Oklahoma
Oklahoma State football’s adjusted emphasis on tight ends shows in 2025 recruiting class
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy talks about first spring practice
Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy talks about Cowboys’ first spring practice
OSU ATHLETICS
STILLWATER — A few years ago, Oklahoma State had some good tight ends, but no real tight ends.
In the 2019-20 seasons, the Cowboy tight end roster looked something like this:
- Jelani Woods, a converted quarterback.
- Logan Carter, a walk-on who played offensive tackle and defensive end in high school.
- Dayton Metcalf, a walk-on who was a high school quarterback.
- Braden Cassity, a converted defensive end.
All four were viable players who provided value in different areas.
Woods ultimately went on to be drafted by the Indianapolis Colts and is entering his third year in the NFL. Carter was ultra-reliable and Metcalf was a consistent performer when called upon. Cassity was young back then, but developed into a stalwart blocker who could occasionally catch some passes, too.
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All four were solid players, but none of them came to OSU as tight ends.
That’s a change in coach Mike Gundy’s recruiting philosophy over the last couple of years as his offense has begun to lean more heavily on help from that position — and the 2025 recruiting class is another step in that direction.
With few exceptions, the Cowboys focused throughout the majority of the 2010s on trying to minimize their recruiting investment in the position, looking for players who were physical with good size and could be molded into the role.
It worked out with guys like those mentioned above and a few others along the way, like Blake Jarwin, who walked on after a strong high school career at Tuttle.
But particularly after the struggles OSU faced offensively in 2022, Gundy’s focus turned to getting more from the tight end.
Last year, OSU turned to the transfer portal to get an instant infusion of talent at the position, led by UMass transfer Josiah Johnson. And he had a strong season, which catapulted him to an NFL free-agent contract after the draft in April.
The Pokes will try to replicate that with Ohio transfer Tyler Foster this season, a big, experienced player with one year of eligibility remaining.
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Last December, the Cowboys signed Stillwater’s Josh Ford, who was one of the freshmen creating some buzz during spring ball because of his physical attributes.
The Cowboys currently have four tight ends on scholarship, all of whom played the position before coming to OSU.
And now, the 2025 class has a pair of commitments.
OSU landed Jordan Vyborny in early May. He’s a 6-foot-5, 230-pound recruit out of Draper, Utah, with good athletic traits who is polishing his tight end skills.
Just over a month later, the Pokes got a commitment from Isaiah Butler-Tanner out of Killeen, Texas. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder is among the top five highest rated recruits in the class, according to 247Sports, and has shown great versatility in high school.
Over the previous 12 recruiting classes, OSU has signed six tight ends from the high school or junior-college level.
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The 2012 class was the last time OSU added two tight ends, signing Zac Veatch from Broken Arrow and Blake Jackson from Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College, and both filled their roles well during their time as Cowboys.
With the emphasis of how the tight end is used in the offense now — aligning both in a traditional end-of-the-line position as well as today’s more common wing or fullback roles — the players needed for the spot need diverse skills, but also the brute physicality to do battle in the trenches.
The receiving element of the tight end game might or might not rise going forward.
Johnson had 166 receiving yards on 22 catches last year, the most yards by an OSU tight end since Jarwin had 309 in 2016. And Johnson played 66.2% of OSU’s offensive snaps, with 398 of his 698 total snaps on passing plays.
So blocking remains task No. 1.
Still, the Cowboys’ investment in the position has clearly grown, so the next step is further increasing the impact on the field.
Oklahoma
The Under-the-Radar Oklahoma State Football Transfer Generating Preseason Buzz
This preseason the buzz around Oklahoma State football has centered around its talented group of transfers. Some have received much more attention than others.
Take quarterback Drew Mestemaker. After he led FBS in passing yards a year ago at North Texas and then transferred to the Cowboys, he landed an invitation to the Manning Passing Academy this summer. He impressed the Manning family with his ability.
The Cowboys also have other talented and highly productive transfers including two of Mestemaker’s former teammates at North Texas, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young.
Outside of the near 20 Mean Green that followed head coach Eric Morris north from Denton, the Cowboys also pulled a wealth of other talented transfers.
Recently, both CBS Sports and 247Sports published extensive previews of the Big 12, including under the radar players. Both sites agreed that this Oklahoma State transfer is generating a lot of preseason buzz, even though he doesn’t have the career production to back it up.
The OSU Transfer That’s Buzz-Worthy
The transfer is linebacker Tate Romney, a senior transfer from Arizona State who also played at BYU. One site, 247Sports (subscription required), quoted a source that had seen Romney play this spring.
“Tate just running the show (has been impressive),” that source said. “Physical. Natural feel in the run game. Very smart football player.”
He’s projected to start alongside another former UNT player, Ethan Wesloski, at linebacker in OSU’s 4-2-5 defense. The difference is production. Wesloski led North Texas with 113 tackles (59 solo) last season. Romney doesn’t have that many tackles for his entire career. Why? Injuries and lack of opportunity have worked against him.
Romney is Oklahoma State’s oldest player, per the OSU site. He is already married and has a child. He did two years’ worth of missions from his time at BYU. But, aside from his solid 2023 season, he hasn’t played much.
That year, after a true freshman season in which he played three games, Romney was tied for fourth on the team with 52 tackles, adding four a for a loss with one sack. Had a season high eight tackles in games against Southern Utah and Washington State. From the standpoint of use, he was a Top 25 freshman defender.
But it stopped after that. In 2024 he suffered a broken arm that forced him to miss the first six games of the season. From there, playing time was hard to come by, aside from special teams. He transferred to Arizona State for 2025, which was fresh off winning the Big 12 title and going to the College Football Playoff. He was also a native of Chandler, Ariz., where he was 2019 Arizona 6A Varsity Linebacker of the Year and won three state titles.
With the Sun Devils he played inn 10 games, finished with 13 tackles and had five tackles against Utah. But the impact he was hoping for didn’t happen.
Romney is a transfer that falls into the opportunity category. The production says that he’s nothing more than a solid depth linebacker. That two different sites have sources telling them otherwise is intriguing.
The proof will come in September if Romney finally gets the opportunity for regular starting time alongside Wesloski as the Cowboys attempt to climb out of the cellar in the Big 12. If the predictions are right, the Cowboys may have two productive linebackers on their hands in 2026.
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Oklahoma
Can Missouri football get revenge on Oklahoma? How Sooners shape up
These old rivals are all tied up since their reunion.
Missouri football and Oklahoma, the former Big 12 foes now duking it out in the SEC, are going to meet regularly as ‘permanent’ rivals, meaning the Tigers get the Sooners on the schedule for at least the next four years.
This season, the matchup is moving to the last weekend of the regular season. Oklahoma will visit Mizzou for a Nov. 28 game in Columbia.
In their first matchup back together in the SEC, Mizzou staged a stunning comeback on Faurot Field. The Tigers were largely uncompetitive but kept it respectable in an 11-point loss in Norman last year. It’s tied at 1-1 since the reunion.
Who’s going to take the edge?
The Tribune is analyzing the offseason of each of Mizzou’s 2026 opponents to get you up to speed with the new rosters and coaches after a busy offseason.
Here’s what to know about Oklahoma this season, including key additions, coaching changes and playmakers to keep an eye on when the Tigers face the Sooners:
Who are opposing names to know when Missouri football faces Oklahoma?
Quarterback: John Mateer is back for his second season as OU’s starting quarterback. After transferring in from Washington State as one of the top-ranked portal prospects in the country, he didn’t quite see the preseason Heisman Trophy hype materialize as he battled injuries and acclimatized to SEC play. Mateer threw for 240.4 yards per game, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and he rushed for eight more scores and 35.9 yards per outing.
Offensive playmaker: Trell Harris had an excellent season with Virginia last year, picking up All-ACC honors after catching 59 passes for 847 yards and five touchdowns. He’ll almost certainly be Mateer’s most-used receiver in an offense that could use a spark after a so-so 2025 campaign.
Defensive playmaker: Defensive end Taylor Wein is a 6-foot-4, 266-pound wrecking ball off the edge. He had seven sacks and 15.0 tackles for loss, and there’s every reason to believe those numbers could climb this upcoming season as he likely takes on the lead pass rushing role after R Mason Thomas went to the NFL as a second-round pick.
What did the offseason look like for the Sooners?
Key additions: Harris (WR, Virginia); Parker Livingstone (WR, Texas); E’Marion Harris (RT, Arkansas); Hayden Hansen (TE, Florida); Cole Sullivan (LB, Michigan); Kenny Ozuwalu (DE, UTSA)
Notable losses: Mason Thomas (DE, NFL Draft); Febechi Nwaiwu (OG, NFL Draft); Gracen Helton (DT, NFL Draft); Kendal Daniels (LB, NFL Draft); Robert Spears-Jennings (S, NFL Draft); Jaren Kanak (TE, NFL Draft); Deion Burks (WR, NFL Draft); Sammy Omoshigo (LB, UCLA); Kobie McKinzie (LB, Northwestern); Jovantae Barnes (RB, Kentucky); Michael Hawkins (QB, West Virginia)
New coaches: N/A
The No. 1 reason to believe Oklahoma can repeat as a College Football Playoff team is its defense.
The Sooners were elite on that side of the ball in 2025 and bring back a number of key starters, including their top-two tacklers, sacks leader, and two of the three players who recorded multiple interceptions over the course of the season.
This is almost certainly going to be another strong OU defense.
The major weakness on the Sooners’ offense last season was their ability to run the ball. OU had a bottom-four mark in the SEC with 118.5 rushing yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry. The Sooners are changing up the depth chart with a couple of returners, including Xavier Robinson, the likely No. 1 option out of the backfield.
Venables said in the offseason that he believes this is his best offensive line, which includes a top-ranked addition in Harris from Arkansas and one-time Mizzou target Michael Fasusi at the tackle spots.
Early forecast for Mizzou vs Oklahoma
This game is so far away. There is a lot of football between now and this regular-season finale. Who knows where these two teams will be by then and what stakes will be at play as the Tigers welcome the Sooners back to Columbia for the second time since they both became SEC members.
From nearly four months away, this looks like one of the tougher games on Mizzou’s schedule.
The Sooners have a lot of continuity in areas where they were strong last season. We’ll see if the offense can take a step forward in Year 2 of the OC Arbuckle/QB Mateer pairing. If it does, this is probably a CFP team.
Even last season, though, Missouri had its chances in Norman to spring an upset. If Mizzou’s special teams were operating at even a remotely acceptable level, this could have been a game.
In Columbia, we’d be surprised if this year’s game wasn’t competitive. The last meeting between these two teams on Faurot Field was an all-timer.
But, this appears to be one of MU’s sterner tests. The Sooners are a tough outfit, and it would not be a surprise to see a team one win away from sealing a playoff spot come to CoMo on Nov. 28.
Oklahoma
New Oklahoma law requires emergency action plans for summer camps
TULSA, Okla. — Nearly one year after the tragedy at Camp Mystic in Texas that took the lives of 28 people, including children. Governor Stitt signed a new House Bill 16-75 that requires camps across the state to have emergency action plans in place.
This new law will have camps in Oklahoma work directly with their county’s emergency management teams. It ensures that all camps have emergency action plans that include training staff, evacuation routes and better weather alert systems.
WATCH: New Oklahoma law requires emergency action plans for summer camps
Oklahoma passes new camp safety law
I listened with Scotty Stokes, a father and founder of Oklahoma Firefighters Burn Camp for child burn survivors, about what this means to other parents like him.
“As a father and a grandfather, when your kids go to camp, and mine did when they were younger, I mean you’re worried about them, you’re constantly worried about them,” Stokes said.
“You’re constantly watching things like the weather and making sure they are safe, are they being taken care of, and you may even be contacting that camp. with the implementation of this new law, it makes it a little easier on the parents to understand that these camps have been through a process to prepare for these extreme weather events that occur here in Oklahoma.”
With this new camp safety law, campers and parents across Oklahoma can have peace of mind that precautions to keep campers safe is finally the standard.”
I also spoke with Keaton Forest, emergency management field manager at WSB. This company has taken the initiative to connect camps with their county’s emergency management team. In hopes of making the process go smoother as camps get into compliance with the new law.
“Behind this, what we saw was an opportunity to connect camp organizations with emergency managers through several conversations we’ve had through some camps and as well as emergency managers,” Forest said.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of them don’t have standing relationships. So right now, what we’re doing is doing our best to gather information from both of them and collaborate on making a new emergency action plan for these camps.”
This camp safety law will take effect Jan 1.
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