‘Leave No Doubt’: Ethan Wesloski Guides Cowboys Defense to Strong Ending This Spring

STILLWATER — Linebacker Ethan Wesloski didn’t need to prove anything during Saturday’s spring game or this spring in general.

His resume as one of the best defenders in the nation (19th to be exact, according to Pro Football Focus), fresh off a 113-tackle season, speaks for itself. None of which stopped him from finishing tied for the team lead in tackles with four on Saturday.

“This is my fourth year in Coach (Eric) Morris’ system,” Wesloski said. “I know every one of his calls. Hey, sorry, coach. I know all your calls.”

What Wesloski didn’t know was what it would feel like to take the field in front of the Oklahoma State faithful. Even an estimated crowd of 13,000 made a huge impact on the North Texas transfer.

“It was surreal,” he said. “We averaged probably 22,000 in attendance last year. And I think we got that today. So to know that this can be a place that comes around football so much, I’m excited for it.”

Oklahoma State had a huge head start this offseason, considering Morris brought almost every one of his assistants from last year’s team, which was knocking on the doors of a College Football Playoff bid, with him to Stillwater.

Following his unofficial first game inside Boone Pickens Stadium, Morris praised players like Wesloski for getting the Cowboys through the spring.

“Bringing in 22 guys with us that knew what we expected, that could help set the culture in the weight room, that knew the verbiage, that knew the playbook, knew the calls,” Morris said, detailing their impact. “Those are like having extra coaches out there for us.”

That, more than anything else, has been Wesloski’s aim this spring to step up and make an impact as a leader.

“I’ve grown a lot in the leadership phase, I’d like to say,” Wesloski said. “I’ve been able to bring people, bring people up with me.

“There’s a lot of guys in this room. It’s a new defense for a lot of people. There’s a lot of intricacies. It’s really simple, but in order to be an elite defense, there’s a couple things that got to go together, and you got to play well. The safeties got to be in tune with what the D-line is doing. So with that, just bringing all three groups together, hey, this is how we got to work together. This is what’s going on front of you. Here’s how we’re going to play this. So we want to bring people together and grow as a leader, something I’m pretty proud I’ve done so far.”

Despite his emphasis on leadership, the linebacker said it’s nothing new for him.

“I’ve always been in the leadership position because I’m smart,” he said. “I know what the defense is. This is the biggest leadership position I have been in.”

It’s not just the seniority and his familiarity with the defensive calls that are different this spring. Wesloski has always preferred to lead by example and give guys some advice in a more one-on-one setting.

That changed since he began wearing orange. On Tuesday, ahead of the spring game. The Cowboys’ defense hadn’t lived up to its standards in a recent closed scrimmage with the offense.

“So Tuesday practice came around,” Wesloski said. “That first group went out there. I stopped everybody in the huddle and said, ‘Hey, take an extra step all day. Finish your plays. Leave no doubt that you made that tackle.’

“And we tackled, and we won the day on Tuesday. It was really, it wasn’t close because we dominated the line of scrimmage and we tackled every play.”

There was a tangible example of something he wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing in the past.

“That’s some growth,” Wesloski said. “I’ve never been stopping a whole group. I’ll grab a guy here, guy there. That’s definitely a step I’ve taken. And it’s something I do almost every day. I challenge my group, I’m with the ones group. I challenge my group every day, find something to be better at today. Be very intentful about that. It’s something I do, personally. I think it’s helped my game a lot.”

Wesloski elaborated on how he approaches all of his practices in a way that felt familiar, if not rehearsed. Almost like he’s delivered a similar breakdown to several of his teammates.

“What I try to do is I try to pick one thing every day,” Wesloski said. “My footwork today. It could be my hands the next day. It’s my striking the day after. I pick one thing every day, and I get really good at that. It just helps me build on myself.”