Gundy on signing day
Published: 2/7/2007 5:57 PM
Last Modified: 2/7/2007 5:57 PM
OSU football coach Mike Gundy's comments on the Cowboys' signing day class:
On the recruiting process: “We are very pleased with this class of student-athletes. The reason we are able to have another great class is the players that on our team right now. They did a tremendous job recruiting for us. At times in recruiting, assistant coaches across the country can start to sound alike. When you bring a student athlete to campus, they have an opportunity to visit with the student athletes that are on your team. They believe in our system, and they know our coaching staff and the people associated with our program care about them as people and not just as athletes. We have great academic support here with Marilyn Middlebrook. Our players are going to class and are on track to graduate. That is a huge impact now with these parents. Our strength program is a big part of it. Rob Glass is second-to-none in the country. He does a tremendous job, and it is evident.”
On the community: “The excitement in Stillwater is as high as it has ever been. (Recruits) are comfortable in this community, and that is a big part. That gets overlooked sometimes in recruiting. Oklahoma State people are loyal. It is a safe place and a good place to be. This community is growing.”
On signing day surprises: ”The list is exactly how we thought it would fall. There were not any surprises. The only position we would have liked to add more is the offensive line. We signed three, and we would have liked to have added four. We did not feel the pool at that position was as great this year in Oklahoma and Texas. We will have to make up for that next year.”
On the skill positions: “We needed skill positions on both sides of the ball. We felt we needed two safeties in this group. We needed depth at that position. We are set there with Adrian Moore and James Thomas. We needed wide receivers because we are going to lose quite a few guys next year. Because of the system we have in place here, it was very important to get several wide receivers in this group to give them a year to learn the system. Some of them might be able to compete as freshman. If so, we will play them. You guys know we will play freshman.”
On the defensive line: “Defensive line is important. We brought in Tonga Tea. We hope he can contribute in our first game. We need that depth after losing (Ryan) McBean and Larry Brown. We were able to get two defensive ends, with Richetti Jones and Jamie Blatnick. Those guys will be good ends for us. Inside we have Quinton Prince and Ahmad Jones. We got some added depth there.”
On this class: “This is exactly what we needed outside of one more offensive lineman. We are excited about getting these guys in here. This is as good of a class as we have had in a long time. They can take this team to the next level. We keep chipping away every single year. You have to have solid recruiting classes. If you do not have solid recruiting classes it makes it difficult.”
On the wide receivers: “Hart Lee (Dykes) had the ability to change a game. Dez (Bryant) has done that in high school at a very strong program. He is not as tall, but he may be more shifty and faster than Hart Lee was. He has the ability to change the game. I am not saying he is going to be Hart Lee Dykes. The coaches down in his area talk about Hubert Anyiam being on of those guys who flew under the radar. He was recruited by some big schools. Josh Cooper is one of those kids you look at say we are going to wait on some 6-2 kids, but you keep watching the tape and he catches kicks, punts, returns and tackles. He is doing it against good people who are being recruited, and he is winning those one-on-one situations in the games. He is going to make plays at this level. Damien Davis has real, quick shifty steps and real good speed. He is very completive. When he gets into our system and develops he will have some great potential.”
SOURCE: Oklahoma State University; www.okstate.com
Written by
Mike Strain
News Editor
