Oklahoma State University Athletics
Why The Cowboy Culture Matters
April 01, 2018 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Two of the best to ever do it at Oklahoma State are gone and a large chunk from the 2017 senior class is expected to be in the NFL next year. In short, Mike Gundy is losing significant production and leadership from last year's roster, so one of the questions that he faces this offseason is how can he sustain what this senior class helped build?
The answer is culture.
Gundy has built something special at his alma mater and it wasn't built exclusively because of record-setting talents like Mason Rudolph and James Washington.
Though Gundy has coached six first-round picks in the NFL draft since 2009 alone, it should be noted that he and his staff have done some of their finest work in developing and getting the most out of the middle of the roster, not just the top. For the purpose of this story, let's define the middle of the roster as people who played significant roles for Oklahoma State, but who NFL teams did not see fit to draft.
Players like Grant Garner, Lane Taylor, Keith Toston, Blake Jarwin, Calvin Barnett, Jamie Blatnick, Shaun Lewis, Caleb Lavey, Andrew McGee, Brodrick Brown, Jordan Sterns and the list goes on and on. All of them played important roles in advancing the Cowboy Culture.
Identifying and pouring into the next generation – the ones on the current roster – may be more important that finding the next Mason Rudolph or the next James Washington. That process has already begun, in fact, and is moving along with each passing day.
Let's stop here to take a shot at defining the Cowboy Culture.
A good place to start is the football facility within Boone Pickens Stadium – a space the players and staff inhabit every day. Throughout that facility are signs highlighting concepts that Gundy places a high value on, such as controlling the things that you can control and being respectful to others. They celebrate foundational traits such as effort, focus, toughness and leadership. They remind passers-by to never show fear, frustration or fatigue.
While the Cowboy Culture reveals itself in on-field success, it also shows up off the field, most notably in the area of academics.
Take into consideration that including the senior class of 2017, 285 Gundy-era players have graduated from Oklahoma State. Additionally, the Cowboy football program's 2015-16 Academic Progress Rate of 974 and its multi-year rate of 953 both represent the highest it has achieved since the APR was implemented in 2003. This year's multi-year rate was an improvement over the previous year for the fourth consecutive year.
The Cowboys led the Big 12 and set a program record with 20 first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections in 2017. The three highest totals for first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections in Oklahoma State football history have come in the last three seasons, as OSU had 13 players honored in 2015, 12 in 2016 and 20 in 2017. OSU's 25 overall Academic All-Big 12 selections in 2017 broke the existing program record of 22, set in 2015, and the Cowboys' 66 overall Academic All-Big 12 honorees the last three years ranks OSU second in the league during that time span, behind only Kansas State.
In 2017, three Cowboys – running back Justice Hill, center Brad Lundblade and fullback Britton Abbott – earned spots on the CoSIDA Academic All-America team. During Gundy's time as head coach at Oklahoma State, his players have received CoSIDA Academic All-America honors six times and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors seven times.
In addition to the academic recognition from CoSIDA, Lundblade was one of 10 finalists for the 2017 National Football Foundation Campbell Trophy, which is also known as the Academic Heisman. He was also one of only three student-athletes who represented the Big 12 Conference on the NCAA Autonomy Governance Committee in 2017.
It's hard to instill a culture that produces that kind of fruit in a short period of time, so Gundy's longevity and staying power have both factored into OSU's success.
Gundy is the fourth-longest tenured coach at his active school in the FBS, trailing only Bill Snyder at Kansas State, Kirk Ferentz at Iowa and Gary Patterson at TCU. His 69 career wins in Big 12 Conference games ranks fourth in the history of the league, trailing only Bob Stoops, Mack Brown and Bill Snyder.
So what does that all mean?
It means that there is plenty of tangible evidence to prove that a culture of success is firmly in place within the Oklahoma State football program.
And it also means that when the question of how the Cowboys can sustain their success despite losing several key players to the pros is asked, the answer is simple – culture.
The answer is culture.
Gundy has built something special at his alma mater and it wasn't built exclusively because of record-setting talents like Mason Rudolph and James Washington.
Though Gundy has coached six first-round picks in the NFL draft since 2009 alone, it should be noted that he and his staff have done some of their finest work in developing and getting the most out of the middle of the roster, not just the top. For the purpose of this story, let's define the middle of the roster as people who played significant roles for Oklahoma State, but who NFL teams did not see fit to draft.
Players like Grant Garner, Lane Taylor, Keith Toston, Blake Jarwin, Calvin Barnett, Jamie Blatnick, Shaun Lewis, Caleb Lavey, Andrew McGee, Brodrick Brown, Jordan Sterns and the list goes on and on. All of them played important roles in advancing the Cowboy Culture.
Identifying and pouring into the next generation – the ones on the current roster – may be more important that finding the next Mason Rudolph or the next James Washington. That process has already begun, in fact, and is moving along with each passing day.
Let's stop here to take a shot at defining the Cowboy Culture.
A good place to start is the football facility within Boone Pickens Stadium – a space the players and staff inhabit every day. Throughout that facility are signs highlighting concepts that Gundy places a high value on, such as controlling the things that you can control and being respectful to others. They celebrate foundational traits such as effort, focus, toughness and leadership. They remind passers-by to never show fear, frustration or fatigue.
While the Cowboy Culture reveals itself in on-field success, it also shows up off the field, most notably in the area of academics.
Take into consideration that including the senior class of 2017, 285 Gundy-era players have graduated from Oklahoma State. Additionally, the Cowboy football program's 2015-16 Academic Progress Rate of 974 and its multi-year rate of 953 both represent the highest it has achieved since the APR was implemented in 2003. This year's multi-year rate was an improvement over the previous year for the fourth consecutive year.
The Cowboys led the Big 12 and set a program record with 20 first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections in 2017. The three highest totals for first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections in Oklahoma State football history have come in the last three seasons, as OSU had 13 players honored in 2015, 12 in 2016 and 20 in 2017. OSU's 25 overall Academic All-Big 12 selections in 2017 broke the existing program record of 22, set in 2015, and the Cowboys' 66 overall Academic All-Big 12 honorees the last three years ranks OSU second in the league during that time span, behind only Kansas State.
In 2017, three Cowboys – running back Justice Hill, center Brad Lundblade and fullback Britton Abbott – earned spots on the CoSIDA Academic All-America team. During Gundy's time as head coach at Oklahoma State, his players have received CoSIDA Academic All-America honors six times and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors seven times.
In addition to the academic recognition from CoSIDA, Lundblade was one of 10 finalists for the 2017 National Football Foundation Campbell Trophy, which is also known as the Academic Heisman. He was also one of only three student-athletes who represented the Big 12 Conference on the NCAA Autonomy Governance Committee in 2017.
It's hard to instill a culture that produces that kind of fruit in a short period of time, so Gundy's longevity and staying power have both factored into OSU's success.
Gundy is the fourth-longest tenured coach at his active school in the FBS, trailing only Bill Snyder at Kansas State, Kirk Ferentz at Iowa and Gary Patterson at TCU. His 69 career wins in Big 12 Conference games ranks fourth in the history of the league, trailing only Bob Stoops, Mack Brown and Bill Snyder.
So what does that all mean?
It means that there is plenty of tangible evidence to prove that a culture of success is firmly in place within the Oklahoma State football program.
And it also means that when the question of how the Cowboys can sustain their success despite losing several key players to the pros is asked, the answer is simple – culture.
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