Despite the worst season since 2005, Oklahoma State football is looking to make a big comeback in 2025. Somehow, some way, Head Coach Mike Gundy is taking back control to lead the OSU Cowboys to victory. Their first step was sweeping through the transfer portal, their next? Making room for fresh talent on the coaching staff.
Oklahoma State Finalizes Its 2025 Coaching Staff
The Gundy Dynasty Lives On
It’s no surprise that, like Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, Gundy enjoys a good deal of control when it comes to his team. Indeed, there’s not an aspect of Oklahoma State football that Gundy hasn’t influenced in the past twenty years. From top to bottom, make no mistake, this is his football program.
That won’t end whenever Gundy finally steps down, though. That’s because his son, Gunnar Gundy, is stepping into one of the many vacant coaching positions this spring. As a quarterback, Gunnar’s biggest impact came during his time with Emporia State in 2024. Gunnar threw for over 2,700 yards, 23 touchdowns, and had a completion percentage of 64.4% at the end of his tenure.
Gunnar is giving up his final year of eligibility to become the quality control coach for the quarterbacks. It’s likely that he’ll be working very closely with incoming TCU transfer Hauss Hejny.
Offensive Coaches for Oklahoma State Football
If Gunnar wants to climb higher, though, he’ll have to do it on his own. Doug Meacham and Sooners quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns are coming in to head up the offensive side of the ball. Both names come with history and experience.
Meacham is well known to OSU fans and staff alike. A Cowboys lineman in the 80’s, Meacham went on to coach tight ends and receivers at OSU from 2005 to 2012. Since 2020, Meacham has been with TCU in various roles. Most recently he pushed the Horned Frogs to the 33rd best offense in the nation in 2024. Meacham is looking to do the same as offensive coordinator for Oklahoma State.
Initially, looking at the Oklahoma Sooners’ 2024 season, the hiring of Johns looks like a concerning move. However, his lone season with the Sooners shouldn’t be the basis upon which Johns’ abilities are judged. He’s been a major factor in the sudden surge of the Blue Devils becoming a powerhouse football team. Johns also coached Riley Leonard to All-ACC honors and put him in a position to set and break school records. If he can replicate even half of that with Hejny, good things are on the way for Oklahoma State football in 2025.
Defensive Coaches for Oklahoma State Football
In order to replace what was the single worst defense in the country last year, Gundy is bringing in even more veteran talents. Todd Grantham will be taking over as defensive coordinator for 2025. Underneath him will be Kap Dede, who will be the linebackers coach, and Ryan Osborn, who will be the defensive line coach.
Grantham is coming to the Big 12 and will experience from the NFL, SEC, and ACC. Most recently, Grantham was working with the younger talents on the New Orleans Saints defense. Grantham also spent time under Saban at Alabama and was Florida’s defensive coordinator from 2018-2020.
Dede comes from Western Kentucky and, arguably, has the most to prove. WKU had a 96th ranked defense last year, but, thanks to Dede’s coaching of the linebackers, was only 11th nationally in passing yards allowed. Prior to WKU, Dede also coached at Long Island, Charlotte, and Colorado State.
Osborn is coming off of a Top 20 Charlotte team, where they ranked 16th nationally for red zone defense. As most OSU fans know, the Cowboys are historically terrible at red zone defense, so the hiring of Osborn is a massive win. Osborn has also spent time in the NFL, most recently working for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022 and 2023.
Last Word on Oklahoma State’s 2025 Coaching Staff
It cannot be understated just how strange all of this is. Last year was one of the worst years for Oklahoma football in decades, and doubly so for Oklahoma State. Yet, despite ranking as one of the worst teams nationally, the Cowboys are set to make a massive comeback.
In a way, it’s par for the course for Oklahoma State. Even when they’re on top of the world, the Cowboys are perennial underdogs. So, now that they’ve hit rock bottom, they’re setting the stage to become one of the best teams in the Big 12. Maybe it was the shutout loss to Deion Sanders and Colorado. Maybe it was the near firing of their head coach. Either way, something’s different this year.
The only question now is does Oklahoma State finally have a chance at grabbing that ever-elusive Big 12 Championship? We probably won’t know until they lock up with Oregon on September 6th. Until then, though, be sure to check back in every week as Last Word On Sports brings you the latest on all things Oklahoma State football.
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