'I'm actually happy': Lakeland's Demarkcus Bowman embraces fresh start with UCF football

ORLANDO — Hungry to contribute at the Power Five level after spending a year on UCF's scout team, Demarkcus Bowman has finally found a spot where he feels happy.

The former consensus five-star recruit, named Mr. Football in 2019 by the Florida Dairy Farmers following a stellar senior year at Lakeland High, spent a year apiece at Clemson and Florida. The 5-foot-10, 193-pound redshirt junior experienced coaching turnover at those stops and was given just 23 carries, which he turned into 113 yards.

Bowman re-entered the transfer portal a second time last June, ahead of Billy Napier's debut season in charge of the Gators, and committed to UCF three days later but was ineligible to compete in 2022 due to NCAA rules.

He is due to make his Knights debut in Thursday's 7 p.m. season opener with Kent State.

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"I've been playing this sport every day for the last 10-11 years, so being able to sit out one year I feel kind of helped me. It was the best thing I could have done, giving my body time to heal and mentally just getting better," Bowman told The News-Journal in an exclusive interview. "I had more time to really work on my craft, work out, train and focus on what I needed to get better on."

"I feel like, coming to UCF, is the first time I'm actually happy doing something that I love. That's really been the big thing for me. I'm actually happy and I love getting up every day."

Scout team is an unfashionable, but appreciated, role within the college football fraternity — giving one unit a simulated on-field look of what to expect each Saturday. Bowman spent most game weeks standing across from the Knights' defensive starters, and his peers took notice.

"He came from a spot where he was dealt a tough hand," quarterback John Rhys Plumlee said. "He wasn't able to play last year. To see him embrace the role of working hard to better myself for next year, and to better this team for this year, when guys do that it's extremely selfless and really cool to watch as a teammate. We're really, really lucky to have him."

Bowman's work ethic and jovial manner in the weight room also stood out to Plumlee, particularly his persistent needling of fellow running back and Polk County native Johnny Richardson.

"Johnny is a fiery guy, the same way he is on the field," Plumlee said. "Bowman and Johnny are really good friends, and Bowman knows exactly how to press Johnny's buttons and get him rattled up, yelling and screaming in the weight room. He's getting (Johnny) all pissed off, and he's completely kidding.

"We'll do a cone drill, and Bowman will be like, 'Yeah, John Rhys is faster than you, Johnny.' He'll say something like that to get under his skin, and Johnny will say something back and he doesn't really like it. He'll come back to it like five minutes later and say, 'Yeah, he's definitely faster than you.'"

Richardson, from Lake Wales, considers the back-and-forth banter as inspiration rather than irritation.

"When we're all talking trash to each other, it motivates me," Richardson said. "I want my teammate to push as hard as I'm pushing, and he wants me to push as hard as he's pushing."

Bowman earned praise on the practice field, and following the Knights' spring game as well. He gained 61 yards on six carries, scoring a 21-yard touchdown and lost a fumble. He then beat out Richardson and wide receiver Dionte Marks in a 40-yard dash during a post-scrimmage skills competition.

"He's a home run waiting to happen," said Knights coach Gus Malzahn, who targeted Bowman during his tenure at Auburn.

In high school, Bowman clocked a sub 4.4-second time in the 40. He was given near-perfect evaluations by 247Sports in vision, speed and burst, comparing favorably to former Arkansas star and Dallas Cowboys second-round draft pick Felix Jones.

That's the potential first-year running backs coach Kam Martin hopes to tap into.

"If it clicks, it's going to be over with," Martin said. "I told him I want to get him back to that 'Lakeland Bo.' However he felt in Lakeland, that's what I am going to get him back to.

"He's been having a really good fall camp so far, and he's improving every day. He's a sleeper right now. I'm telling you right now he's going to get it."

Bowman's role remains unknown, but it's easy to envision him breaking into the rotation given the Knights' desire to run the football. UCF ranked ninth in the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing, averaging 228.4 yards per game. RJ Harvey, Richardson, Mark-Antony Richards and Jordan McDonald join Bowman in a formidable stable flanking leading rusher Plumlee (861 yards, 11 TDs).

"Anybody can go out there, start and help a team get to a win," Bowman said. "Whoever's hot that day, whoever's running the ball good, we're going to ride with them and respect it. Everybody will get their touches."

That assurance of an opportunity partially explains Bowman's upbeat attitude since arriving in Orlando. The bigger reason, he states, is the support system — not solely his coaches and teammates, but the trainers, the staff and his family being little more than an hour from the Bounce House with plans to attend every home game.

Perhaps it's the environment needed to unlock the "Lakeland Bo" after all.

"I'm always smiling when I come in here," Bowman said. "Each and every day, getting up to do what you've got to do with your brothers, it's better doing it when you're happy. Sometimes, you kind of miss that."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Florida, Clemson transfer Demarkcus Bowman starts fresh