‘Guys Want to Be Here’: Oklahoma State Players, Coaches Pushing Through Unsteady Times
BY MARSHALL SCOTT | Pistols Firing Blog
TUCSON, Arizona — It’s been a hectic few weeks in Stillwater, but there are still games to be played.
Oklahoma State fell to Arizona 41-13 on Saturday in Tucson in what was the first game since the program parted ways with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. That move came about a week after the program parted ways with legendary head coach Mike Gundy.
Gundy’s firing opened a 30-day transfer portal window for the Cowboys. Last weekend’s game against Baylor was the fourth on the Cowboys’ schedule. That’s a significant number, as players can participate in four games while maintaining their redshirt status. With that threshold reached, a few Pokes hit the portal within the past week, with a few others electing to redshirt with no immediate move to the portal.
It’s hard to blame the players too much, especially considering there is now money to be made and only a limited time to make it.
So, the in-flux staff is now dealing with an in-flux roster.
“I’m not even going to worry about the portal,” interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said. “I told our guys, when our guys hit it, what’s the Confucius quote? I was complaining about having no shoes until I met a man with no feet. We ain’t worried about the portal. We got kids who want to play. That’s not even worth addressing. All we need is 11. If we got 11, we’ll go fight and then make Oklahoma State fans proud the way we compete. That’s going to be our mission.”
That’s a sentiment similar to one that interim head coach Doug Meacham shared, but rather than Confucius, Meacham likened it to Wall Street.
“It’s just the way it is,” Meacham said. “It’s the price of doing business, man. It’s what we do. You know those guys in New York, at NASDAQ, they’re on the floor trading stocks. That’s the way it goes. You just gotta do the best you can. It’s a great job. There’s a lot of people — when you think about it, there’s 130 Division I schools, 10 full-time coaches per, that’s 1,300 jobs in the whole world. I’m very fortunate to be sitting right here and be a part of it. The workload and figuring out portal and all that stuff, that’s just part of it, man. You know what I mean? That’s the job.”
As hectic as it must be for the coaches, it must also be weird for the players.
One day, you look to your right in practice, and Player X is there. The next day, you look in that same spot, and it’s Player Y.
“We’re all cool with each other,” safety Parker Robertson said. “It’s sad to see a brother go, but with these circumstances, you gotta respect their decision and just gotta say, ‘Alright, best of luck to you,’ but next man up. That’s just the business that we’re in now.”
But don’t get it twisted: the Cowboys aren’t a lame-duck team waiting on the season to be over. Just ask offensive lineman Noah McKinney.
“Guys want to be here, and guys still want to play for Oklahoma State and still represent the brand of what Oklahoma State is,” McKinney said. “Just because Coach Gundy is gone doesn’t mean we can’t represent what Oklahoma State football is and do it. So, for the guys that are still here and doing it, we’re just gonna fight and battle our ass off to the end …
We know we’re all fighting for the same purpose, for the same thing. There’s nothing else we can do other than fight for Oklahoma State University and just be the best Cowboys that we can be.”