Recap...

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“Well, I was just as surprised on some guys as other people,” Gundy said. Standing with his helmet at his feet and gold locks flowing from his head, senior tight end Braden Cassity thought back to watching some of his friends enter the transfer portal.

“It hurt,” Cassity said. “You know, going on year six definitely built good relationships with a lot of those guys. But that’s just how it is. It’s been that way in high school and now it’s here in college. It is what it is, it sucks. But I think we’re all excited to move forward.”

OSU brought in 15 transfers to balance out losses. The Cowboys pulled from Michigan State, Iowa, and Tulsa. They also found players from Utah Tech and George Fox University. Did the acquisitions balance out the losses? It won’t truly be known until the spring practices in the Sherman E. Smith Training center are traded for games across the street in Boone Pickens Stadium, but Gundy answered the question.

“I mean, I’m going to say yes,” Gundy said. “We lost a lot of maturity with Spencer (Sanders). (Alan) Bowman is mature, but he hadn’t had a lot of reps in two years. So, I’ve looked at that.”

So many new faces give spring practice a unique feel, even for Gundy who is entering his nineteenth as head coach.

“Much different this year in the fact that I think it’s 28 new players that we have on our roster for the spring, which is considerably different,” Gundy said. “Most years in the past, you’re looking at three or four new players and so finding our way through, getting everyone together rep wise and trying to get schemes built in all three phases to benefit us for the summer, where guys can practice together on their own.”

Offseason change didn’t end with the players. In January, defensive coordinator Derek Mason announced he was going on ‘sabbatical.’ Gundy searched every corner of the coaching world, even interviewing two high school coaches to fill the position.

Gundy settled on 37-year-old Bryan Nardo, from Gannon University, a Division II school in Pennsylvania. The interview lasted six hours, about three-times longer than normal, Gundy said. “Afterwards I thought, ‘He’s the guy,” Gundy said. “The best guy. Doesn’t make a difference where he came from.’”

So what does an offseason full of change mean now that pads are popping and whistles are shrilling? Even Mike Gundy isn’t sure.

“There’s more parity now than ever,” Mike Gundy said. “There’s 28 new guys here. There’ll be 37 when we start in August. I threw out the number 18, I don’t know, maybe 20, 20 new guys could be playing. Not at once. So how do you know how good you’re going to be? You really don’t.”