Daily Bullets (Jan. 14): Optimism and Pessimism For 2020 Cowboy Football, Rating Dunn Hire

Today, we all have to explain to our co-workers what a “Chuba” is and how he made our 2020 already. I recommend just wearing your orange maple leaf shirt in on a casual Friday and take it from there.

Bullets Rundown

• Optimism vs. pessimism about 2020 Cowboy Football
• Cowboy Football for the next decade
• Good move/bad move on Kasey Dunn promotion

OSU Bullets

• Let’s enjoy pondering for the next seven months what this could mean.

With (Chuba) Hubbard, (Tylan) Wallace and starting quarterback Spencer Sanders back, along with a defense that is expected to return 10 starters, Oklahoma State can dare to dream big about what 2020 holds. [CBS Sports]

Let me establish guide rails to stay between – if you find yourself saying things like this you’ve had too much kool-aid. But if you find yourself not believing an eight-win team can’t improve with another year of experience, you need to borrow some kool-aid from the first guy.

• This projection of Cowboy Football in the 2020s was a fair one and one of those two trips to Arlington could be coming sooner than later.

Current status: Solid but tenuous. The Cowboys won the 2011 Big 12 title and contended a couple of other years. But OSU has gone 8-10 combined in the Big 12 the last two seasons; Baylor is showing signs of becoming a Big 12 power, and Texas always is capable of returning to prominence.

Long-term goal: Return to Big 12 contention. From 2011-16, OSU four times in six years went 7-2 or 8-1 in conference. Get back to that status, and magical seasons, like 2011, are possible. But the talent must be upgraded.

Prediction: The Cowboys make it to Arlington for the Big 12 title game twice in the decade but don’t win the championship. [NewsOK]

I’d take a bit more of an optimistic lens: Mike Gundy is capable of having an eight to ten win team consistently and it’s hard to believe any of the three coaches Texas will have in the 2020s will be able to do that (they certainly didn’t in the 2010s). I think he makes it there more by proximity.

Baylor certainly has an upward trajectory when the right guy is in town but how many times will they be able to find an NFL coach in the American Athletic Conference?

• Yesterday was a gold star day in Stillwater with the Chuba news alone but processing the Kasey Dunn promotion is tough. 

a) What’s a more natural progression for an OC in the Big 12: being a lower-tier play-caller or spending nine seasons being wildly successful as a position coach? I hear arguments for both but Dunn has certainly earned his shot.

b) This is a relatively unprecedented move for Gundy to promote from within. He made 12 coordinator hires prior to this one and only promoted two from within (Gunter Brewer in 2008 and Glenn Spencer in 2013. According to Gundy’s history, Dunn stood a one in six chance of getting the job.

For some reason, he got the gig and that says a lot. Lunt’s take here brings a great point as well.

Kasey Dunn will get his shot at OC, something that will be helpful is he has worked under 3 OC's at OSU, all with different styles. Sean Gleeson brought with him one of the most modern run schemes in the country, so hopefully they weave that back into the vertical pass game.

— Adam Lunt (@AdamLunt817) January 13, 2020

• Barry comes in at No. 9 – congrats to the GOAT!

When I was a kid I dreamed of meeting a college football player. To be ranked as one of the top 10 players in history is an honor I will never forget. @CowboyFB @okstate @OKStateAlumni @NCAA @HeismanTrophy #WishDadCouldHaveSeenThis pic.twitter.com/ONTbgXw3ud

— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) January 14, 2020

• OERB may have picked the right year to give based on scoring.

.@OERBOK commitment to education continues with Points for STEM, a $2 donation for every point scored by @OSUMBB toward STEM education in Oklahoma!#okstate | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/l4d9ZlXWMc

— Oklahoma State Athletics (@OSUAthletics) January 13, 2020

Non-OSU Bullets

• Looking forward to reading (or listening) to this article about a Finnish sharpshooter during WWII
• Solid visualizations on the size of Australia’s brushfires
• Enjoyed this faith-based article on loving your neighbor in the Digital Age