Oklahoma State football opens preseason camp with mix of excitement, uncertainty

STILLWATER — Bryan Nardo zipped up and down the lines of Oklahoma State football players with the energy of a first-grader at recess.
High-fives, fist bumps and several calls to “Have a good day today.”
And the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator wasn’t only pumping up his defenders. He made his way down the specialists’ line. He joked with receiver Brennan Presley and bounced from tight ends to offensive linemen.
In spring, players spoke often of Nardo’s positive energy. As the Cowboys opened the first practice of preseason camp Wednesday at the Sherman Smith Training Center, Nardo seems quite excited to begin his first season as a Division I coordinator.
“He’s big on family, getting everyone to buy in and being a brotherhood,” defensive end Kody Waltersheid said. “He talks about how there’s never a time when you can give too much effort. Runners and hitters.”
Energy and excitement, of course, will take Nardo only so far. The man who was calling defenses for Division II Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, last fall is taking over a defense that dropped from one of the Big 12’s best in 2021 to the bottom half of the league in many critical categories last year.
He’s changing the scheme from a 4-2-5 base to the 3-3-5 that head coach Mike Gundy long coveted. Less than half of the first-team jobs will be filled by returning starters. Nearly as many could be won by first-year Cowboys who came out of the transfer portal in January.
Excitement, yes. But uncertainty, too. And that stands to be the theme of August in Cowboy camp.
“More excitement than uncertainty,” Gundy said. “Today I only had to ask twice who somebody was. That was a good day for me. I feel much better about that side of it.
“The excitement is greater than the uncertainty, just seeing what the guys we had in the weight room in the summer — our gains and strength levels are in the top three all-time since I’ve been the head coach here. So that showed a real strong commitment from our team, in my opinion.”
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Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo greets players during stretching during an Oklahoma State University football practice in Stillwater, Okla., Wednesday, Aug., 2, 2023.
Linemen like new schemes
With the move to some more power run sets in the offense, the Cowboys are focused heavily on improving the rushing attack this preseason.
The new schemes are popular with the offensive linemen, but Gundy says the most important factor in improving the run game is focusing on it.
“In most cases, you get good at what you practice, and things you make a priority to improve on,” he said. “I’ve asked our offensive staff to make it a point to improve in the running game, and I’m fairly confident that will happen.”
Right tackle Jake Springfield, now a redshirt senior with 29 starts and 37 total games played, says the linemen can focus more on physicality in the new schemes.
“It gives us more chance to be downhill and more aggressive,” he said. “We can down block and we have a puller, and that puller gets a chance to ear-hole someone. I think that’s really gonna help us.”
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Oklahoma State players run drills during an Oklahoma State University football morning practice in Stillwater, Okla., Wednesday, Aug., 2, 2023.
Running back depth worth watching
The last few seasons, OSU has gone all the way to its fourth-string running back in meaningful situations in multiple instances.
With the departure of Deondre Jackson, who left the team in spring, and the medical retirement of Zach Middleton last winter, the Cowboys enter camp with just four scholarship running backs. One of them is true freshman Sesi Vailahi, who arrived in June.
So the health and usage of the top three — sophomore Ollie Gordon, redshirt sophomore Jaden Nixon and super-senior Elijah Collins — will be points of interest for the Cowboys during the season, but also in camp.
“Unfortunately, that’s one position where guys get hurt,” Gundy said. “They take direct hits from all different angles, very difficult position to play. You would like to go into the season with four of them. If you go in with three and the fourth guy learning on the run, that’s OK, but that’s the one position you always concern yourself with from a depth standpoint.”
So Vailahi will be the fourth guy, learning on the run.
Listed at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, he played both receiver and running back at Salt Lake City West High School. He was a late addition to the signing class in February, but jumped in quickly when he arrived on campus.
“This summer, he showed a lot of talent and potential,” Nixon said. “I’m excited to see him out here when we get pads on.”
The Cowboys begin padded workouts Friday morning.