Bill Young subplot gains a new chapter
Published: 1/10/2013 8:35 AM
Last Modified: 1/10/2013 8:42 AM
The future of Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young -- will he return to the Cowboys next season? -- is a subplot that gained legs at season’s end.
The subplot gained a new chapter Wednesday night, when Pete Roussel of coachingsearch.com cited unnamed sources in reporting that Young will not return to OSU next season. Added Roussel in a Twitter post, “Look for (Mike) Gundy to promote Glenn Spencer.”
Spencer, who coaches linebackers, has been a co-defensive coordinator since the 2011 season.
Bob Barry, Jr., of television station KFOR in Oklahoma City cited the coachingsearch.com report and said during his Wednesday night sportcast that he heard Young had been dismissed.
There has been no official word on Young’s status. University spokespersons could not confirm if the coachingsearch.com report is true and sources within the football program did not return messages Wednesday night.
Young, an OSU alum, is in his second tour of duty as a Cowboy assistant coach and has been Gundy’s defensive coordinator the last four seasons. Young’s unit led the nation in takeaways during the 2011 season, when the Cowboys won their first Big 12 championship and advanced to a BCS bowl for the first time.
Young’s contract runs through the 2013 season. If he is departing before the 2013 season, players have not been informed, according to a source.
Young, 66, had a health scare early this season, missing games against Savannah State and Arizona after undergoing a procedure to correct a cerebral aneurysm. He was asked in October if the medical issue caused him to step back and evaluate how long he wants to continue coaching.
“No, not really,” he said. “In fact I missed two games and it ate me up to be missing the games. There is no question there is life after football. I understand that. I have always had an unbelievable respect for life. My mother died at a fairly young age. I lost three sisters and a brother. You learn to appreciate what you have.”
Young said then that he doesn’t like to fish or play golf, so he doesn’t know what he would do if he wasn’t coaching the game he loves. He also said he wants to continue coaching “until I am not doing a good job. I don’t want to shortchange anybody. I don’t want to shortchange the other coaches and I don’t want to shortchange the players. I don’t have a (retirement) time set. It’s going to depend on (performance).”
At one point in the Big 12 season, OSU held three consecutive league opponents below 20 points for the first time since 1986. When the injury-stricken Cowboys were gashed by the statistically potent offenses of Oklahoma and Baylor at the end of the regular season, Young was asked more questions about his future.
The defense finished on a high note, snaring five takeways in a Heart of Dallas Bowl victory over Purdue. And Young said afterward that he will be back as long as the Cowboys want him back.
Gundy, when asked post-bowl by the Tulsa World’s John Hoover if he wants Young back, said he couldn’t commit yet either way.
“Well, I’m gonna sit down and talk with him like I would every coach,” the head coach said. “That’s not a question I can answer at this time, for a lot of reasons.”
Gundy said it would be up to Young to decide “just kind of where he’s at with his career and his age. This is not an easy profession to be in as you get older. I think he’s got to make that decision.”
At some point, OSU officials will acknowledge what that decision is.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
