Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State Football Recruiting: Takeaways from Gundy's Press Conference

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:58 p.m. ET

Fansided, Andrew Miller/FanSided via Pokes Post

Oklahoma State football head coach Mike Gundy looked confident in his 22 player 2017 recruiting class following a quiet National Signing Day.

With the 2017 National Signing Day all but wrapped up at this point, it’s time to look at how each player in the recruiting class fits in with the Oklahoma State football program. It was standard operating procedure for the Cowboys’ 2017 class. The Pokes finished with a class of 22 players, including two four-star recruits.

Head coach Mike Gundy took part in his post-National Signing Day Press Conference, as usual, after all of the Letter of Intents were collected for the day. Altogether, it’s a good looking class by OK State standards. They were able to beef up on all levels on defense and added quite a bit of depth to running back and wide receiver.

OK State now has an embarrassment of riches at receiver after signing four-stars Tylan Wallace and Shamond LC Greenwood. That adds to an already great roster of receivers that could very well be the best in the nation entering the 2017 season.

Gundy was satisfied with the class the Pokes had at hand, and not landing any additional players today. If nothing else, at least the Cowboys didn’t lose any commits today. Moreover, the Pokes filled some immediate needs by bringing in a few ready to play JUCO transfers. However, it was not a very exciting National Signing Day for OK State fans.

The entire month of January did not have a whole lot going on in Stillwater on the recruiting trail. It was a largely silent month for the Pokes while other Big 12 programs like Texas, Baylor, and TCU really hit the recruiting trail hard. Yet, this is still nothing out of the ordinary for a Gundy coached team.

It will be hard to tell how good this class will actually be until the end of the 2017 season. For example, Freshman All-American running back Justice Hill could very well be the best running back in the Big 12 in 2017. Yet, he was just a three-star recruit in the 2016 class.

Now, let’s take a look at the three biggest takeaways from head coach Mike Gundy’s post-National Signing Day Press Conference.

1. OK State has big plans for Chuba Hubbard and J.D. King

Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich will have quite a few weapons to work with next season. Assuming running backs Chuba Hubbard and J.D. King do not redshirt in 2017, they will provide quite a bit of depth behind Hill in the backfield.

Coach Gundy mentioned during the press conference that when King went on his official visit to OK State he called his mom immediately after and said, “I am going to Oklahoma State”. The odds were against the Pokes to sign King since he is from Georgia.

Hubbard offers Olympic level speed for the Pokes. He is very similar to Hill in running style, but he is even faster, running a 10.5-second 100-yard dash. Hubbard did not get as many offers as he should have with his talent level because he is from Alberta in Canada. However, he still received offers from schools like Tennessee and Oregon, but still chose to go to Stillwater.

The best part about signing both King and Hubbard is the “thunder and lightning” type combination OK State gets. Hubbard is a lighting fast one-cut back while King is bigger and breaks tackles.

2. Gundy still fully intends to emphasize the Cowboy Back

It’s a position made famous by the Pokes under Coach Gundy. The Cowboy back position is one heavily utilized especially when OK State has talented players like Blake Jarwin. However, with Jarwin gone, new players need to step up to take his spot.

A few candidates to step in include tight end and two-star signee Baron Odom and three-star JUCO transfer fullback Sione Finefeuiaki. Odom flipped to OK State from Rice on Jan. 31, while Finefeuiaki is the no. 1 JUCO fullback in the country. Both have great size and offer value in either the pass or run game.

It’s nice to see the Cowboys recruiting run blockers to help an improving offensive line and running game. Those were the two weakest points of the offense entering the 2016 regular season. However, both issues were taken care of as the season went along. And the offensive line has four of their five starters from the previous season returning in 2017.

OK State focused very heavily on adding receivers, tight ends, and running backs for the 2017 class. The offensive line could have used some upgrades, but we’ll see how Gundy handles that situation in the near future. He mentioned during the press conference that the Pokes still have one scholarship left if they want to add another player before August.

3. Mike Gundy is Big Daddy

Coach Gundy was spotted using a coffee mug during the press conference that said “Big Daddy” on the side. This comes just one year after the start of “Gundy’s mullet”. It seems that every year Gundy has another thing to talk about outside of football in press conferences.

Mike Gundy is drinking coffee from a mug that says "Big Daddy." Incredible. pic.twitter.com/CtRVDbPn9N

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguy) February 1, 2017

Gundy mentioned during the press conference that he trimmed the mullet three inches essentially to look more presentable to recruit’s families. Yet, three-star running back J.D. King’s mom apparently told Gundy that, “the mullet is what gave him his swag”. It seems like the fans and media are not the only people infatuated with his mullet.

ESPN did an entire article talking about Gundy’s unusual coffee mug. You can view that entire article from ESPN here.

Outside entertainment is never in short supply with Gundy. He always gives fans something extra to talk about between the “I’m a man I’m 40” speech all the way to his “Big Daddy” mug today.