STILLWATER — It’s probably happened somewhere, at some point.
But it’s hard to imagine any major college football team — but especially one with the stability and consistency of Mike Gundy’s Oklahoma State Cowboys — making a full change of its offensive and defensive assistant coaching staff with the head coach remaining in place.
Now that the dust has settled on a topsy-turvy 2 ½ weeks for Cowboy football, Gundy was the only one of the 11 primary coaches who remained. And even then, Gundy is in line for a pay cut going forward.
He kept some key support staff in place, like strength and conditioning coordinator Rob Glass, who has been with the program for the entirety of Gundy’s 20 years as head coach.
Special teams is the only part of the positional coaching staff that held steady.
Gundy hired Sean Snyder, the former Kansas State punter and longtime assistant, last summer to coach punters and kickers, joining analyst Joseph Foteh, who had been the man behind the construction of OSU’s special teams game plans.
They will remain in charge of special teams coaching and schemes.
But the entire offensive and defensive staffs are new. That said, the new faces come with a wide variety of experience, including several who have been coordinators and a couple who have been head coaches at lower levels.
Who’s out and who’s in? Let’s take a look:
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Oklahoma State football coaching changes
Offensive coordinator
Who’s out: Kasey Dunn
Who’s in: Doug Meacham
The story: The 60-year-old Meacham might not have been a “wow” hire, but he’s a proven and well-respected coach who understands the type of offense Gundy wants to run. And he’s got plenty of play-calling experience.
Like Dunn did in his five years as OC, Meacham will coach receivers, which is something he’s done at a variety of previous stops. And some of the support staff, like David Glidden and Tracin Wallace, remain at OSU to assist with the receivers. Glidden has been a college position coach at Memphis and Wallace tagged along learning from Dunn since his playing career ended in 2019.
Quarterbacks coach
Who’s out: Tim Rattay
Who’s in: Kevin Johns
The story: Johns has been a coordinator at multiple stops, holding a co-coordinator title at OU over the second half of this season. He worked with Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech, though his most notable years came as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the recent rise of Duke under then-coach Mike Elko in 2022-23. With Riley Leonard at quarterback, Duke went from last in the ACC in total offense in 2021 to fifth in Johns’ first season.
Running backs coach
Who’s out: John Wozniak
Who’s in: Cory Patterson
The story: If there was any surprise among the coaching moves, Wozniak’s departure would be the top of the list, considering the success he had in recruiting and developing talent. But Patterson is an intriguing replacement. He coached running backs at Illinois for five years, which included work with current Cincinnati Bengals back Chase Brown. He was associate head coach and receivers coach at Purdue the last two years.
Offensive line coach
Who’s out: Charlie Dickey
Who’s in: Cooper Bassett, Andrew Mitchell
The story: Dickey never really recreated at OSU the success he had over a decade at Kansas State, and his replacements will breathe some youthful excitement into the group. Both former Cowboy players, Bassett has been steadily on the rise in the coaching ranks and was on his way to Southern Miss before the Cowboys snagged him last week.
Mitchell has taken a different path, serving as the offensive coordinator, then the head coach at Snow College, his junior college alma mater, in Utah. He was last on the staff at New Mexico. Mitchell will coach the guards and centers, with Bassett to oversee tackles, according to a report from PokesReport.com.
More: Oklahoma State football to hire Cooper Bassett as an offensive line coach
Tight ends coach
Who’s out: Jason McEndoo
Who’s in: D.J. Tialavea
The story: Tialavea played at Utah State, then began his coaching career there after a four-year stint in the NFL. So this is his first coaching job away from his alma mater. Above all, he’s a well-respected recruiter with strong ties in Utah, which is a state the Cowboys have found a good amount of success in recent years.
Defensive coordinator
Who’s out: Bryan Nardo
Who’s in: Todd Grantham
The story: The big question that remains is what exactly Grantham’s defense will look like schematically because he has coached just about all of the basic structures. But he has called defenses at the top level of the game, from the Southeastern Conference to the NFL. His mentors have been Nick Saban and Frank Beamer at the college level and Dom Capers in the NFL.
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Defensive line coach
Who’s out: Paul Randolph
Who’s in: Ryan Osborn
The story: Randolph’s stint in Stillwater lasted less than 12 months, but Osborn brings an interesting background to the job. At 36, he’s been an analyst at Michigan for a playoff run, an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens and the defensive coordinator at Charlotte.
Linebackers coach
Who’s out: Joe Bob Clements
Who’s in: Kap Dede and Ryan McNamara
The story: Clements had a long and successful run with the Cowboys, overseeing the defensive line, then linebackers in his 12 seasons. Dede has a doctorate from Auburn, where he also played defensive back. He has worked his way up from the high school ranks to the Southeastern Conference, though he spent last season as the linebackers coach and run game specialist at Western Kentucky.
McNamara spent the last three years at Central Michigan, with one as the general manager and two as linebackers coach. He crossed paths with Grantham at Florida, where McNamara was a defensive backs assistant.
Cornerbacks coach
Who’s out: Tim Duffie
Who’s in: Jules Montinar
The story: Duffie is another long-time Gundy assistant with a good track record, having put several players in the NFL recently. But he’s on the way out as his spot goes to Montinar, another coach with SEC experience at programs like Alabama, Georgia and Florida. He has flourished as a cornerbacks coach, serving in that role and also as defensive pass game coordinator at East Carolina the last two seasons.
Safeties coach
Who’s out: Dan Hammerschmidt
Who’s in: Greg Brown and Kevie Thompson
The story: Technically, Brown is not a new hire. The veteran coach who will be in his 45th season next fall served as an analyst at OSU this past season. He spent more than a decade coaching defensive backs in the NFL and he has been a college coordinator.
Thompson will specifically work with nickelbacks in the safety group, coming to OSU after three successful seasons as the defensive coordinator at East Mississippi Community College.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football coaching staff revamped. Who’s in? Who’s out?
