Patrick Cobbs Grew Up Wanting to Be a Cowboy, He Just Took the Scenic Route to Stillwater

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State running backs coach Patrick Cobbs could have been a Cowboy 25 years earlier after finishing his high school career at Tecumseh with 4,279 rushing yards, 61 touchdowns, 313 tackles and 16 interceptions.

“Kind of a crazy relationship. … Maybe a week or two before signing day, Oklahoma State offered me, but it was too late,” Cobbs said. “I was committed. I stayed with them, and that was kind of my relationship. And then, you know, long story short, (OSU) tried to get me again, but, I mean, it was just kind of one of those deals where I felt like I was an hour down the road and I didn’t get recruited, and so I was staying with North Texas.”

He didn’t wear Orange, but it certainly sounds like he had the Loyal and True part down. Cobbs made the most of his UNT career, finishing as the 69th player in NCAA history to rush for more than 4,000 yards.

His 4,050 rushing yards still rank second in UNT’s all-time record book. He’s third in all-purpose yards (5,255) and fourth in touchdowns scored (38). Although Cobbs didn’t hear his name called in the NFL Draft, he still took part in 54 games across six seasons in the NFL.

When Cobbs spoke of his too-little-too-late recruitment by Oklahoma State on Tuesday, he sounded like a man at peace with the way his career turned out.

But Cobbs didn’t hesitate when asked if there was a time in his life, before he gave North Texas his word, when he’d have leapt at the chance to become a Cowboy.

“It is a place I’d have been in a heartbeat,” Cobbs said. “But it didn’t happen until super late in the process. Where I felt like they were just, they were offering me a scholarship because they didn’t get somebody they wanted. And so I stuck with my commitment to North Texas.”

When he got into coaching, Cobbs started off at the high school ranks before landing his first college coaching role with North Texas. He stayed there for seven years and was viewed by some in the media as one of the few true question marks when Morris began bringing assistants with him to Stillwater.

“The allure of Oklahoma State will do that to you,” Cobbs said of his decision to join OSU. “Just coming with coach Morris and all the staff, and that’s familiar, you know. And then it’s hard to leave North Texas, but I knew at some point I needed to, to grow in this. I mean, there was no better opportunity than this one, coming north, close to home, the staff that I know, closer to my mom, my grandma and my family. So you know that makes it, makes it very easy.”

To be specific, Cobbs can get to his mother in Mustang, his sister in Yukon or his grandmother, who still lives in the very same house in Tecumseh, all in less than 90 minutes.

All trips, Cobbs plans to make the most of now that he’s finally back home in Oklahoma.

“I’m gonna get to go back for holidays for the first time in a long time,” Cobbs said. “Thanksgiving is big day, and coach (Morris) does great, he lets us practice in the morning and go home in the evening. And now, being an hour away, I can do that. It’s phenomenal.”