He’s quiet when you first meet him, in his group of friends he’s often the one who sits back and lets others have most of the attention. On the football field however, rising sophomore quarterback Bowman Sells does not take a backseat to anybody.
While most ninth graders come in to high school timid and nervous to face the upperclassmen, Sells was forced to overcome this stereotypical freshman attitude quickly when he was selected as the only freshman to be a part of the Leopard varsity football team.
Like most little boys in Texas, Sells started playing football as soon as he could.
“I started playing football in first grade for the Coppell Mustangs,” Sells said. “Unlike most of my teammates, I didn’t play for ASA (Allen Sports Association) but for Coppell Youth Football Association.”
CYFA is made up of some talented young athletes as it consists of young players who will end up going to 5A schools Coppell, Southlake, Grapevine, and Colleyville
“When he started playing he was one of the youngest players on his team,” Bowman’s mother Schell Sells said. “He really liked it and wanted to continue with the sport. He started out as a running back and in sixth grade he started playing quarterback.”
As he got older, Sells’ talent and passion became more and more noticeable and his family and coaches began to realize how rare his skill really was.
“He had a passion for football early on,” Schell said. “He always worked hard every practice and game. He has pursued his passion and coaches, parents, and trainers have commented/complimented that working with him over the years has been very encouraging and a good experience.”
Bowman’s quarterback career really took off when Sells played on the Football University (FBU) 8th grade All-Star team Dallas. FBU is an invitation-only, one of a kind experience that aims to help kids sixth through eleventh grade improve in football. FBU is also the program behind the Army All American Bowl.
“FBU was a really good experience,” Bowman said. “It gave me a chance to play with and against some really good talent and it gave me a glimpse of the level of play of the best players my age.”
Soon after this glimpse of higher level football, Sells’ high school career began. He started out playing 7 vs. 7 with the Leopard program and as soon as two-a-days for the 2012 season began, it was evident that Sells would be on the varsity team.
“I knew that Bowman was going to be on the varsity about midway through two-a-day practices,” head coach Matt Green said. “Bowman threw the ball well and was beginning to make some plays by scrambling when he was under pressure. Bowman understood the offense and did a nice job of keeping the hurry up tempo moving the way it is designed to move.”
Soon after two-a-days, the season began and Sells, while not initially starting, still saw playing time in the first game against Frisco Heritage. On the Leopards third drive, Sells threw a 74-yard touchdown to junior Grant Jarvis. From there, it wasn’t long before Sells was starting.
The strike to Jarvis was hardly a fluke as Sells would finish with 25 touchdowns in his freshman year, along with 2624 yards on the season for an average of 218.7 yards per game.
The impressive stats that Sells put up over the course of his freshman year are very telling of the path his high school career is going to go according to Green.
“Bowman reminds me of a quarterback I coached in 2008 named Garrett Gilbert (current SMU quarterback, former University of Texas quarterback),” Green said. “Garrett broke several state passing records in his career (most yards passing in a single season and total yards passing in a career). He is the only Texas high school football player to ever win the Gatorade National Player of the Year award and was the most talented player I have ever coached. Garrett had incredible football IQ and I see that with Bowman as well. Bowman understands the game, the concepts, and the importance of proper timing.”
The similarities between Gilbert and Sells are not only mental but physical.
“Garrett was blessed physically as well with a strong arm and big frame (6’4″ 220 lbs). Bowman too, has a big arm and large frame (6’3″ 195 lbs),” Green said.
Green believes that Sells is on course to pass up the achievements of Gilbert.
“Garrett Gilbert holds the all-time yardage record for all classifications (5A-1A) with 12,851 yards passing in his career. He was able to manage that over 3 seasons which comprised 43 games. Bowman was able to throw for roughly 2,600 yards in his freshman campaign, so he needs a little over 10,000 yards in 3 seasons,” Green said. “In order to accomplish that feat, he will need to maintain his starting job by playing well, he will need to remain healthy overall, and he needs to play deep in the playoffs each season to increase the number of games he will play. It will take 3,300-3,400 yards each season to break the record. I know that he is capable of doing it, but it will not be easy.”
The success Sells has had has brought him a lot of attention from college recruiters.
While there are very strict rules in place regarding recruiting, especially with players of Sells’ age, there are ways for the coaches and players to talk.
“Recruiting rules for any high school freshmen are simple; coaches cannot contact them directly by phone or text message; however, players, such as Bowman can call coaches or text them as long as they initiate the conversation,” Green said. “Recruiters typically contact the head coach and ask questions, gather information, and request film in order to evaluate players.”
That’s just the start of what can a long process.
“Recruiting is done in a variety of ways today,” Green said. “Letters are sent to athletes to start the process, film and data are gathered by college coaches (recruiters) from visiting high school coaches, college coaches call and visit players to try and build a relationship, recruiting visits are set up for athletes to attend a home game at the university and coaches introduce themselves the players, and finally, offers are made to players.”
Sells and his family are preparing for the contact that is to come.
“Recruiters cannot contact us at this early stage, but we can contact them” mom Schell Sells said. “We have left the this up to Bowman as far as his interest and following up with the coaches and going to camps. The interest does start early for many. Schools can invite you to their camps and the athlete can contact them if they want to. I feel it is exciting and motivates athletes but also is a lot to digest and think about.”
Bowman has talked to a number of schools and plans to expose to himself to colleges more this summer
“Clemson, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas are the coaches that have come down and talked to me,” Bowman said. “I’m going to the Clemson camp this summer and I’ll probably go to a few others. I haven’t gone to any college camps before; I’ve just gone to quarterback camps over the past few years but this year all I’ll go to is college camps so that I can get looked at more.”
Aside from the schools that have contacted Sells directly, Texas Tech and Tulsa have contacted Green about him.
In addition to Sells’ first year performance, Green and the Leopard coaching staff are also helping Sells get exposure.
“My coaches have a lot of contacts, they know a lot of coaches and so they’ve kind of talked to some and they’ve had college coaches come here and watch spring practice and they’ve been able to talk to me there,” Bowman said.
Since Sells is just about to start his second year in high school, he can expect recruiting to increase over his high school career.
“Bowman will really see recruiting pick up as he begins his sophomore year,” Green said. “Coaches will begin to contact him directly this upcoming football season and it will intensify into spring football 2014. The big schools will try to obtain a commitment from Bowman late next spring and early into his junior season.”
Sells gets this attention because he is young and talented.
“I would think he stands out because he performs on Friday night and has the skill set at a young age,” Schell said. “If you are not playing on Friday nights they cannot scout you, so maybe you get some looks at camps, video etc. but you have to be able to perform in game situations. He has been blessed that Coach Green has confidence in him and he gets that playing time at a young age.”
