Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy Details 2019 Signing Class
December 19, 2018 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER - Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy met with members of the media Wednesday morning to talk about the Cowboys' 19 signees on the first day of the early signing period. A look at some of what Gundy had to say:
On the 2019 recruiting class:
"Each year, if four go out, we bring four in. If two go out, we try to bring two in at a certain position so that our numbers are balanced up fairly close to where they should be. As each recruiting year starts – for example, we're six to eight months into the 2020 class and two months into the 2021 class – we start this process and we know what should happen and we know how many should go out. The only adjustment now is with the portal and the ability for other young men to leave the program is a little different, and then recruiting young men off the portal. But for the most part, we go after and replace the number of players that we lose by position. Anybody that is on this list, we feel like would be a good part and play a big role in our character and the culture that we have here, and help us be as competitive as possible on game day."
On the four offensive line signees:
"We think they're going to help us win, otherwise we wouldn't have signed them. Those are guys that have been on the list for a while. Athletically, if we didn't think they could grow into 300-pounders and move their feet well enough to play in an up-tempo offense, then we wouldn't get on them, but we like where we're at with them and what they bring to the table. The interesting part about recruiting is that we really don't know for two years what these young men are going to do. I would like to stand here and say, 'All of them will be exactly what we're looking for.' But it's very difficult to predict that. Some of them will play better than others, and some of them will take a bit longer, but we like all of them and what they bring to the table and we think that they fit into the culture that we have here in this system."
On Josh Henson's contributions as a recruiter:
"If we were to play back this press conference from years ago, I would've said that we were in a difficult situation where we were playing catchup. We're caught up now. Offensive line is the one position that, in most cases, they're not going to contribute as a true freshman. It's usually two years later. We've got some young players in the program and we've got a group of them from last year that have gotten a considerable amount of work over the last three weeks in bowl practice. Josh (Henson) has done a nice job of finding guys that he thinks fit our style of play and bringing young men in that we can develop in the weight room with Rob Glass."
On recruiting current Cowboys' younger brothers:
"In most cases, the players that leave here, in an exit interview after four or five years, will say they've had a great experience here. Nothing is ever perfect in a high-level, competitive sport. Our players feel like they've had a good experience and feel that they've been treated the way they were told they were going to be treated in recruiting. When we go into a home of a younger brother, we can say, 'This is the way we said it would happen with your other son, and it has, and we hope that he'll be a part of our program.' We have some evidence to bring to the table that we say what we're going to do."
On placing an emphasis on recruiting younger siblings:
"For example, the young men on our team now that have younger brothers have been quality people in our program, so there's a good chance – not 100 percent, but a good chance – that the second one along will fall in line just like the first one."
On junior college players possibly having an immediate impact next year:
"I hope so. That's why we take them. Years ago, you would bring in a junior college player and they would be impact players right away. It has not been that way in the last six, eight or 10 years. In most cases, they need some time just like young players. That's all been determined by the sliding scale, the GPA that changed a number of years ago. That has affected the style of player and the type of player that you're getting from a junior college in most cases. What you get is a young man that's 20 instead of 18. He's a little more mature, has been away from home and should be able to fit in to the system, and is a little stronger. We lost a number of defensive lineman and in August were talking about how we were set at the running back position for the next 20 years and now, all of a sudden, we have to go get a junior college guy. That's just the turns and things that happen now in college football. We hope that both of those young men can help us right away."
On his philosophy in recruiting junior college players:
"Well, for example, (look at) what happened at the running back position. If JD (King) was here, then we would not have taken a junior college player, just based on bringing a younger player in that could develop in the program. But when you look at your depth chart, and particularly at that position that takes a lot of hits, you almost just need to stay three or four deep. We were fortunate this year that we had four guys that we could put in the game. It has changed. We have to be open to any position just based on anywhere you might be running thin with those numbers."
On what has changed in JUCO recruiting:
"Entry requirements used to be a certain GPA and a certain ACT score. I don't know how many years ago that changed. I'm going to say 10, but I could be off – it may be eight or it may be 12. We're on a sliding scale now. A young man can get a 3.5 (GPA) and a 13 on his ACT and still get into school. The pool of availability for junior college coaches to recruit has been drastically reduced since that new rule went in effect. It's much easier for a young man to get into a Power-Five conference school based on the sliding scale."
On signing Tom Hutton:
"I am very excited about him. He has a very unique story. He is 28, married and works at a paper mill five days a week and ten hours a day. Essentially a hard, lunch pale guy. Ten hours a day is hard work. I'm sure that he will be thrilled to be in our organization. He comes from the same football factory as the young man from Texas who almost beat us by himself a couple years ago. I think he plays for the Seahawks now. He came from the same factory and we are really excited about him. He is supposed to be fantastic with the football and we are really excited to see what he can do."
On Tom Hutton's age:
"It is the same system of rules based on he has not played collegiate football. If his clock never starts with his enrollment and full-time student status, then he's good."
On Brendan Costello:
"I think he is a good player. He's got savvy, mobility and can make tight throws. He's not scared to turn the ball loose. He's kind of a late bloomer. When we offered him I think his only offer was Eastern Washington. Since then there have been a number of schools that have come in and courted him and tried to sway him one way or the other and he has stayed strong with us. His family is originally from the east coast and lives on the west coast now. H'es got good work habits, he's tough and played injured. Hopefully he'll fit in.
On recruiting quarterbacks:
"We go after every six-star and eight-star and four-star and every star in the world we can get around here and they all go to other schools at this point. We go get whatever else is out there. We try to find the very best one that fits our system. We kind of work our way from here out and we usually end up on the east or west coast somewhere. There's a number of guys that are in this area that we tried to get in on and they didn't have any interest in us so we just moved onto the next guy."
On how the recruits keep in contact with each other:
"I think they have a group chat where they all get in and talk to each other. Once they fall into the class, they get into this group chat and they communicate and talk to each other and try to recruit other guys. That is maybe more communication than we have with these guys communicating with each other based on social media."
On the 2019 recruiting class:
"Each year, if four go out, we bring four in. If two go out, we try to bring two in at a certain position so that our numbers are balanced up fairly close to where they should be. As each recruiting year starts – for example, we're six to eight months into the 2020 class and two months into the 2021 class – we start this process and we know what should happen and we know how many should go out. The only adjustment now is with the portal and the ability for other young men to leave the program is a little different, and then recruiting young men off the portal. But for the most part, we go after and replace the number of players that we lose by position. Anybody that is on this list, we feel like would be a good part and play a big role in our character and the culture that we have here, and help us be as competitive as possible on game day."
On the four offensive line signees:
"We think they're going to help us win, otherwise we wouldn't have signed them. Those are guys that have been on the list for a while. Athletically, if we didn't think they could grow into 300-pounders and move their feet well enough to play in an up-tempo offense, then we wouldn't get on them, but we like where we're at with them and what they bring to the table. The interesting part about recruiting is that we really don't know for two years what these young men are going to do. I would like to stand here and say, 'All of them will be exactly what we're looking for.' But it's very difficult to predict that. Some of them will play better than others, and some of them will take a bit longer, but we like all of them and what they bring to the table and we think that they fit into the culture that we have here in this system."
On Josh Henson's contributions as a recruiter:
"If we were to play back this press conference from years ago, I would've said that we were in a difficult situation where we were playing catchup. We're caught up now. Offensive line is the one position that, in most cases, they're not going to contribute as a true freshman. It's usually two years later. We've got some young players in the program and we've got a group of them from last year that have gotten a considerable amount of work over the last three weeks in bowl practice. Josh (Henson) has done a nice job of finding guys that he thinks fit our style of play and bringing young men in that we can develop in the weight room with Rob Glass."
On recruiting current Cowboys' younger brothers:
"In most cases, the players that leave here, in an exit interview after four or five years, will say they've had a great experience here. Nothing is ever perfect in a high-level, competitive sport. Our players feel like they've had a good experience and feel that they've been treated the way they were told they were going to be treated in recruiting. When we go into a home of a younger brother, we can say, 'This is the way we said it would happen with your other son, and it has, and we hope that he'll be a part of our program.' We have some evidence to bring to the table that we say what we're going to do."
On placing an emphasis on recruiting younger siblings:
"For example, the young men on our team now that have younger brothers have been quality people in our program, so there's a good chance – not 100 percent, but a good chance – that the second one along will fall in line just like the first one."
On junior college players possibly having an immediate impact next year:
"I hope so. That's why we take them. Years ago, you would bring in a junior college player and they would be impact players right away. It has not been that way in the last six, eight or 10 years. In most cases, they need some time just like young players. That's all been determined by the sliding scale, the GPA that changed a number of years ago. That has affected the style of player and the type of player that you're getting from a junior college in most cases. What you get is a young man that's 20 instead of 18. He's a little more mature, has been away from home and should be able to fit in to the system, and is a little stronger. We lost a number of defensive lineman and in August were talking about how we were set at the running back position for the next 20 years and now, all of a sudden, we have to go get a junior college guy. That's just the turns and things that happen now in college football. We hope that both of those young men can help us right away."
On his philosophy in recruiting junior college players:
"Well, for example, (look at) what happened at the running back position. If JD (King) was here, then we would not have taken a junior college player, just based on bringing a younger player in that could develop in the program. But when you look at your depth chart, and particularly at that position that takes a lot of hits, you almost just need to stay three or four deep. We were fortunate this year that we had four guys that we could put in the game. It has changed. We have to be open to any position just based on anywhere you might be running thin with those numbers."
On what has changed in JUCO recruiting:
"Entry requirements used to be a certain GPA and a certain ACT score. I don't know how many years ago that changed. I'm going to say 10, but I could be off – it may be eight or it may be 12. We're on a sliding scale now. A young man can get a 3.5 (GPA) and a 13 on his ACT and still get into school. The pool of availability for junior college coaches to recruit has been drastically reduced since that new rule went in effect. It's much easier for a young man to get into a Power-Five conference school based on the sliding scale."
On signing Tom Hutton:
"I am very excited about him. He has a very unique story. He is 28, married and works at a paper mill five days a week and ten hours a day. Essentially a hard, lunch pale guy. Ten hours a day is hard work. I'm sure that he will be thrilled to be in our organization. He comes from the same football factory as the young man from Texas who almost beat us by himself a couple years ago. I think he plays for the Seahawks now. He came from the same factory and we are really excited about him. He is supposed to be fantastic with the football and we are really excited to see what he can do."
On Tom Hutton's age:
"It is the same system of rules based on he has not played collegiate football. If his clock never starts with his enrollment and full-time student status, then he's good."
On Brendan Costello:
"I think he is a good player. He's got savvy, mobility and can make tight throws. He's not scared to turn the ball loose. He's kind of a late bloomer. When we offered him I think his only offer was Eastern Washington. Since then there have been a number of schools that have come in and courted him and tried to sway him one way or the other and he has stayed strong with us. His family is originally from the east coast and lives on the west coast now. H'es got good work habits, he's tough and played injured. Hopefully he'll fit in.
On recruiting quarterbacks:
"We go after every six-star and eight-star and four-star and every star in the world we can get around here and they all go to other schools at this point. We go get whatever else is out there. We try to find the very best one that fits our system. We kind of work our way from here out and we usually end up on the east or west coast somewhere. There's a number of guys that are in this area that we tried to get in on and they didn't have any interest in us so we just moved onto the next guy."
On how the recruits keep in contact with each other:
"I think they have a group chat where they all get in and talk to each other. Once they fall into the class, they get into this group chat and they communicate and talk to each other and try to recruit other guys. That is maybe more communication than we have with these guys communicating with each other based on social media."
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