Count Arkansas 2023 defensive back pledge and Gardendale, Ala., standout Dallas Young as one of those with a favorable first impression of expected new Razorback defensive back coach Dominique Bowman.
Young (6-1, 180) talked to both Bowman, who will replace new Ole Miss hire Sam Carter, and Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman late Tuesday afternoon.
“It blew my mind, really,” Young said. “When I found out that Coach Carter was leaving, I went through a lot of emotions, but I still wanted to be a Razorback. But I really wanted to know who was going to replace him because Coach Carter was my guy for real. Me and him clicked.
“With the conversation that I just had with Coach Bowman, which was like 10 minutes, I really think it is a great hire. I also just got off the phone with Coach Pittman and we are both really, really, really excited about him.”
Bowman was most recently at Marshall, but also has had stints at the University of Arkansas-Monticello (2016), Tennessee-Martin (2017) and Austin Peay (2019-2020). He arrived at Marshall for the 2021 season.
He is a Memphis native and a former defensive coordinator for two years at Memphis Cordova High School.
Bowman played his college football at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn., for Hugh Freeze, the former Ole Miss and current Liberty head coach who will bring his team to Arkansas for a Nov. 5 game next season.
He is viewed as very personable, something that Young confirmed.
“That is very accurate and he also seems very down to earth,” Young said. “I would say that he is going to be a guy that people are going to love to be around.”
Young is one of eight pledges in a Razorback 2023 recruiting class that is ranked third nationally by 247 Sports and fourth by Rivals.
He was in Fayetteville this past weekend, but did not know there were going to be changes.
“I did not have any idea anything was going on,” Young said. “I did not so I was very surprised.”