‘I Want Somebody to Take Control’: Gundy Discusses Quarterback Competition

STILLWATER — The Cowboys’ quarterback battle is compelling in many aspects.

It’s the most talked about position in all of sports. Instead of a two-man battle, there are four passers going at it. Then on top of all that, it’s a battle of theorizing from the outside because there isn’t a lot of set-in-stone data out there about just how good any four of the guys are at the college level.

Oklahoma State opened its spring practices this week, where one of the most prominent topics was the quarterback battle among Garret Rangel, Zane Flores, Maealiuaki Smith and Hauss Hejny.

“I want somebody to take control — leadership,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “You gotta be productive at that position, we all know that. It doesn’t make a difference if we’re in Pop Warner, junior high, high school, any level of college, NFL — you’re gonna go as your quarterback goes for the most part. Hopefully somebody will take control and show us the production we’re looking for to get to a point where we’re comfortable to start building a system based on who that player is.”

It’s a four-man battle from the jump this spring. Rangel and Flores each suffered injuries last season but are full go entering spring camp.

In the modern landscape of college athletics, some teams might struggle to get two or three capable quarterbacks on the roster, but the Cowboys feel like they have four this spring. Gundy mentioned Tuesday that there is certainly a possibility that not all four of these guys are here in the fall. Having the depth in this position battle feels like a luxury.

“There won’t be many schools in your Power Four that are gonna have the flexibility that we do right now,” Gundy said. “In my opinion, moving forward it’s gonna be difficult. But we’re in a good situation right now. We just gotta play through it. One thing that’s not in place is enough reps. Just not enough reps for all the quarterbacks. Between Kevin (Johns) and Doug (Meacham), they’ve gotta do a good job of managing those reps to try to get a couple guys at least ready for August.”

Reps are an interesting topic when it comes to a four-quarterback position battle, especially with a group that doesn’t have a ton of experience. Gundy said he’s leaving that to quarterback coach Kevin Johns and offensive coordinator Doug Meacham.

“I visited with Kevin and Doug about this and then also let them know, ‘Look, you guys have got to make this decision,’” Gundy said. “I don’t get into your reps. I didn’t get into quarterback reps – I don’t get into quarterback reps – I never have here. But I did explain to them what I thought was best, and then you guys gotta handle it from that point.

“The first thing is, however you decide reps, you gotta have a solid and good reason for it because the young men are gonna come ask you why this is this way. That’s just the way it is nowadays. You know, 10, 20, 30 years ago, we never asked our coaches that. We did what we were told. Well, these guys all have agents, and they have people that represent them that want to know how many reps they’re getting, and so on and so forth. So, you have to be honest with them and tell them the truth. That’s what I shared with them. And then you’ve got to have a good reason for breaking up the reps the way you’re gonna break them up. From what I gathered, without looking at it and counting them, for the first five or six practices it’s gonna be pretty close. And then they’re gonna have to start making them based on production in the drills that actually matter.”