‘It’s Meant Everything’: After Years of Work, Aden Kelley Getting the Opportunity to Play a Key Role in OSU’s Defense

STILLWATER — In his fifth season with the program, Aden Kelley played just 176 combined defensive snaps in his first four years as a Cowboy. Just six games into this 2025 season, Kelley has already played 164.

Stillwater isn’t a small town to the 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive tackle. He hails from Thomas, Oklahoma, a town of about 1,100 people out in Custer County north of Weatherford.

Despite being from an actual small town, Kelley was a highly sought-after recruit. 247Sports considered Kelley the No. 190 player in the entire country for the 2021 recruiting class, marking him as the No. 5 player from the state of Oklahoma (a spot ahead of Collin Oliver). Even with those prospect accolades, Kelley has kept his head down and worked to earn his spot on the field in Stillwater.

“I have a lot of respect for this university, what it’s done for me,” Kelley said. “And I’ve been very loyal to it, and I’ll continue to be that way as long as I can. It’s meant everything. I joked the other day and told somebody I couldn’t have wrote the story any different with a brand new notebook and as many writing utensils it took to fill it up. So, it’s been a weird deal, but ultimately, I just gotta do what I can every week.”

Kelley has made 11 tackles this season, more than he’s had in his first four years combined (seven). He made four tackles in the Cowboys’ game against Houston this past weekend, a number that would’ve been a season-high for Kelley entering the year.

The year after Kelley got to Stillwater, the Cowboys recruited another small town defensive linemen in Landon Dean. Dean hails from Frontenac, Kansas, a town of about 3,400 (more than triple Thomas but still about 7% of the population of Stillwater).

Because of their upbringings, both guys said they’ve developed a friendship through some similar interest — like hunting and fish fries. Kelley said their hunting methods are different, with Dean using hounds while Thomas focuses on speed. Dean said Kelley wouldn’t admit it, but that his hound method catches more coyotes.

“He’s one of my best friends here,” Dean said. “We’ve been together four years. He’s one of our leaders and an extremely hard-worker, so it’s really fun to be able to go out there and play with him.”

Coming out of high school, Kelley had offers from schools in the Big 12, the Big Ten and the ACC. In the modern landscape, it’s hard to imagine he couldn’t have found a larger role earlier, but he has been loyal to Oklahoma State the whole time.

“It’s how I was raised,” Kelley said. “It’s how I was brought up. It’s just part of me. I feel like they took a chance on me from a small school, a small town. And I feel like in my heart that I owe them everything that I can give.”