‘These Guys Are Good Coaches’: Gundy Heaps Praise on New Staff at Big 12 Media Days

FRISCO, Texas — Mike Gundy is main pillar of stability for Cowboy football over the past two decades, but a close second might’ve been his staff. … That was, until this upcoming season.

There were five coaches on Gundy’s 2024 staff that had been at Oklahoma State for at least a decade. But after a 3-9 season, Gundy replaced both his coordinators and allowed those coordinators to fill out their respective position coaches. Every coach (not including support staff) aside from specialists coach Sean Snyder and strength coach Rob Glass were let go.

So along with learning the 60+ players the Cowboys have brought in from high school, junior college and the portal, Gundy is also getting to know almost an entire new group of coaches tasked with prepping the Pokes to a bounce-back season.

“I didn’t know anybody on defense until they showed up, and spring ball for me was an introduction to them for me as a coach because I didn’t have any history with any of them,” Gundy said at Big 12 Media Days. “Offensively, obviously Coach (Doug) Meacham and I go back. I’ve got a little bit of history with the line guys because they played for me, but overall they’re very aggressive. They’re very knowledgeable. They understand their systems. They seem to do a good job of communicating and coaching.”

Doug Meacham, OSU’s offensive coordinator, returns to Stillwater to coach at his alma mater, where he was an offensive lineman in the 1980s. It’s also his second stint on Gundy’s staff after previously coaching the Pokes from 2005 to 2012. Offensive line coaches Cooper Bassett, Andrew Mitchell and Grant Garner also return home after playing for Gundy.

Gundy hired veteran coordinator Todd Grantham to run the defense. He’s had stops as a DC at Georgia, Louisville, Mississippi State and Florida, and he also comes to Stillwater with a lot of NFL experience. Guys like Kap Dede (linebackers), Ryan Osborn (defensive line) and Jules Montinar (corners) were with Grantham on some of those stops, and Gundy said that experience in the cut-throat south has helped OSU’s recruiting efforts.

In recent weeks, OSU has landed commitments from Danny Beale and Tajh Overton — two four-star defensive linemen who were once thought to be no longer considering the Cowboys.

“This group is very aggressive in recruiting,” Gundy said. “Several guys that we have on our staff have spent time in the southeast part of the country, which is a different style of recruiting. Having them here has benefitted us, has benefitted me, watching and listening to ideas. They’ve been in staff rooms that had a very aggressive, relentless style of recruiting based on the environments and the geographical location they were at. They’ve done a good job.

“There’s several players that didn’t have us even in their top five and we’ve found our way in. That’s just them digging in and going in and working at it and getting them on our campus. In most cases, if we get them on our campus, we have a pretty good chance to get them.”

Getting 60+ new players to gel with the up-and-coming returners won’t be an easy task, but Gundy has been super complimentary of the new staff he assembled.

“A lot of times coaches don’t do a good job of coaching,” Gundy said. “They can talk a lot and show a lot and demonstrate, but they don’t actually get information to the player. I think these guys are good coaches.”

OSU’s 2025 Coaching Staff