Collin Oliver Speaks to the Media

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – There are a lot of firsts that come at bowl time like the first time you get to interview that freshman superstar. For Oklahoma State that is freshman defensive end Collin Oliver, pretty much a consensus Freshman All-American, Oliver registered a team high 11.5 sacks and 15 tackles-for-loss among his 28 total tackles. The humble 6-2, 235-pound quick as a cat athlete didn’t see this kind of year for himself, but others saw it for him.

“For myself, really, no; but for our team, I definitely did. I feel like the camaraderie we had was crazy, especially spring leading up to summer. I feel like we did a great job of combining our differences, and just becoming a team, really. I felt like we did a good job of talking to each other the whole way through workouts, and the hard days and the easy days, all that stuff. We just -- we grew as a team. So I really expected this as a team. But for myself, honestly, I'm confident in myself, but I didn't expect this much, though.”

His teammate and senior defensive end Brock Martin, who is Oliver’s roommate on the road saw it coming back in the summer.

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Brock Martin (left) and Collin Oliver drill in Tuesday’s practice.

“He came in. He worked his tail off. He never complained about anything,” Matin said of Oliver. “He did everything he was asked to, and then he just went on to fall camp and he was very coachable. He listened to the seniors. He took a lot of coaching points from guys that have been there and the coaches. So, I mean, I knew early. Like you said, probably I would say this summer.”

Among those others was Oliver’s high school defensive coordinator at Edmond Santa Fe. Chris Rose coached both Calvin Bundage and another current Cowboy out with injury this season in Trace Ford. Rose knew from those two previous Santa Fe defensive ends that Oliver would jump in and do well immediately.

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Oliver helps on a big sack in his first start against Baylor.

“Yes, he gave me a lot of confidence,” Oliver said of Rose. “He talked to me in a way that most coaches don't talk to their players, especially in high school -- in a good way, of course, telling me that I could do certain things with my talent. I just listened to him and kept my head down and started working. Realizing now what I did back then, I'm really appreciative that he gave me those words. And it's real cool to have a coach like that in your corner, down to earth. And he loves me, and he loves Calvin, too. I love Coach Rose.”

Oliver is just a pup. He will be back next year along with Ford coming back and his roomie and biggest fan in old man, Brock Martin. Other Cowboys may be coming back as well as safety Kolby Harvell-Peel, corner Jarrick Bernard-Converse and fellow safety Tanner McCalister and defensive tackle Jayden Jernigan in the Portal may come back as well. Oliver will no doubt be a big part of the Cowboys defensive future and a big part of stopping Notre Dame on Saturday.