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.
At least 10 people were hospitalized following a shooting at a party at Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma, the Edmond Police Department confirmed late Sunday night in a post to its social media.
The department noted that it had responded to the scene alongside officers from Oklahoma City Police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Ten victims were evacuated by ambulance to various hospitals in the Oklahoma metro area, police said, noting that the “total number of victims is expected to change as additional individuals transported themselves to area hospitals. There is no update on victim conditions at this time.”
Initial reports citing law enforcement scanners claimed that at least 15 people had been injured.
Edmond Police have set up a reunification center for families at a local Walmart, CBS Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV reported.
Police added there are no suspects in custody at this time, urging the public to reach out with any information.
According to KOCO-TV, KOCO-TV, an ABC-affiliate station in Oklahoma City, police said that there “was no known threat to the public” as of 11:15 p.m..
“We will release more information when it becomes available,” police said.
Despite being from down the road in Oklahoma and his brother already being a Sooner, Blake Griffin recently admitted that playing at OU wasn’t always part of his plans.
Now retired after a 13-year NBA career, Griffin was recently on “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce when he was asked if he always knew he was going to end up at Oklahoma during his recruitment process out of Oklahoma Christian School in nearby Edmond, where his dad was the head coach.
Blake Griffin tells Kelce Brothers he eyed other programs over OU
“It actually wasn’t,” Griffin said. “So my brother (Taylor) committed and played there his freshman year, and then they got a new coach. Kelvin Sampson left, there were some recruiting violations, they got this new coach. Honestly, I loved Kansas, I loved Florida. …
“And then I had like Duke and North Carolina on my list, but it was kind of just like a — it felt like it was a lifelong dream of Duke and North Carolina.”
Obviously Griffin ultimately did end up staying home in Oklahoma and the rest is history. He committed to the Sooners as a McDonald’s All-American and one of the greatest recruits OU has ever landed in men’s basketball at the start of Lon Kruger’s tenure.
As a freshman in 2007, Griffin immediately cracked the starting lineup and averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game while becoming First-Team All-Big 12. Despite being a potential lottery pick, Griffin chose to return to OU and helped lead the Sooners to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and swept national individual awards. He was then the first overall pick the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft, where his brother, Taylor, was also drafted at No. 48.
“I wanted to go to a place where, A, my brother was there, it was close to home, my parents could come watch us play, and then also just that I wanted to go to a place where you felt like they really believed in you and you were gonna be the guy and you were gonna get the opportunity,” Griffin said. “And I’m so glad I did.”
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NORMAN — Oklahoma’s game against Florida on Saturday unexpectedly turned into a bullpen game for the Sooners.
OU starter Cameron Johnson exited the contest after only one inning of work, forcing the Sooners’ relief pitchers to record the remaining 24 outs. The results from Oklahoma’s bullpen were mixed, as the No. 15 Sooners ultimately lost 10-5 to the No. 25 Gators.
In his lone inning, Johnson allowed back-to-back baserunners to open the game before retiring three Gators in a row. Johnson went back onto the mound before the second inning before meeting with coach Skip Johnson and one of OU’s trainers. The pitcher then departed from the mound and Michael Catalano — OU’s usual midweek starter — entered the game.
Catalano gave up a run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning before Caden McDonald hit a three-run home run in the third to give Florida its first lead of the game.
Trent Collier was the next man up and entered with two outs in the third. Collier made it just one inning and allowed Florida to score two runs, both of which were unearned.
Nick Wesloski, who replaced Collier, had the longest night on the mound for the Sooners. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before giving up a solo home run to McDonald.
Nate Smithburg, Mason Bixby and Jaden Barfield were OU’s final three pitchers to take the mound, and they gave up three runs over the final two frames.
Offensively, the Sooners scored early but not often.
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Jaxon Willits got OU on the board in the first inning with a two-RBI double to give the Sooners an early advantage. Camden Johnson logged a two-out two-RBI single to shrink Florida’s lead from four runs to two runs.
Four of Oklahoma’s five runs, though, came from those two hits. Deiten Lachance hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for OU’s first run in five innings.
OU finished the game with eight knocks, and Johnson (3-for-4 with two RBIs) was the only Sooner with multiple.
For Florida, McDonald was the star. He went 4-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBIs.
Oklahoma’s loss on Saturday follows its 4-3 win over the Gators on Friday. The Sooners scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to earn their comeback win.
The Sooners dropped to 30-15 overall and 12-11 in SEC with the loss, while Florida improved to 30-17 and 12-11.
Sunday’s rubber match between Oklahoma and Florida will begin at 2 p.m.
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