100 Days of Summer: Get to Know No. 79 Matt Kegel

Our next edition of the 100 Days of Summer leads us to a young offensive lineman whose long trip to Stillwater was also a bit of a homecoming.

How he got to OSU

While earning all-state honors at Chaska High School in his native Chaska, Minnesota, Kegel received early offers from the likes of Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. He even attended a Cowboy camp following his sophomore year. But the three-star 300-pounder decided to stay close to home and committed to Minnesota.

After head coach Jerry Kill retired and his would-be offensive line coach Matt Limegover was let go, Kegel began to question his commitment. After being contacted by then OSU line coach Greg Adkins, he discussed it with his family, including his mom an OSU alum and gave the Cowboys another look.

What he’s done in Stillwater

Kegel redshirted in 2016. He has a year in the program and under Rob Glass’ tutelage. Now he’s ready to compete for reps under first-year offensive line coach Josh Henson. During the spring game, Kegel played right guard on the orange team that dominated the line of scrimmage.

Role in 2017

Kegel should push for reps as a redshirt freshman and with a somewhat of a clean slate coach-wise, will vie for snaps against a handful of underused or just completely unused linemen. A best case scenario for Kegel would see him in the two-deep at guard, probably behind Larry Williams to the right of center. At the least, he should contribute on special teams and will have every opportunity to be a key rotation player moving forward in his career.

Kegel has a reputation of a playing with an edge and even told Scout that he makes a point to try to “make someone angry” when he plays. In high school, he prided himself in being able to incite a penalty flag against opposing linemen with his aggressive play. Nothing wrong with adding a little extra grit up front in my book.

Noteworthy stats and highlights

Kegel was the No. 2 ranked offensive guard prospect from Minnesota according to Scout. He represents the fourth generation of his family to attend Oklahoma State.