The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s First Spring Availability

STILLWATER — After the longest offseason the Cowboys have had in some time, they were back on the field on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State opened its spring practice schedule. OSU coach Mike Gundy met with reporters before practice got going. Here are five things he said.

1. Pressure?

The 2024 season was unlike any other the Cowboys have had under Gundy, and a messy offseason didn’t help much.

Before last year, OSU hadn’t had a three-win season since 2000 — the final year of the Bob Simmons era. The Cowboys went 4-7 in Gundy’s first year before rattling off 18 straight winning seasons. With how poor last season went and the reported offseason standoff that followed, Gundy was asked if he feels any pressure stepping into 2025.

“When I got the job in January of 2005, if somebody would have said, ‘You’re gonna have 17 winning seasons and do all this and have two losing seasons,’ I would have took it,” Gundy said. “I would have hedged a bet so fast it would spin your head. So, I’m just being honest with you. I would have been like, ‘I’ll take it right now.’

“I don’t have any concerns or doubt about what we can do. The only thing that’s a little bit uncertain is it is different because you don’t build and develop players anymore. You have to go out and buy them and bring them in and fit them in and make it work. We all know that’s different, and that’s not gonna change. Other than that, everything else is the same way it’s been. Our offseason is the same, our strength and conditioning is the same, our culture is the same.”

2. How Multiple Offensive Line Coaches Work

The Cowboys have a lot of work to do on the offensive line this offseason, but they also have a lot of guys there to do it.

OSU hired two new offensive line coaches in Andrew Mitchell and Cooper Bassett, and a third program alum has also joined the fold in Grant Garner as a quality control coach.

Austin Kawecki is the only returner who played more than 40 snaps last season, with OSU loading up on the position group through the portal.

Here is what Gundy said on how the O-line coaches split up responsibilities.

“What I did is ask them to figure that out on their own, and if I thought it was an issue, that I would change it,” Gundy said. “And I didn’t get the exact details, but they have a prior relationship. So I don’t think there will be any issues with one guy trying to pull more weight than the other, but I’m gonna watch as it goes.

“It should be easy. Essentially you’ve got five guys. There’s not anybody that can watch five guys and coach them correctly, in my opinion. Now, there’s guys that can look and then they can see backside and they know it’s OK, but they didn’t watch hand placement, eye placement, foot placement, steps — all that stuff. So at least we’re splitting it in half now. That’s what my plan was. It’s just an extremely difficult position to coach.”

3. OSU Needs 7 O-Linemen

Speaking of that position group, Gundy said he would like to have seven guys capable of contributing.

Where those guys come from is anybody’s guess considering no one has starting-level experience at this level. But OSU brought in Tyler Brumfield (Snow College), Louie Canepa (New Mexico State), Kasen Carpenter (Tulsa) and Lavaka Taukeiaho (Weber State) from the transfer portal. They’ve also been developing a younger crop that has been behind that old guard that started so many games.

“We need seven,” Gundy said. “If we get 10, we’re fired up. We need five (starters), a backup center and a swing guy. We’ve won a lot of football games here in the past with six or seven guys. … I feel good about what we have. The numbers that we had the other day from testing, agility, speed numbers, I’m good. We have enough to be successful. Now they’ve gotta go play and get coached.”

4. On Figuring Out a Two-Deep Given All the Newcomers

The Cowboys would like to figure out who they are as early as possible, but with all the new faces, that’s not the easiest thing to do.

Gundy said after last season ended that he’d like to get the 2025 team’s identity figured out quicker than what has happened the past couple years. Tuesday he was asked if they hope to have some position groups trimmed down this spring.

“You’d like to, but you can’t do it unless you see it,” Gundy said. “You can’t make yourself see something that doesn’t actually happen in what would be some sort of live drill. So, best-case scenario, you’d love to be able to say, ‘Here’s our two deep going into it,’ because you’re at 105 now compared to what we’ve been in the past, which is 140. That’s going to be different also. Now, we don’t get to that until the day before the first game, but for the most part, you would like to have an idea because I’m going to go back to what I said — there’s not enough reps to go around to get guys ready to play. There’s just not, so we’re gonna have to try to pare down as quickly as we can.”

5. On the Fires

The fires that burned through southwest Stillwater a few weeks back affected many, and OSU football was no exception.

Strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass lost his house, as did strength and conditioning assistant Gary Calcagno. Gundy said he talked to Glass that night.

“When you think about it, you have zero left,” Gundy said. “You have no clothes, you don’t have anywhere to sleep. You don’t have anything. Just tragic.”

The fires didn’t get to Gundy’s house, but he said he was prepping.

“I’m outside, we’re watching the south to see if something pops up and starts coming our way,” Gundy said. “So obviously, you got water hose hooked up. I’ve got a fire hydrant on my farm that I had when I built the house. I put a fire hydrant there for that reason. And so for the first time ever, I’m out there trying to figure out how to hook the fire hose up and unscrew the deal. That was an experience. I need a dry run at that, lets put it that way. I might have not been able to get much done if it happened.”