Oklahoma State’s 2025 Quarterback Room Has 2012 Vibes

STILLWATER — The Cowboys have a collection of talented but inexperienced quarterbacks going into 2025 — similar to a spot the Pokes were in going into  the 2012 season.

Oklahoma State started spring practice on Tuesday, officially kicking off the four-quarterback position battle among Garret Rangel, Zane Flores, Maealiauki Smith and newcomer Hauss Hejny. Back in 2012, it was J.W. Walsh, Clint Chelf and Wes Lunt vying to take over the starting spot that Brandon Weeden left vacant.

There are some differences. There are four quarterbacks instead of three — duh. The season that preceded 2012 was arguably the best in Mike Gundy’s illustrious tenure. The season that precedes 2025 was inarguably the worst.

But, there are plenty of dots to connect, as well.

Going into that 2012 season, the trio (Walsh, Chelf and Lunt), had a combined 49 college pass attempts — all coming from Chelf. Walsh redshirted the year before (back before you could play four games and still redshirt) and Lunt was a true freshman in 2012. As inexperienced as the quartet (Rangel, Flores, Smith and Hejny) is, the group isn’t that inexperienced. The quartet has a combined 254 pass attempts to this point, but all of those come from Rangel and Smith. So, like the 2012 room, this 2025 room has two guys in it who haven’t thrown a pass.

There are also similarities between these groups as prospects. 247Sports has what’s called a Composite rating — aggregating ratings from major services. The 2012 trio’s average Composite rating was 0.8962. The 2025 quartet’s: 0.8928.

I asked OSU coach Mike Gundy on Tuesday if he thought this battle felt similar to that one in 2012.

“You go way back in years now,” Gundy said. “I’m just telling you, when you get to be 57, you’re gonna have a problem remembering 12-years-back details. So, J.W., Wes, Chelf — Chelf ended up being a good player, and J.W. was a good player. Wes ended up leaving, but he had a good first year. Yeah, it was kinda like that. (Smith has) played some. Did pretty good. Didn’t help him much, but he played pretty good. When Rangel was in at BYU, he played pretty good. Played decent against Kansas that one year (2022). Zane hadn’t been on the field, and then, of course, we don’t know much about Hauss.”

Lunt ended up winning that job in 2012, which came as a surprise to many given how Gundy tends to value experience (not that the other guys were experienced, but they weren’t true freshmen). Lunt started three games before suffering an injury. He came back and played some later in the season. He played like a promising but inexperienced guy with the most shining example being OSU’s 59-38 loss to Arizona in Week 2. Lunt threw for 436 yards and four touchdowns but also had three picks.

Walsh came in for a while before getting banged up and missing some time. Chelf started getting some run in November and was probably the most consistent of the group that season.

Taking the comparison a bit further — who is who?

Rangel is definitely Chelf. Chelf was a redshirt junior in 2012. Rangel is a redshirt junior in 2025. I’m not sure Rangel has “get away from the cops speed,” but both guys are capable by air or by ground. They also both have been condemned to a career of constant quarterback battles. Chelf’s battle with Walsh would continue into 2013. Rangel took part in the 2023 three-QB fiasco and now enters 2025 battling three other guys.

Hejny is Walsh. Both are the best runners in their respective quarterback rooms. Both enter their battle season as redshirt freshmen. Both were also the most highly touted recruits in their rooms. Walsh was the No. 140 player in his class, per 247Sports. Hejny was No. 201. Hejny is also wearing No. 4, like Walsh did.

That leaves Flores and Smith as some combination of Lunt. This comparison isn’t as strong. Lunt and Flores both came from what is now Big Ten country (Lunt from Illinois; Flores from Nebraska), but that’s really all I have there.

Lunt transferred to Illinois after the 2012 season. Side note: OSU put out a press release upon Lunt’s transfer, which is funny to think about in 2025. Could you imagine if schools put out press releases for every player who transferred nowadays? Writing those would be a full-time position (trust me).

Gundy was asked Tuesday if he thinks he’ll lose any quarterbacks after the spring. It’s not a glorious thing to talk about, but if it was possible back when Lunt left, it’s certainly possible in the modern age of college athletics.

“We could,” Gundy said. “We had a recruiting meeting this morning. We have to expect to lose six to 10 guys after April just based on percentages. Now, you would like for that to not have to happen, but I think if you sit around and think it’s not going to happen, then maybe you’re not up to par with the times. We don’t need to get into all of this, but roster management is difficult. Can you keep four quarterbacks that are good enough to compete at this level? It’d be difficult.”

The last notes I have on the 2012-to-2025 comparisons are that Walsh is actually on OSU’s staff now. His official title is Offensive Quality Control. In the small portions of practices media is able to watch, he works closely with the quarterbacks. Here he is Tuesday rocking some flowing hair:

OSU offensive coordinator Doug Meacham was also in Stillwater for that 2012 season as a position coach. It was his final year of that stint on OSU’s staff before he left to be Houston’s offensive coordinator.

The Cowboys finished 8-5 in 2012. After last season, I think many OSU fans would take that in a heartbeat.