Cowboy Culture Is Very Real and the Reason for This Season
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – When it comes out of Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy’s mouth and it is repeated at nearly every news conference prior to and during the football season, even some in the spring, it is easy to dismiss. Coaches across the landscape of football from high school to small college to Power Five use the term culture. It reminds me of the soliloquy that Jack Nicholson deliver in the movie A Few Good Men.
“We use words like "honor," "code," "loyalty." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line.”
You can substitute culture for the words of honor, code, and loyalty. That is the backbone of your football program. Your program is built with the culture as the bedrock foundation and the stronger the culture then the more your program can handle and rise above.
A good example of the culture is running back Jaylen Warren. The Cowboys leading rusher has only been at Oklahoma State for a year since transferring as a grad senior from Utah State. He has been a warrior in every since for the Pokes, playing hurt and giving his team the plays they needed when they needed them. He missed the Big 12 Championship Game with an assortment of injuries including an ankle sprain suffered in the Bedlam win over Oklahoma. Gundy wouldn’t play Warren against Baylor because he didn’t feel he could protect himself.
Warren was on the sidelines begging to go in the game. Now, there was no question of opting out. Warren has the culture.
“I think missing the last game kind of sealed my decision,” said the native of Salt Lake City, Utah. “I mean, I would play with these boys if we had five more games. I just like playing with them. The brotherhood we've created kind of sticks out for me. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep playing with them. Like this last week of practice has kind of been saddening, knowing it's my last week of practice with them.”
Coaches like defensive line coach Joe Bob Clements know how this team has really grasped the Cowboy culture.
“I think it's the overall leadership and the character of these players,” Clements said when asked what he will miss about this team and this group in particular. “This has been such a mature group to work with. Their work ethic has been second to none throughout the entirety of the season. The maturity and calmness with which they play the game; there's never any panic. They just kind of look forward to the next play. They take the call, digest the information, and just play their hearts out each and every game. I just think the maturity and the cohesiveness of it is what I'm going to miss the most.”
On Thursday, the last practice for this season, a Mike Gundy tradition had the seniors standing in front of the team and being allowed to address the team with anything they wanted to say. Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez spoke up as did his fellow starting linebacker Devin Harper. Both players told the younger players that they hoped they had taught them plenty about being a team and how to lead and love each other.
“It's been awesome. I've been thankful and blessed to be here for all of my five years,” Rodriguez told the media this week. “And I'm just glad OSU took a shot on a small-town kid like me. So it's something I'll always come back to in Stillwater and come visit. Like I said, it's a great program. I'm glad we were able to kind of be in the top ten at the end of the season, and hopefully we get this W on Saturday. Can't get no more COVID years. So, this is my last game. I'm excited; but, at the same time, I'll probably be sad after the game. So, it will be a heck of emotions after that.”
“The chemistry, for sure. I'm going to miss how close we are and how much we blend together outside of football and on the field,” added Bernard-Converse. “I feel like this year I built a lot of relationships with guys that I usually don't talk to. So, I'm definitely going to miss that for sure. I feel like this is the most close-knit team that I've been a part here in my four years. I feel like it's really helped us be successful.
The perspective of two younger players is important. Freshman star defensive end Collin Oliver didn’t see all of his success coming, but he felt it from a team perspective immediately.
“I feel like the camaraderie we had was crazy, especially spring leading up to summer,” Oliver expressed. “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.”
Sophomore slot receiver and returner Brennan Presley will be joined by his younger brother Braylin. He’ll get to show Braylin the Cowboy culture.