Oklahoma State Finally Ready for Action After Offseason of Change

Oklahoma State’s season is less than a week away, and excitement is building in Stillwater.

Looking at the Cowboys in August, it’s hard to imagine anyone is still thinking about the 2024 season. With so many new players and coaches, Mike Gundy’s team isn’t just ready to put last year in the past, OSU is also ready to kick off a new era. 

OSU’s season opener against UT Martin will mark the official start of Gundy’s 21st season as the team’s head coach. While he has two decades of experience in this position, 2025 offers one of the toughest challenges of his career, but he won’t be alone as he looks to overcome last year’s three-win performance.

With offensive coordinator Doug Meacham and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham hoping to lead a turnaround in Stillwater this fall, there is no doubt that the Cowboys are ready to make a statement. While OSU still has to wait until Thursday to begin the 2025 campaign, everyone is happy that the wait will soon be over.

"I'm ready to play right now,” Gundy said. “There's never enough practices for a coach, or for me anyway, but it's been really fun the last month because it's only been football. It hasn't been any other side stuff or all the other junk, it's just been pure football, which has been very enjoyable."

Pure football is certainly a welcome sight for the Pokes after such a busy offseason. While bringing in a new coaching staff aro und Gundy was one thing, having to rebuild the roster was another animal.

For the first time, OSU embraced this era with the transfer portal and NIL, leading to one of the nation’s largest transfer classes in Stillwater. One of the many new faces for the Cowboys this season is offensive lineman Kasen Carpenter, who was the first transfer commitment for Gundy and company in the offseason. 

Looking to make his mark at OSU after starting 11 games at center for Tulsa last season, the sophomore could be a building block for the Cowboys’ offense moving forward. While Carpenter’s skills as a sophomore could make him a long-term star at OSU, he is simply ready for game one as a Cowboy.

"I cannot wait,” Carpenter said. “We're seven days away. We've been counting down through fall camp and now that fall camp is over, we're more in school mode, but we're still working for it. We're ready for next Thursday."