Doug Meacham Endorses Clint Bowen as a Coach OSU Should Retain, Stumps for Someone to Hire Ryan Osborn

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State defensive line coach Ryan Osborn got quite the scare earlier this season following the dismissal of first head coach Mike Gundy, then defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

“He came to my office thinking he was next,” interim coach Doug Meacham said. “And I’m like ‘Osborn, you’re the last guy I’d probably cut loose.’ So, like, he was nervous, but like, just a constant team player and a constant great dude and coaches hard.”

Meacham laughed at the memory during his Monday press conference. Osborn’s concern makes some sense considering he previously worked with Grantham at both Mississippi State and Florida, but the interim coach was so excited to praise Osborn when his name came up in a question that he didn’t even wait to hear the actual question.

“What a coach man, he gets after it,” Meacham said. “I mean, hey, college people if anybody needs a D-line coach, that is the guy. He gets after it, and it is not a scream fest. It is constructive criticism, and it is a lot of work. And the energy level that guy has is hard to maintain. Every day, at every practice in every drill. He’s from Boston, which I think a lot of those people are just kind of like that, but man, he’s a really good football coach. He’s done a really good job with that unit, and they love him too.”

That wasn’t the only assistant Meacham stumped for on Monday. He also repeatedly praised the job Clint Bowen has done since taking over the defense following the loss to Baylor.

“If they wanted to, they would keep him here,” Meacham said. “Because he’s a hell of a coach, and he’s a great recruiter. I am speaking for him, his son plays here, he probably wants to stay here. But at the same time, I think Clint, his body of work, he is probably going to have some opportunities.”

Prior to this year, Bowen made what he termed a “career-killer” decision when he chose to step back from years of coordinating D-I defenses so he could coach his sons and spend more time with his family for a few years.

Although OSU’s defense has been far from perfect, the Cowboys have improved under his leadership for most of the season, if not every week, despite changing schemes mid-year after he took over.

“If you look at us defensively,” Meacham said. “What Clint Bowen has done the last three games. … They have given up (332) yards a game. In the last four or five games, they’ve consistently decreased the amount of yards our opponent has got for five weeks in a row and gotten better with a fairly not so deep group of guys.”

For context, 332 yards allowed per game would rank 39th in the country and OSU has actually reduced the number of yards given up for four consecutive weeks. While total yards allowed isn’t a perfect stat, it does speak to OSU’s improvement.

While most defensive stats are trending in the right way during recent weeks, the one that stands out is yards allowed per pass attempt. The Cowboys held Kansas State and Kansas to 6.3 and 5.8, respectively. Only 28 teams are giving up fewer yards per attempt this season. More relevant for OSU, it demonstrates a dramatic improvement for the Cowboys, considering OSU’s next best games against a Power Conference opponent saw them allow 9.4, 9.5 and 9.7 yards per attempt.

Before Bowen took over, OSU gave up 12.8 and 11.2 yards per attempt to Oregon and Baylor. For even further context, OSU never gave up fewer than 7.1 yards per pass against a Power Conference team in 2024.

If nothing else, it’s clear Bowen has the defense moving in the right direction, even if this group is quickly running out of time to turn that improvement into a win.

Following Saturday’s game, Bowen praised his defense for sticking with him this season and playing well against Kansas State.

“We have a group of kids who continue to fight and battle,” Bowen said. “And I think they are starting to see themselves improve, which always kind of gets guys going because players want to be as good as they can be.”