Next Man Up: How Oklahoma Plans to Replace Billy Bowman in 2025

The 599 snaps played by Spears-Jennings was third on OU’s defense, ensuring that the Sooners will again have experience on the back end. 

A big season is expected from the 6-foot-0 senior on the field, but his biggest area of growth will be filling Bowman’s role as a leader in the locker room. 

“RJ had a great spring, stepping into a leadership role,” OU coach Brent Venables said of Spears-Jennings this past spring. “Can’t be everybody’s friend, need to challenge your teammates, tell your teammates the truth, hold them to a high standard. And make guys uncomfortable when you need to, gotta be comfortable in that role being a leader. That’s what Billy, Billy would tell everybody the truth. Billy was a multiplier, Billy made everybody better.”

Spears-Jennings said it’s been easy to follow in Bowman’s footsteps as the elder statesman of Oklahoma’s safety room this spring. 

“(I’m) just holding the young guys to the standard that we uphold over here,” Spears-Jennings said in April. “Billy left a great foundation for me, and I'm going to leave a great foundation for the other safeties, so I'm just trying to build, build, and build with the younger guys.”

Alongside Spears-Jennings, the Sooners will deploy a mix of youth and experience this fall.

Peyton Bowen battled a lingering injury throughout the 2024 season which made it difficult for the former 5-star prospect to follow up on his 2023 campaign. 

As a freshman, Bowen started two games and he finished with 36 total tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, five pass breakups and two punt blocks. 

Last year he started five games, totaling 34 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss including a career-best seven tackle performance against Tennessee, but his impact lessened as the year pressed on. 

Oklahoma’s freshmen safeties were able to dip their toes into the water last year as well thanks to a healthy rotation.

Jaydan Hardy, Michael Boganowski and Reggie Powers all saw limited time in 2024, and all three continued to receive praise throughout the spring. 

“I love that group of guys, they come to compete everyday, they’re a lot of fun, they love to work,” Venables said. “Love to grind. It’s not, year in and year out, you’re not always going to have that. But we’ve got the depth of a group of players that show up with passion and energy and toughness that you want them to and let you coach them hard. And so that gets you excited, about what’s in front of us right now.”

Boganowski finished with eight tackles in 13 appearances, Powers totaled four tackles in 12 games, and Hardy tallied six tackles, a pass breakup and he pulled down an interception in the season opener against Temple. 

The success as freshman on the field was only compounded by the relationship that trio formed as classmates. 

“We were best friends in the dorms. We got to spend every day together,” Hardy said. “Come home every day, watch film on my PC and just go on about our nights and come back at it next day and put the work in. So you see how it’s helped our friendship and our bond and just how we play together on the field. I feel like just how we work together every day just benefits all of us.”

As sophomores, Hardy, Boganowski and Powers will be tasked will helping Bowen fill Bowman’s shoes as Oklahoma tries to maintain 2024’s standard for defense after graduating crucial pieces at every level.