Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Announces Additions To Football Staff
January 15, 2009 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has announced several staff changes regarding the Cowboy football program.
Joining Oklahoma State will be former South Carolina running backs coach Robert Gillespie. Rejoining the OSU program is former assistant coach Johnny Barr and taking on new duties is current staff member Robert Matthews.
“We're excited about the additions to the staff,” Gundy said. “Each of them will be a great addition to the Oklahoma State football program.”
The specific duties for each of the men are to be determined.
Gillespie, 29, is a former player for Steve Spurrier at Florida. He spent the past three seasons as Spurrier's running backs coach at South Carolina after serving as a Gamecock graduate assistant in 2005. As a player, Gillespie was a running back and team captain for the Gators (1998-2001). He spent three years in professional football, including two with the Washington Redskins and another in NFL Europe. The Hattiesburg, Miss., native holds a degree in sports management from Florida.
Matthews, who has been at OSU since 2006, will relinquish his duties as director of recruiting to assume the role of an assistant coach. He spent seven years as a high school coach in Georgia before joining OSU in February of 2006. Matthews holds undergraduate and master's degrees from Georgia, where he played football for the Bulldogs. Matthews first served as OSU's coordinator of football operations before assuming duties as director of recruiting.
Barr is back at OSU for a third stint. He previously served as an assistant coach under Pat Jones and Bob Simmons. He was most recently the director of on-campus recruiting at Texas A&M and had previous coaching stops at Kansas, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Lamar and Texas State. As a player, Barr was part of two Big Eight championship teams at OU.
Robert Gillespie
Professional
• The 2009 season will be Robert Gillespie's first at Oklahoma State. He came to Stillwater after serving on Steve Spurrier's staff at South Carolina since 2005.
• With Gillespie on staff, the Gamecocks appeared in the 2005 Independence Bowl, the 2006 Liberty Bowl and the 2009 Outback Bowl.
• Gillespie was promoted to the Gamecocks' running backs coach on Dec. 16, 2005, after spending the 2005 campaign as a graduate assistant for video at South Carolina.
• Under Gillespie's watch, the South Carolina backs combined to rush for 1,876 yards in 2006, marking a 61 percent increase from the year prior to his appointment as running backs coach for the Gamecocks. South Carolina averaged 144.31 rushing yards per game in 2006, ranking 49th nationally just one year after ranking 108th among Division I-A teams with a 95.17 yards per game average.
• In 2007, Carolina tailback Cory Boyd rushed for 903 yards, the most yards for a Gamecock back since Derek Watson logged 1,066 yards rushing in 2000. Boyd also was selected in the NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Personal
• A former running back and team captain at the University of Florida, Gillespie played for Spurrier from 1998-2001, earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team and SEC Player of the Week recognition during his time with the Gators. Gillespie finished his college career ranking second all-time at Florida in receiving yards by a back. A two-time member of the SEC Fall Sports Academic Honor Roll in 2000 and 2001, Gillespie returned to Gainesville to earn a degree in sports management from Florida in 2005.
• Gillespie played for the NFL's Washington Redskins in 2002 and 2003 and played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 2003 before taking a teaching job at his alma mater, Hattiesburg HS in Hattiesburg, Miss., in 2004. He stayed on at Hattiesburg HS for an internship in the athletic department in 2005 before making his way to South Carolina.
Robert Matthews
Professional
• Robert Matthews is in his first year in a coaching role at Oklahoma State, though 2009 marks his fourth year on the Cowboy football staff, as he was OSU's Director of Recruiting in 2008 after serving the previous two years as Coordinator of Football Operations.
• With Matthews on staff, the Cowboys made trips to the 2006 Independence Bowl, the 2007 Insight Bowl and the 2008 Holiday Bowl.
• Matthews played a role in Oklahoma State landing top-25 recruiting classes in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
• In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, Matthews also oversaw the walk-on program and handled other internal operations within the football program while serving as Director of Recruiting.
• Before arriving in Stillwater, Matthews spent seven years as a high school coach in the state of Georgia. He was the head football coach at Shiloh High School in Snellville, Ga. During a three-year stint at Shiloh, he helped guide his team to playoff runs in the state's largest classification and also spearheaded a facilities upgrade that included a new strength center, locker room and coaches offices.
• Before becoming head coach at Shiloh, Matthews served as offensive coordinator at North Gwinnett High School and also had stints at Camden County High School and Oconee County High School.
Personal
• A three-year player at the University of Georgia from 1996-98, he played on teams that won both the Outback Bowl and Peach Bowl. While at Georgia, he was a three-time member of the SEC academic honor roll and obtained a bachelor's degree in exercise science and a master's degree in science education.
• Originally from Duluth, Ga., Matthews was born Nov. 2, 1977. He is married to Laura Matthews.
Professional
• A 37-year veteran of college coaching, Johnny Barr returns to Stillwater after serving as coordinator of on-campus recruiting at Texas A&M from 2004-2008. Barr was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Bob Simmons at Oklahoma State in 1995 and 1996 and was the Cowboys' outside linebackers coach under Pat Jones from 1986-88.
• Barr is well-known in Big 12 circles, as in addition to his first two stints at Oklahoma State and his most recent time at Texas A&M, he also coached linebackers at Oklahoma from 1989-94 and at Kansas in 2001 before moving on to coach safeties at Texas Tech in 2003.
• His career path has also taken him to stops at Arizona State, where he coached linebackers from 1997-2000, Texas State, where he was defensive coordinator and secondary coach from 1983-85 and Lamar, where he coached the secondary from 1979-82.
• Barr entered the coaching profession as freshman receivers coach at Oklahoma in 1970 before moving on to become a varsity assistant coach at Lufkin (Texas) HS from 1971-72 and Clear Creek (Texas) HS from 1973-74. He was offensive coordinator at Navarro Junior College from 1975-78 before getting into the Division I coaching level at Lamar.
• Barr has been part of 12 bowl teams in his career.
Personal
• Barr graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1970 with a degree in business education. He is married to the former Christi Groce and has four children, Allie and Caroline (twins–3), Stephanie Stallsmith and Stacy Bruce.
