Notebook: Gundy on Roster Trimming, Grantham on College vs. NFL, Meacham after ‘Big and Fast’

STILLWATER — With all that’s happened over the past month or so since the Cowboys’ season ended, there was a ton for Mike Gundy, Todd Grantham and Doug Meacham to talk about when they took to the podium on Thursday.

We’ve already written about some of that — like Gundy discussing his commitment to OSU, Meacham discussing his quarterback room and how Grantham got on Gundy’s radar. Here are quick looks at three other topics that were discussed.

Roster Trimming Part of Gundy’s ‘Most Difficult December’

Mike Gundy said OSU had 142 players on its roster last season. When the Cowboy roster was updated ahead of the spring, it featured 105 players.

That is about to be commonplace for teams around the country, as part of the anticipated ruling in the House v. NCAA settlement is a roster limit of 105. Although the Cowboys’ updated spring roster features 105 players on it, Gundy and his staff are going to have to make another set of cuts because signed high schoolers and a few transfers who still have to finish up at their old school will join OSU in the summer.

Gundy said programs aren’t yet sure when they have to be down to 105, saying it could be June, July or just ahead of the first game.

“We have tried to be as fair and as up front as possible with all the young men in our organization because they’re important to us,” Gundy said. “Selfishly, the young men, some of them that we had to make cuts, for lack of a better term, were important to me because they love Oklahoma State, they love Oklahoma State football and they just want to be a part of a team. That side of it is eliminated. We can discuss it and complain all we want, but I think that standard has been set. So all we can do now is move forward. …

“The final 15ish decisions will be made sometime between now and when that happens based on how competitive can we make our locker room because whether we like it or not, that’s what’s happened in college football is, I can only speak for Oklahoma State, but if you look across the country, you guys follow this much closer than I do, it looks like everybody’s trying to get their arms around as many people as they can to make their locker room more competitive to find a way to win games this September. And that’s what’s going on right now. It’s a very unusual situation, but we don’t make the rules. We’re only following what we’ve been told to do.” 

Grantham on College vs. NFL

Todd Grantham has been on sidelines in the NFL, SEC, Big Ten and the ACC. So, he’s seen a lot of ball.

He’s returning from the pro game after a two-season stint as the New Orleans Saints’ defensive line coach. He also coached in the professional league from 1999 to 2009 with multiple stops. Grantham on Thursday gave his take on why he thinks schematically, college is tougher than it is in the NFL.

“College football is actually harder than football, schematically,” Grantham said. “Reason I say that is one, in college football, tempo’s tempo. In pro ball, we’d get our advance scout, and they’d say, ‘They go fast.’ I’m like, ‘That’s not fast. That’s not fast.’ So there is a difference. It’s all in what your perception is of what fast is. So you have that.

“The next thing is there are more formations in college because you can create unbalanced formations, with all the receivers on the same side. So you have to adjust to that. Then the third element is the quarterback’s ability to run the ball and create 11-on-11. If you watch even the last playoff game, Detroit and Washington was playing, the quarterback running the ball became the difference in the game. Now, in pro football, you obviously got the quarterback, you got skill, the passing game. That stuff’s more advanced. But as far as structure of formations, tempo, handling the truly 11-on-11 plays, you get challenged in college football more.”

‘You Want Fast and Big’

Speaking of fast, new OSU offensive coordinator Doug Meacham said that’s part of what he’s looking for in players.

Whether it was talking about what kind of players he wants or comparing his quarterback room to a peach field, Meacham gave a lot of fun quotes Thursday.

“Well, you want big and fast because if you miss on a big, fast guy, then you missed on a big, fast guy,” Meacham said. “But if you missed on a slow, small guy, it’s not as fun. The bottom line is you want bigger, faster, twitchier, and then at the same time, you want guys that are smart and can learn football and they enjoy the process.”

Although size and speed might be near the top of Meacham’s list, they aren’t the only characteristics he is after.

“The stuff that’s not measurable is what we have to do a good job of,” Meacham said. “Anybody can see measurables and 40s and all that stuff and see how far they can jump and all of that business. It’s what’s on the inside. That’s what we have to decide, and what kind of kid? What’s his background? How does he learn? Can he learn? Ultimately, in today’s game with all of the transitioning in, you want guys that can think and enjoy the process as much as anything. If you’ve got a big, fast guy that can’t learn, it’s three, two, one, we’re playing a game. Well, that doesn’t do anyone any good. So, there’s a fine line there, but that’s part of what we do is try to figure out who those guys are and at the same time, have the capabilities, the measurables and the speed and put it all together.”