Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Start Third Week of Spring Football
April 03, 2023 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State football team started its third week of spring football practice on Monday inside the Sherman E. Smith Training Center. Head coach Mike Gundy and select Cowboys met with members of the media to discuss spring practice. Here is some of what they had to say:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"It's the same thing for us. Everything is good. We've been fortunate to have stayed healthy. We just need a lot of reps and we're working hard to get them."
On the running backs:
"They're all getting quite a few reps and we're rotating them through. I like what I see. I see development with the young guys and Elijah (Collins) comes in and gives us a little bit more from a maturity standpoint. We're getting them a lot of reps and are doing well."
On Elijah Collins:
"He is very mature. The one thing I have appreciated with the new guys coming in is it's the first time we have veteran guys who are 22 or 23 years old that are at a new school and their excitement level is high because they want to be here and chose to be here. I think he is a good example of that. He is always in a good mood, always smiling, always at the office and so I'm excited to watch him develop."
On the quarterback room:
"They're doing good. [Alan] Bowman is what I thought Bowman was. He's acting very mature, handles himself extremely well, we're rotating him in with all three groups, never says a word. He has the ability to avoid rush, move around well and make a play. When I was evaluating him the other day, very similar to Spencer [Sanders] except Spencer chose to make plays with his legs. So far, Bowman is choosing to make plays, buying himself time and using his arm. Gunner [Gundy] and [Garret] Rangel are progressing like you would think freshmen would moving into their next year. Just maturity, seeing things they didn't see a year ago, the game has slowed down for them. Zane [Flores] has done well. Zane is showing us what we thought he was last year. He's very athletic, very powerful arm, but he's trying to figure it out."
On the role of Kendal Daniels in the defense:
"As we move forward, when we're basing out of an odd front now, that position where he's at in the middle of the field is very important. I don't have any experience in this defense. The coaches that I talk to that have experience in it stress the importance of that particular position that you're referring to. I went back and looked some, the best example for us and the best video I have is from Iowa State because they're very similar. They hang their hat on that guy a lot and when that guy plays good, they're really good. When that"
Wide Receiver Jaden Bray
On how his spring has been while coming off injuries:
"It's been good. Oklahoma State does a good job, especially their training staff. They're always looking at me and stuff like that, getting me back healthy. I feel great going into the season. I feel like spring is going good for everybody."
On how he overcame injuries last season mentally:
"Especially going through what I went through, just know you're time is coming and just realize that while I am hurt, just always encourage all my other teammates. I don't really dwell on what was going on with me. I was just trying to work with my team and focus on the season because I didn't want my injury to have an effect on them. So, I didn't want to dwell on my self, I just wanted to, me and my team, we're all going to get through this together. They always have my back as well. They really pushed me and helped me get through what I was going through."
Safety Kendal Daniels
On the new additions to the defense:
"I feel like having those guys on defense in pretty fun, just having Justin (Wright) run around and be a vet. He's new to this defense, but he's run something like this at Tulsa, so just listening to him because I'm still a young guy in the age of listening to veterans."
On learning new defensive schemes:
"It's kind of like we're all asking the same questions. We ask each other questions, because the linebackers, they go watch the linebackers, and the safeties, we go watch the safeties. We're just trying to come together in practice and put days together"
Defensive tackle Collin Clay
On the spring to this point:
"I feel like I've been growing every single day, mentally and physically. I'm learning new things and continuing to build on what I have been."
On being a team leader:
"I'm not really a vocal leader. I like to lead by my actions, but it's a new season where I need to step in and be more vocal. I was the younger guy at first with all these older guys. Looking back, I'm one of the older guys in the room and there's a bunch of young guys. So, it's time for me to start stepping up and leading the room."
On overcoming injury struggles:
"I just had to figure out a balance. I didn't want to get too deep into having to worry about 'am I going to do this? What else am I going to have left?' I'm just figuring everything out. I'm way more comfortable and not thinking about my knee or anything. I just need to continue to build the confidence that I know I have and just being able to get back to my normal stuff."
Running back Ollie Gordon II
On the offense so far in spring training:
"We have a lot of new faces. Everybody that's in here, everybody's good. Everybody's looking good at practice. Everybody fits in, everybody works together. All the linemen look good, the receivers look great. The tight ends and fullbacks look even better. Everybody just looks great."
On the difference between last spring and this year:
"This year, I'm more into it. I know more of what I'm doing since I had a season last year. I could thank all the running backs from last year for taking me under their wing for the first spring. But this year we have new faces in the running back room so I feel like I have to play the part of putting them under my wing, even though I'm still one of the youngest backs in the room."
On playing styles of the running backs:
"You can know what your style is, and you can also adapt to a little bit of change in the style. All our backs are different. Jaden Nixon is the speed back. I'm more downhill. Elijah Collins is more of a mixture of the both of us. He can make you miss but also will knock you over. With that, I don't think defenses can really game plan for us if we all have different things."
Head Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"It's the same thing for us. Everything is good. We've been fortunate to have stayed healthy. We just need a lot of reps and we're working hard to get them."
On the running backs:
"They're all getting quite a few reps and we're rotating them through. I like what I see. I see development with the young guys and Elijah (Collins) comes in and gives us a little bit more from a maturity standpoint. We're getting them a lot of reps and are doing well."
On Elijah Collins:
"He is very mature. The one thing I have appreciated with the new guys coming in is it's the first time we have veteran guys who are 22 or 23 years old that are at a new school and their excitement level is high because they want to be here and chose to be here. I think he is a good example of that. He is always in a good mood, always smiling, always at the office and so I'm excited to watch him develop."
On the quarterback room:
"They're doing good. [Alan] Bowman is what I thought Bowman was. He's acting very mature, handles himself extremely well, we're rotating him in with all three groups, never says a word. He has the ability to avoid rush, move around well and make a play. When I was evaluating him the other day, very similar to Spencer [Sanders] except Spencer chose to make plays with his legs. So far, Bowman is choosing to make plays, buying himself time and using his arm. Gunner [Gundy] and [Garret] Rangel are progressing like you would think freshmen would moving into their next year. Just maturity, seeing things they didn't see a year ago, the game has slowed down for them. Zane [Flores] has done well. Zane is showing us what we thought he was last year. He's very athletic, very powerful arm, but he's trying to figure it out."
On the role of Kendal Daniels in the defense:
"As we move forward, when we're basing out of an odd front now, that position where he's at in the middle of the field is very important. I don't have any experience in this defense. The coaches that I talk to that have experience in it stress the importance of that particular position that you're referring to. I went back and looked some, the best example for us and the best video I have is from Iowa State because they're very similar. They hang their hat on that guy a lot and when that guy plays good, they're really good. When that"
Wide Receiver Jaden Bray
On how his spring has been while coming off injuries:
"It's been good. Oklahoma State does a good job, especially their training staff. They're always looking at me and stuff like that, getting me back healthy. I feel great going into the season. I feel like spring is going good for everybody."
On how he overcame injuries last season mentally:
"Especially going through what I went through, just know you're time is coming and just realize that while I am hurt, just always encourage all my other teammates. I don't really dwell on what was going on with me. I was just trying to work with my team and focus on the season because I didn't want my injury to have an effect on them. So, I didn't want to dwell on my self, I just wanted to, me and my team, we're all going to get through this together. They always have my back as well. They really pushed me and helped me get through what I was going through."
Safety Kendal Daniels
On the new additions to the defense:
"I feel like having those guys on defense in pretty fun, just having Justin (Wright) run around and be a vet. He's new to this defense, but he's run something like this at Tulsa, so just listening to him because I'm still a young guy in the age of listening to veterans."
On learning new defensive schemes:
"It's kind of like we're all asking the same questions. We ask each other questions, because the linebackers, they go watch the linebackers, and the safeties, we go watch the safeties. We're just trying to come together in practice and put days together"
Defensive tackle Collin Clay
On the spring to this point:
"I feel like I've been growing every single day, mentally and physically. I'm learning new things and continuing to build on what I have been."
On being a team leader:
"I'm not really a vocal leader. I like to lead by my actions, but it's a new season where I need to step in and be more vocal. I was the younger guy at first with all these older guys. Looking back, I'm one of the older guys in the room and there's a bunch of young guys. So, it's time for me to start stepping up and leading the room."
On overcoming injury struggles:
"I just had to figure out a balance. I didn't want to get too deep into having to worry about 'am I going to do this? What else am I going to have left?' I'm just figuring everything out. I'm way more comfortable and not thinking about my knee or anything. I just need to continue to build the confidence that I know I have and just being able to get back to my normal stuff."
Running back Ollie Gordon II
On the offense so far in spring training:
"We have a lot of new faces. Everybody that's in here, everybody's good. Everybody's looking good at practice. Everybody fits in, everybody works together. All the linemen look good, the receivers look great. The tight ends and fullbacks look even better. Everybody just looks great."
On the difference between last spring and this year:
"This year, I'm more into it. I know more of what I'm doing since I had a season last year. I could thank all the running backs from last year for taking me under their wing for the first spring. But this year we have new faces in the running back room so I feel like I have to play the part of putting them under my wing, even though I'm still one of the youngest backs in the room."
On playing styles of the running backs:
"You can know what your style is, and you can also adapt to a little bit of change in the style. All our backs are different. Jaden Nixon is the speed back. I'm more downhill. Elijah Collins is more of a mixture of the both of us. He can make you miss but also will knock you over. With that, I don't think defenses can really game plan for us if we all have different things."
Players Mentioned
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