Report: Oklahoma State Set to Hire Kap Dede as Linebackers Coach

Some more news about what Todd Grantham’s first defensive staff in Stillwater will look like is starting to come out.

Kap Dede, most recently the outside linebackers coach at Western Kentucky, is joining Oklahoma State’s staff as the Cowboys’ linebackers coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Dede, who has a PhD., is no stranger to Grantham, spending time as an analyst under Grantham at Louisville, Mississippi State and Florida. Grantham was officially announced as the Cowboys’ next defensive coordinator on Wednesday.

Before spending the 2024 season with the Hilltoppers, Dede was the defensive coordinator at Long Island University for the 2023 season. He coached the Charlotte defensive backs in 2022 after spending two seasons at Colorado State, where Dede coached linebackers and nickelbacks after his stints with Grantham.

Dede was a defensive back at Auburn, where he earned his doctorate in Administration in Higher Education in 2012. As a player, he won three SEC West titles and the 2004 SEC championship. He was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as a senior, considered the academic Heisman. On three occasions Dede was named to the All-SEC Academic Team.

Longtime assistant Joe Bob Clements had coached the OSU linebackers since 2022 when he moved back from coaching defensive linemen when Jim Knowles left the program. The 2024 season was Clements’ 12th on staff.