, Bowen provided a massive big-play spark out of the backfield.

The five-star is also squarely in the conversation as the nation’s most dangerous return specialist after returning eight kickoff and punt returns over the past two years. He should have an opportunity to thrive under the tutelage of Venables, who gets a game-breaker ready to be plugged in on the back end of his defense.

Bowen is the No. 13 overall player in the country, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.