Oklahoma State Announces Defensive Staff Additions

More and more news is starting to trickle out of North Texas coaches following Eric Morris from Denton to Stillwater.

Oklahoma State on Monday officially announced the hirings of corners coach Julian Wilson and linebackers coach Reggie Johnson. CBS Sports reported the Wilson news earlier in the day.

Both guys follow Morris and new OSU defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity up I-35 from North Texas. And both coached under Cassity at Sam Houston in 2024.

Reggie Johnson

Johnson brings 28 years of coaching experience with him to Stillwater, having made stops at Arkansas, Purdue and Louisville, among many others.

He’s a Louisville grad who coached in the 2006 Orange Bowl, the 2010 Sugar Bowl and the 2011 Cotton Bowl. His coaching career got started in 1997 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. He returned to Louisville in 2003, spending one season as the Cardinals defensive line coach before switching to linebackers from 2004-07. Johnson has worked with linebackers for 21 seasons.

Johnson has thrice been a defensive coordinator, climbing to the position first in 2012 with UAB before coordinating Alabama A&M’s defense in 2014 and 2015. He was Missouri State’s co-DC in 2023.

He played linebacker at Louisville from 1987 to 1990, with his team going 10-1-1 during his senior season. The Cardinals beat Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl after that season.

Coaching History

Julian Wilson

An Oklahoman, Wilson graduated from Southmoore before going on to play corner at OU from 2010 to 2014. His father, Darrell McCowan, lettered in football at Oklahoma State in 1991 and 1992.

Defending the pass is an area North Texas’ defense has stepped up in since Wilson and Cassity got there ahead of this season. UNT allowed 265.6 pass yards a game in 2024 before this group cut that down to 163.2 this season.

Sam Houston’s 2024 defense finished in the top 15 nationally in pass defense and intercepted 16 passes.

Wilson was also at Abilene Christian with Cassity before Sam Houston.

Wilson finished his OU career just shy of 100 career tackles. He intercepted four passes, one of which came in the 2013 Bedlam game.

He started his coaching career in 2020 as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech.

Coaching History