FAYETTEVILLE — Five years ago, Dominique Bowman interviewed for a coaching position at Southern Miss.
He thought he was prepared for it. Bowman knew scheme, the ins and outs necessary and how to teach the game.
Looking back, he readily admits to not being mentally ready to take on the job. Ultimately, Southern Miss went in a different direction. The situation taught him a valuable lesson.
Be patient, sit back and wait for your time.
After two stints at Tennessee-Martin and ones at Austin Peay and, most recently, Marshall, he found his ideal landing spot working under a coach who remembered him from his time at Cordova High School in Tennessee — Razorbacks defensive coordinator Barry Odom.
They met when Odom was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Memphis.
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“I (would) go up to the school and work camps, talk ball with those guys, so when the opportunity (to work at Arkansas) presented itself I had a couple of things going on,” Bowman said. “But Barry Odom did reach out to me. Once I saw Barry Odom, he sent me a message to call him.”
Bowman was interviewing for another job at the time. Around 7 a.m. one day he went to a bathroom and read the message.
“I was like, 'I hope I don't get this one,’” Bowman recalled. “’I want to be with Barry.’
“He hit me up and said, ‘What are you doing?' I said I was at the airport. He was like, 'All right, don't take a job until you talk to me.' It worked out, and I love Barry. He trusts me and he believes in me.”
All indications are that the Razorbacks’ cornerbacks trust him, too. Malik Chavis and Hudson Clark mentioned several times Monday that the detail with which Bowman teaches the position stands out.
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“There are a lot of things you can take from him – different stances and stuff,” Chavis said. “(For example, you're) basically like just an inch/step closer to being in the right position to make that play. That’s what I’d say about Coach Bowman. He’s a very detailed guy.”
Clark said that Bowman, who was born in Forrest City, will also let his players know when they have made a mistake on the field. But they will take on the ensuing rep with a more firm understanding of their keys and responsibilities.
It all goes back to teaching, which Bowman takes great pride in. When coaching at the high school level, he also taught physical education. His wife, Quay, is a math teacher.
“High energy (on the field). In the classroom, detailed, demanding,” Bowman said. “I’m not saying it’s easy to play for me. I expect a lot. A standard is a standard. I’m a player’s coach. I try to be Dominique Bowman, I don’t try to be anybody else. I try to find a way to reach every individual.
“When you’re teaching a guy, obviously everybody learns differently. Being a high school coach, being a high school teacher, I think I’m a great teacher, or I’ve heard. On the grass, it’s nothing better in the world to go on the grass every day and coach and live the dream.
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“You get one opportunity to do this deal, so I go out there on the grass and I coach hard every day.”
The defensive backs coach at Arkansas-Monticello in 2016, Bowman considers his path from Tennessee high school football to the SEC West in eight years a humbling journey and a grind that he wouldn’t change.
He has done a lot of learning along the way.
“When the time is right, opportunity presents,” Bowman said. “Like with me and Odom, I met Odom back in Memphis. It comes full circle. It's weird, but I enjoyed the whole process of it.
“This is a no-brainer. This is the best job in the country for me.”