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Through five years, the Mike Gundy era at Oklahoma State has been a time of building.
A $286 million stadium overhaul, including a brand new locker room and training facility, was completed last season as the Cowboys finished a rise back to national prominence that featured the team's first top-five ranking in nearly a quarter-century.
Now comes a second phase in Gundy's tenure.
Many of the players responsible for the Cowboys' ascent won't be back in Stillwater this season. Starting quarterback Zac Robinson, first-round NFL draft pick Russell Okung and three other offensive line starters and almost the entire defense played their final season at OSU last year.
''I think for me to say that we're not rebuilding wouldn't be fair because we've got a number of guys that are going to play that haven't competed at this level,'' Gundy said Sunday at the team's annual media day. ''There's not a lot of experience out there.
''We'd like to be in a position someday where we start each year with a number of players that would be in the rotation that have experience.''
That's not the case yet.
Brandon Weeden, who led a dramatic second-half rally to beat Colorado last season, takes over for Robinson, who set school records for passing and total offense while spending most of the past three seasons as the starting quarterback.
Surrounded by mostly new personnel, he'll be running a new scheme brought in by offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, who was in charge of the nation's No. 1 offense at Houston last year.
''The guys that kind of started this whole thing graduated last year and the year before. They started this deal and it's our job to keep it going,'' said Weeden, a 26-year-old who played minor league baseball for five years after being drafted in the second round by the New York Yankees in 2002.
''We lost some guys that were big contributors to this team for four years as starters. It's our job to kind of keep the ball rolling, and I think the guys are ready to uphold that task.''
Gundy hopes to make up for that lack of experience with what he called the most athletic and fastest team the Cowboys have had in ''a number of years.'' Those players were put through a rigorous offseason training program that can't replace game experience, but perhaps is the next best thing.
''We wanted to make sure that we instilled the toughness in them that we've had for a number of years here. We still believe that we have to be a tough football team both mentally and physically, no matter how experienced you are,'' Gundy said.
At the end of last season, the Cowboys were in position to play in their first Bowl Championship Series game if they could win the Bedlam rivalry game against an Oklahoma team depleted by injuries. Instead, OSU lost 27-0 and settled for the Cotton Bowl, then lost that game to Mississippi.
Few are expecting the Cowboys to climb back to the point where they were last Thanksgiving, even if the players themselves haven't lowered their standards.
''That's our goal right now, is to improve from last year,'' said defensive end Ugo Chinasa, one of just three defenders left who started more than two games for OSU last season. ''Everybody's motivated.
''Everybody picked us last in the Big 12 South, so that's some motivation, too, right there.''
The Cowboys get a boost from the return of linebacker Orie Lemon, who missed all of last season due to injury after finishing second on the team in tackles in 2008. And often overlooked in the switch to Holgorsen's four-receiver spread is Kendall Hunter, who led the Big 12 in rushing in 2008 before missing most of last season with a foot injury.
''It's going to be a challenge when you graduate however many seniors we did last year - a bunch of them,'' offensive guard Lane Taylor said.
''It just allows other players to step into roles and step up and play as good as they did.''
Taylor knows that better than just about anyone on the team. He was the new guy, making his first career start in Week 3 of last season as a redshirt freshman. Now, he's the only starter left on an offensive line that helped OSU lead the Big 12 in rushing for a fourth straight season.
''That's college football,'' Hunter said. ''You lose your guys, you get some new, young guys who can step up and play.''
