Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Coordinators and Cowboys Speak With Media Ahead Of Spring Football Finale
April 18, 2022 | Cowboy Football
Coach Mike Gundy
On if there's anyone he wants a better look at:
"Not really, just everybody. They're all getting good reps, the young guys are getting quality work. They're practicing hard. I feel good about our concepts, and our schemes. I feel good about our coaches, and I feel good about the adjustments with Coach Mason. Players are getting to know those guys so we've had a really good spring."
On the offensive line performance:
"Well, they're doing well. Most of these guys are first-year players now because we got four starters that are in rehab right now, recovery period. So these guys are for the most part new. They're getting full-speed work, which is good. The fact that if they get thrown into the fire in August, they've had a lot of reps this spring."
On the biggest takeaways from spring practice:
"We got a good group of guys. Guys who work hard, guys that like to be around each other, and compete. We don't have any issues. Guys took care of each other in the spring, and competed so it's another step in keeping this organization running the way it has run for the last 18 years."
Defensive Coordinator Derek Mason
On creating competition in spring practice:
"Our (coaching staff) teaches the guys to put their best foot forward. We got energy, I think our guys are a little experienced upfront, so you want to lean on some of that experience. But, you want some of these new guys and young guys to show their faces, and I think they have... Every day's a grind, every day's a job interview."
On his first impression of the culture at Oklahoma State
"They're smart. They're physical. The discipline and toughness that Coach Gundy talks about is omnipresent and there everyday. A standard, it's just about meeting the standard."
On working together with the defensive coaching staff:
"The coaching staff that I've been with over the last two and a half months, all these guys can be coordinators. They're all extremely bright. For me, I think it's about giving these guys the opportunity from scripting to calling things in practice, allowing all these guys to grow. I think it's made us all closer. I want to be in a room with a bunch of smart guys, not be the smartest guy in the room. I think here at Oklahoma State that's what I have."
On why he chose to coach at Oklahoma State:
"What draws me to college football is the ability to teach. You're teaching young minds. They get an opportunity to learn. My job is to give a better product back to parents than when they dropped off. Stillwater feels like home. It feels like me growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, to be honest. I like a place like that... This place reminds me of home."
Offensive Coordinator Kasey Dunn
On quarterback Spencer Sanders' progression:
"I just think it's maturity. I just think that he's more relaxed, especially in the pocket, when we're going our drop-back stuff. He's just comfortable back there. He's comfortable in knowing where everybody is. I don't necessarily know if it's from a game or anything like that's pushing him forward. Again, I go back to that Baylor one, he came out of that one and took it hard and has been able to put it behind him. I think that was a big step in his maturation. I think as we go forward, he's going to be in good shape. There's a reason why the guy is First-Team All-Big 12, the guy can play. So, we're fortunate to have him here and ride him next year."
On moving guys around:
"These kids are out there and they're playing fast. I wish there was a set depth, but there's really not. We're just kind of out there filling in blanks and putting guys in different positions and trying to put together the best group that we can for the fall. That's where we are now. It's just every day I might put someone else in a different position and go from there because we have a ton of depth. And with all that depth, it kind of makes it easy to shuffle some guys around and see where they fit best."
On how the wide receiver group in progressing:
"Yeah, we're just trying to raise the bar with them now. Across the board, I think we're in very good shape. We've got a couple three-deep with these wideouts right now. I'm not saying there's a bell cow, that's for sure. It's not like you're running out there with (Justin) Blackmon, who's won the Biletnikoff, or Tylan who was a finalist. You guys know the drill. But we've got a lot of capable guys and I think it makes us more well-rounded than we've been in the past. Certainly deeper."
On if they've made the best of the offensive line situation:
"I think so. You would like to think that as coaches, we're just trying to do the best that we can for the big picture, meaning the offensive line, the defensive line, you know, the trenches. But also, that our quarterback feels it too. You can't just go out there and go seven-on-seven all the time. So, we've had some nicks and bumps and bruises and all that kind of stuff and we're a little bit light there"
Defensive End Tyler Lacy
On spring practice coming to a close:
"I feel like the team is ready for the finale. I mean, everybody is excited to be out here again, you know. I feel like it should be exciting just because the fans come in and people's parents, so I feel like everybody's excited about that."
On helping develop the offensive line:
"Coming out here and grinding. I'm going to work every day, so it's up to them... I put faith in them. They're doing their job and hanging in there."
Defensive End Collin Oliver
On how spring practice has been going:
"It's been good. Everybody's flying around, getting their responsibilities done. I think it's been really good so far."
On playing under Derek Mason:
"It's been different, for sure, but different in a good way. Because with Coach Knowles, we lost a good piece, but we brought a good piece in as well. I think it's been real good. We're adjusting well and we're getting to it."
On how things are different with a new coordinator:
"It's kind of different in the way that we're going some of the drill stuff, but all-in-all it's the same. It's just a new, exciting approach to our defense."
Quarterback Spencer Sanders
On having the same offensive coaching staff for multiple years:
"It definitely displayed last year. That was my first spring ball with the same coaches as the year before, so it was just kind of going in with the same mindset. You know you just listen, you listen and you learn. So, you just keep hearing that repetitive, you kind of get in a rhythm and then you're learning what he wants from you on certain plays. And then every now and then he'll slide something in there a little bit more difficult for me, and we'll slowly accomplish them."
On what he attributes his maturity to:
"That probably goes back to (Coach Tim) Rattay again. Whether every play is a good play or every play is a bad play, you throw it out the window and you move on to the next play. After the game, if you win, you celebrate. If you lose, you learn."
On how he's progressing mentally:
"That's probably the main focus right now. Just getting myself to where I can see everything, know everything of what's going on in this playbook and what's going on during plays."
