STILLWATER — College athletics, particularly football, might be the ultimate high-stakes card game where you’re only as good as your last hand, as both Mike Gundy and Todd Grantham discovered in the last week.

Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg seems well aware of the risk. While speaking on what used to be the weekly Mike Gundy radio show, Weiberg said that he will be taking a risk on whoever ultimately emerges as the next Cowboys head coach.

“One of the ways that you minimize that risk is that you hire somebody that’s been there and done it before,” Weiberg said.

However, that doesn’t mean head coaching experience and success in that role will be a non-negotiable for the Oklahoma State AD. Weiberg said he expects that everyone he talks to about the opening will have a decision to make during this coaching-search cycle or will be poised to make one very soon in a future cycle.

“Having said that, every single great coach that you can think of, just go down the list, was an assistant coach somewhere before they got the first head coaching job,” Weiberg said. “… We’re not going to be afraid of talking to people who are assistant coaches too, because I believe the next great head coach is an assistant coach out there somewhere right now.”

Weiberg said he will use a search firm to help him conduct the search throughout the season. He said he used one when he made the decision to bring on men’s basketball coach Steve Lutz, but said he doesn’t always use them. Weiberg made no mention of a firm’s involvement in the hiring process for wrestling coach David Taylor or women’s basketball coach Jacie Hoyt despite mentioning each of those coaches earlier in the conversation.

Weiberg said a firm could help deal with the chaos that might some with a search “that’s going to go one for a couple months.” When asked if the goal was completing the hiring process as soon as possible following the end of the regular season, Weiberg responded “absolutely.”

“A lot of that will be dictated by their schedules, and when, you know, they’re able to wrap up whatever it is, you know, wherever they are, but that will be the plan is for it to be an immediate transition from that to to this,” Weiberg said.

The transfer portal is slated to open on Jan. 2 following this season. The early signing period for high school recruits opens on Dec. 3 and closes Dec. 5.

Weiberg said he plans to use the time between now and the new coach’s introduction to review current practices at place with Cowboy football.

“Just some of the internal workings of the program as well, and make sure that that is how we want it to be,” he said. “Of course, we all know there’s been a few things happen in college athletics over the last two or three, four years, right.

“That’s changed the way things, the game is played. … This is an opportunity for us to really use to change that structure and get it the way that we want it to be and need it to be for the next guy coming in, whoever that is.”

At one point, Weiberg was asked if Oklahoma State’s path to the playoff being easier than Arkansas, which is also looking for a new head coach as of this week, makes the Cowboys a more desirable job for candidates.

Weiberg responded, saying “I want to find a coach that thinks he’s going to win wherever he is. … If he was getting hired by an SEC program, he was going to win the SEC. He’s getting hired by us, he’s going to win the Big 12. That’s what I’d like to find.”

Weiberg said the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten are all competitive conferences. The difference lies with the television contracts which puts the Big 12 decidedly third among those three conferences.

“They’re able to fund their programs differently because of that,” Weiberg said. “We don’t have those so we have to rely on our, you know, supporters, to help level that playing field. But you know, as long as we can say that you are going to have the resources that you need to compete for championships, I want to hire the guy that thinks he’s going to be able to do that in whatever conference he’s in.”

That attitude is important because Oklahoma State’s athletic director said the Cowboys might not be in the Big 12 forever. He said there’s a “halfway joke” between him and the Colorado AD because the Cowboys have a two-game non-conference series scheduled in 2036 and 2037. Despite Colorado rejoining the Big 12 last season, they haven’t canceled these games yet, just in case they wind up in different conferences.

“There’s a chance five or six years from now, we don’t know what conference we’re going to be in,” Weiberg said. “So we better be ready to compete in whatever conference that we’re in.”

Conference television contracts begin expiring in 2030 with the Big 12’s deal with ESPN up in 2031.

“That means the negotiations and all that’ll start here in ‘28, ‘29. … So we’ve got a short window here to get our house in order,” Weiberg said. “And we need to be winning at a very high level, so that when you know that game of musical chairs starts getting played, that we know that we are going to have a chair, and the best way of knowing that you’re going to have a solid chair, and that is to be winning football games.”

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The Cowboys are still in the running for the best wrestling prospect in the 2027 recruiting class.

Melvin Miller on Monday announced that he is down to four schools: Oklahoma State, Penn State, Nebraska and Virginia Tech. Miller last updated his list of suitors at the beginning of September but has since cut Michigan and Ohio State from consideration.

He wrestled U20s at the U.S. Open in April, finishing second to incoming Penn State freshman PJ Duke in the 70 kg (about 154 pounds) bracket. Duke beat Miller 8-5 before Duke went on to to win the United State’s senior spot at the World Championships. The college football and college basketball worlds would call this a quality loss.

Miller then wrestled at the U20 World Team Trails, where he came second to Landon Robideau, who will be a freshman at OSU this season. Miller beat Kody Routledge, another incoming freshman for the Cowboys, at that tournament.

On top of that, Miller is a two-time Pennsylvania state champ and a two-time Fargo winner. He won his Fargo final in July with a 13-2 tech.

Miller is a high school teammate of OSU 2026 commit Jax Forrest, but Miller has a closer tie on that Bishop McCort (PA) team. He is an adopted brother of 2026 prospect Bo Bassett. Bassett was previously committed to Iowa but reopened his recruitment. Miller and Bassett have since taken visits to Nebraska and Virginia Tech together. So, it’s a wonder if the two are a package deal, with those two schools looking like the frontrunners to this point.

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STILLWATER — The Cowboys brought in six receivers from the transfer portal this offseason, but despite that, a true freshman has managed to carve himself out a role through Oklahoma State’s first four games.

Royal Capell (pronounced kuh-PELL) is the only Cowboy true freshman to play offensive snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus. After not playing in the season opener, Capell has caught five passes in Oklahoma State’s past three games, gaining 33 yards. He also has a six-yard rush.

“Man, Royal’s just a guy,” OSU interim coach Doug Meacham said. “He’s super-hungry for information and studying. He’s always up there with David Glidden. Every day, he’s the one guy who’s up there more than anybody, asking questions, watching tape, taking notes. Getting out his iPad and watching film. And that kid does exactly what you tell him to do.

“For a true freshman, he’s unbelievable. Wherever you want him to be, he’ll be there. He’ll do it correctly, and he’ll do it full speed. … For a quarterback to know that kid’s gonna be in the right spot, no matter what, it’s a big comfort. And he’s 18 years old.”

Capell grew up in a military family, which meant he moved around. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but went to high school at Cibolo-Steele in Texas. He had at least 750 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns in his final three years of high school, including a senior season that saw him eclipse 1,000 receiving yards.

He earned offers from Oregon, Oklahoma, Baylor, Duke, Houston, Indiana and others but pledged to the Pokes and enrolled early, joining the Cowboys for the spring semester.

Meacham said it wasn’t immediately evident that Capell would make an impact as early as he has, but after surviving the spring, he started thriving in the fall.

“In spring, I think he was trying to figure out how to survive because it is a lot different,” Meacham said. “In high school, you can be the man, show up and have a bad day and still be the man. In college, you can have a bad day and you get beat out. So you gotta show up every day with your stuff dialed and ready to roll. It took him a minute to figure that out.”

Capell has an 83.3% catch percentage, catching five of the six passes intended for him. He’s 3-for-3 on contested catches, per PFF, and three of his catches have also gone for first downs.

He had his longest reception of the young season Saturday, and it came from an unlikely source. In OSU’s 45-27 loss to Baylor, running back Trent Howland took a handoff running to his right when he pulled up and tossed to Capell between a pair of defenders. Capell was oh, so close to paydirt but was tackled at the 1-yard line.

“He works,” said Howland of Capell. “He’s earning his opportunity to go out there and play. I always have talks with him, like, it’s good that he’s getting this experience now because down the long run, it’s gonna pay off big for him. He comes in, he works every day and he’s bought in to the program, and he wants to show up and show Coach DG (David Glidden) that he’s capable of being out on the field to make those plays.”

Everyone we’ve asked about Capell has mentioned some combination of his work ethic (specifically time spent with former Cowboy slot receiver David Glidden) and his mind for the game.

“He loves football,” OSU receiver Sam Jackson V said. “That’s all he knows is sleep, eat, football. Even from the beginning, you can tell as far as the cerebral part of the game, if he had it or not, and he had it. I think that’s why (David Glidden) feels comfortable with putting Royal out there any time over me and Freak (Gavin Freeman), or any time of the game. And I feel comfortable with him, too, because I know he’s gonna go out there and block, he knows his assignment, his alignment and his technique. He’s gonna do that every time.”

So, as the Cowboys go through the next eight games before prepping for the new era, consider Capell on the list of guys OSU should battle to keep in Stillwater for years to come.

“Just a great kid,” Meacham said. “He’s gonna have a great career in college. He’s gonna make a lot of plays. He’s just a comfort for those QBs because they know, like you’re going through a read and you go one, two, and he’s supposed to be a certain spot, and he’s gonna be right there. He’s gonna do it right. He’s gonna ID man/zone and make his adjustments. Just phenomenal mentally for a young kid. Way ahead of it.”

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STILLWATER — Doug Meacham took in his first weekly media luncheon on Monday, and when he walked in, he was pretty excited to see the food.

Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator, Meacham made debut as the Cowboys’ interim head coach on Saturday when OSU fell to Baylor 45-27. Here are five things Meacham hit on Monday. You can watch his full news conference below.

We’ve already written some about his thoughts on interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen, which you can read here.

1. On the Whirlwind Week

It’s crazy to think, but Doug Meacham still hasn’t even gone a full week as the Cowboys’ head coach.

Since taking over last Tuesday, Meacham has already coached a game and seen a change at defensive coordinator when OSU fired Todd Grantham and promoted Clint Bowen to the interim DC.

“I’ve never been a head coach of an elementary school, you know what I’m saying?” Meacham said. “So, this is a lot of new stuff I never thought about. Everybody thinks being a head coach is easy, and then you do it and realize there’s a lot more to it than you thought, as anything would be probably. The bottom line is, I just feel like I’m just so proud of the kids’ willingness to participate and be a part, and the vibe that they’re providing. It makes it easy for all of us coaches to go out and do our job and have fun and stuff like that, and continue to just devote all our time and effort into what we can do to help them win a game because it’s all about them. That part’s been fun.”

2. ‘Oh, That’s on Me’

Going along with Meacham’s inexperience as a head coach, there are certain in-game decisions he is making for the first time.

OSU had a 4th-and-4 from the Baylor 39 in the first quarter of Saturday’s game. Where the Cowboys going to go for it? Attempt a long field goal? Try to pin the Bears deep with a punt? They ended up going for it.

“Being honest with you, for a second I forgot I was making that decision. So, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s on me,'” Meacham said. “Because normally, you’re over there, ‘Let’s go for it! What are we, soft? Let’s go!’ Then I went, ‘Oh, that’s on me.’ That was a little bit different because when you look at it, and you’re trying to surmise what you’re gonna do the next play or the next drive, some of that stuff, I gotta do a better job of paying attention to the entire game, I think. So that was new for me. That was a tough one, at times, because I had never done that. To be honest.

“But we got a lot of good staff members that make a lot of good recommendations in those situations, and it kinda helps.”

3. Redshirting and the Transfer Portal

OSU firing coach Mike Gundy opened a 30-day transfer portal window for Cowboy players.

Some have already taken advantage of that, as long snapper Shea Freibaum and safety Dylan Smith have made intentions known they will enter the portal over the past few days.

Here is how Meacham said he is handling talks with players about that option.

“They talk to their position coaches or whoever recruited them,” Meacham said. “I may visit with them a little bit. ‘Hey Coach, what about this? What do you think?’ Just that conversation. And I’m not necessarily trying to beg them to stay. I want them to want to be here, too. But I try to be factual and give them the information I think would help lead them to the smartest decision. Not just about ‘I want you to stay just for me.’ Because it’s about them, too.

“If I think it makes sense, I’m not necessarily gonna try to bend it or shape it in a way that will make them stay because I want them to stay. But at the same time, there’s a lot of information I can offer that make them understand ‘it’s probably in my benefit to stay’ and then they make the decision.”

4. On the Offensive Line

OSU has already had to battle an unusual form of attrition on the offensive line, but there have been bright spots about this growing group.

The Cowboys have rushed for 4.9 yards per carry or better in each of its past two games. That’s a feat the 2024 Cowboys managed just twice all season. And that’s come after the Cowboys lost starting left tackle Markell Samuel, who broke his foot in a walkthrough in a hotel ballroom before the Oregon game.

“I just think we’ve got a really solid unit,” Meacham said. “Just like anybody else, you gotta keep them healthy and keep them out there and take care of them during the week. Just like everybody, no one has enough up front. Everyone’s light up front this time of year. You gotta be careful about it.

“But they seem to be coming together as a unit. I was fortunate at TCU for a couple years, we had the same five linemen for two straight years and no one ever got hurt. It was unbelievable. And it was really cool to watch how much better they got every week. They knew they could trust one another, and they understood the little nuances of the communications that they made toward one another, and it was comfortable for them. They’ll just get better and better. It’s a pretty good unit, a pretty solid unit.”

5. Sam Jackson Isn’t a Wildcat Quarterback

One of the biggest gadgets Meacham used in his interim coaching debut was Sam Jackson V.

A wide receiver at OSU, Jackson was recruited to TCU by Meacham to play quarterback. After two seasons in Fort Worth, Jackson transferred to Cal to play more quarterback before making the change to wide receiver at Auburn.

In OSU’s game against Baylor on Saturday, Jackson ran, caught and threw — finishing with nine rushing yards, five receiving yards, 46 passing yards and a passing touchdown. More than those stats, he opened up the OSU offense for the first time in some time, and he kept the Baylor defense guessing.

“When you say wildcat, it’s really not correct,” Meacham said. “He’s not a wildcat guy. He’s a quarterback playing receiver. So, that’s a great pet to have, so to speak. 

“When he’s on the field, I would say that you’d be a little bit apprehensive about certain things, defensively, which may could clear the picture at times and stuff like that. And it’s one more thing they have to defend and prepare for. So, it could help with everything else and everybody else. So as much stuff as you can have them have to process and not really change what you do up front or at skill positions and you’ve just got a different guy taking a snap, I’m all for it.”

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This time of transition in Stillwater has picked up four more Cowboy casualties.

North Carolina transfer safety DeAndre Boykins will enter the transfer portal, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. On top of that, a trio of Cowboy defensive commits have reopened their recruitment in the fallout of Todd Grantham’s firing, as defensive back Josiah Vilmael, edge rusher Landen Anderson and defensive back Carter Langenderfer have reopened their recruitment.

DeAndre Boykins

Boykins was listed as a redshirt senior on OSU’s roster, but the redshirt came because of a season-ending injury in fall camp of 2023 while at North Carolina, meaning he should have a traditional redshirt to use.

With Mike Gundy’s firing, OSU players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal.

In his three seasons on the field with the Tar Heels, Boykins made 78 tackles, including six tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.  He also intercepted a pass, broke up eight and forced a fumble.

He played in five snaps in OSU’s season-opening win against UT-Martin, according to PFF, and was on the field for three plays against Tulsa.

Josiah Vilmael

Out of Fort Bend Travis High School in Texas, Vilmael is a three-star defensive back, who the 247Sports Composite ranking lists as the No. 1,585 player in the 2026 cycle.

He committed to OSU in April. The writing seemed on the wall that could change on Sept. 21 (last Sunday) when he started announcing new offers. Vilmael has since announced offers to Baylor, Arizona, Kansas State, Arizona State, Iowa, UNLV and others. Vilmael officially announced his decommitment Sunday.

Landen Anderson

Out of Edmond Santa Fe, Anderson pledged to the Pokes in mid-July, but according to a report from Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett, he decommitted on Monday.

A defensive lineman, Anderson is the No. 464 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the class, making him the No. 5 player in the state of Oklahoma.

Before Anderson was committed to the Cowboys, he pledged to Kansas — a commitment that spanned from late January to early June. Along with offers to Kansas and OSU, he had previously announced offers to Baylor, Arizona State, Iowa State, Maryland, UNLV and others.

Carter Langenderfer

A safety from Owasso, Langenderfer is the No. 1,258 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking, which tabs him as the No. 22 player in the state of Oklahoma.

He pledged to the Pokes in early April after an official visit. He has also announced offers to Iowa State, Tulsa and others.

Where Things Stand

Boykins was the third Cowboy who had elected to hit the portal since Gundy’s firing. He joins safety Dylan Smith and long snapper Shea Freibaum.

As could’ve been expected with the coaching change, OSU’s 2026 recruiting class has taken a hit.  Eight players have decommitted thus far, leaving the Pokes with an seven-man recruiting class as things stand.

PORTAL

Name	Position
Shea Freibaum	LS
Dylan Smith	S
DeAndre Boykins	S

DECOMMITS

Name	Position
Kase Evans	QB
KD Jones	RB
Jabarie Thornton	WR
Aiden Martin	OL
Landen Anderson	DL
Trey McGlothlin	LB
Josiah Vilmael	DB
Carter Langenderfer	DB

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Justin Southwell, Nathan Gilsleider and Marshall Scott recap Oklahoma State’s 45-27 loss to Baylor and discuss Todd Grantham’s firing.

Special thanks to our sponsor ⁠Brewster Consulting Group⁠.

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Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news.

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OSU Bullets

• Doug Meacham previewed OSU’s game against Arizona – why he named Clint Bowen defensive coordinator (PFB)

• Kickoff time for OSU’s game against Houston was released (PFB)

• Cowboy safety Dylan Smith is expected to enter the transfer portal (PFB)

• Survey – what are you looking for in OSU’s next football coach? (PFB)

• Mike Gundy was on track to make $8m before he was negotiated down for the 2025 season – Matt Campbell and Chris Kleiman are at $5.5m or below.  While it might feel like OSU doesn’t have money, they’ve got plenty to compete with their peers. 

This is a guess: For its new head football coach. I’m thinking that Oklahoma State will want to set the first-season money limit at $5 million. If the new coach would happily accept $4.3 million as a starting figure, I think the university would happily oblige. [TulsaWorld]

• Doug Meacham put the fun back in Cowboy Football (PFB)

• Mike Gundy with sixth-best odds on the Arkansas job – the candidate I’m most intrigued by for Arkansas is Joey McGuire at Texas Tech, while whether it’s an upgrade from his current job is debatable.   

Betting odds on next Arkansas head coach pic.twitter.com/GxSvH3i9Qb

— BuffalOKstate (@BuffalOKstate) September 30, 2025

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Non-OSU Bullets

• 32 things Ed Stack did to build Dick’s Sporting Goods

•  The entire country of Malta received a medal during WWII

 

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STILLWATER — The Cowboys travel to Tucson this weekend for a game against Arizona at 2 p.m. (Central) Saturday.

Interim head coach Doug Meacham, interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen, tight end Josh Ford, offensive tackle Grant Seagren, defensive tackle Iman Oates and edge rusher Malik Charles met with reporters Monday to give updates on the program and preview the Wildcats.

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STILLWATER — On Saturday night, Clint Bowen’s top priority as a quality control assistant for the Cowboys was breaking down Arizona’s defense.

The next morning, he woke up to the news that he would be moving to the other side of the ball and skipping his way up a few steps as the new interim defensive coordinator.

“Mike Gundy recruited unbelievable players to this program,” Bowen said. “He built an unbelievable culture. I’ve been at a lot of places and coming here, I told Coach (Rob) Glass and Coach Gundy that the first winter workout I watched, the first spring ball that I watched, I went to him and I said this is unbelievable.

“The things I’ve seen our guys do to help each other, to listen to coaches, to be respectful, everything, it’s the most unbelievable culture I’ve ever seen. And so these kids will handle it fine. And this will be good.”

Although the specific circumstances are rather unique, Bowen’s no stranger to the position itself. He previously coordinated defenses at Kansas, North Texas and Western Kentucky.

He also has experience serving in an interim capacity after he took over as the temporary head coach of the Jayhawks for the final eight games in 2014, and Bowen believes that transition will serve him well now.

“If things aren’t handled correctly behind the scenes, you can end up being a big bear with no teeth as an interim,” Bowen said. “Because people kind of know that, hey, I’m dealing with this cat for eight weeks, nine weeks, whatever it is, you know, and he’s out the door. … That’s the reality of this dynamic.

“But I truly do believe that if you go out and you help players and they see that you’re helping them get better — because they all want to be the best they can be — and if you can prove to them that you’re capable of doing that, the kids will run through a wall for you.”

Interim head coach Doug Meacham did not address the dismissal of former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham following Saturday’s 45-27 loss to Baylor, but he did discuss what made Bowen the right guy for the job.

“He’s such a great guy, and I think he’s a player’s coach,” Meacham said. “I think the players feel like he cares, and I think the players feel like he’s in it to get the best out of them. … I think his MO is gonna be carry over what we’ve done and plug in the things that we feel like fit based on the opponent and just mesh with the staff from here moving forward.”

Bowen and Meacham previously served on the same Kansas staff from 2018-19, so they had an existing relationship. The Cowboys interim said it also helped that Bowen’s background involves a lot of work with defensive backs.

“I think a lot of people struggle with things on the back end because there’s so much schematics now back there because people try to disguise everything,” Meacham said. “I mean, what you see pre(snap) is not what happens 75% of the time. … I just feel good about him handling it because for me, like when he was on my side of the ball identifying coverages. What the heck is that Cover 2, no, it’s actually bracketed. For offensive guy, you think it’s one thing, but it is really not and he could explain it, how do you attack it. The switch route here, you know, whatever he’s a great source of information on coverages and stuff like that.”

Meacham made himself laugh a little bit around this time, remembering how he used to criticize Bowen’s drawings when it came to coverages because Bowen drew everything up from the defensive coaches’ point of view.

“I taught him how to draw plays the other way because defense, they draw it upside down to me,” Meacham said. “So now he’s struggling to draw it the other way, where the defense is facing the other way.”

Bowen acknowledged “the unique situation” of taking over someone else’s defense midseason. He plans to overcome that by playing to this strengths and core beliefs, most notably that the coaches make mistakes not players.

“We go out and ask a kid to do something that he hasn’t had the experience level or the knowledge to learn, that’s our fault,” Bowen said. “If we ask a player to go out there and do something that he’s not physically developed enough to do, he doesn’t have enough experience, that’s our fault. If we go out there and haven’t put them in a situation, that’s our fault.”

Oklahoma State missed a season-high 19 tackles on Saturday against Baylor so it’s no surprise that Bowen had a lot to say about fundamentals.

“Defensive football, I always think there’s a process that kids have to go through,” Bowen said. “One, what do I do coach? Where do I stand? What do I read? What should I do? Two, get enough reps. The repetitions build muscle memory to where they don’t even know how to react different. They see and react. They see and react.

“And then third, when you got all that mastered, now you start going, all right, what are those guys on the other side of the ball doing. Oh, the tailback is a yard behind the QB. Oh, this splits a little tighter. That’s when you start anticipating plays and being good.”

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