Remember This Guy? Mike Gundy Sees Ford and DL as Anchor for Good D

STILLWATER – We’ve talked about it a lot. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left for Ohio State. Then safety Tanner McCallister went with him. Cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse was tampered with and lured away by the “King of the Portal” in new LSU coach Brian Kelly. The NFL won’t be getting any of the Cowboys defensive linemen except possibly Israel Antwine and he likely won’t be drafted.

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Mike Gundy optimistic defensively this spring.

“We were able to lead the nation in sacks last year without a single defensive lineman being drafted,” head coach Mike Gundy said on Tuesday in an interview on Sirius-XM’s Big 12 Today. “I don’t have any doubt that we’re going to be good on defense next year after watching the first four practices. We have athletes out there, they are fast, they can cover the field. There is not any question that they are going to be mentally tough. When we get ready to roll at the end of August, I foresee us playing good defense.”

Yes, the Cowboys had 57 sacks for 386-yards in losses. Compare that Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders and Shane Illingworth were only sacked 16 times for 103-yards lost. The defense was ninth in scoring defense, fifth in rushing defense, second in tackles-for-loss, and fourth in third down conversion defense.

Again, all those players lost above and even more critical are linebackers Malcolm Rodriguez and Devin Harper, safety Kolby Harvell-Peel, and cornerback Christian Holmes that will be drafted in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Gundy believes his defense will still be good. Here’s something different, a player returning that did not play last season as defensive end and monstrous pass rusher Trace Ford returns. He’s had to rehab two ACL injuries and surgeries, but Gundy underlined that he is doing well.

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Trace Ford making a tackle in 2020 vs. Texas.

“He is doing really well,” Gundy said of Ford’s status to the Sirius crew of Big 12 Today. “We could turn him loose right now, but we don’t have to. We know Trace is going to play hard. He played as a freshman (4.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks) and was a true grinder. He got hurt in the second to last game (Baylor in the COVID season) of the year (4.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles-for-loss in 2020). We could never pull him back. He goes full speed.

“We will let him go through all of the individual drills,” Gundy continued. “We will not let him go through team settings and then we’ll put him back in the team settings in August. I foresee on passing downs that with Brock (Martin), Collin (Oliver), Tyler Lacy, and Trace Ford being the four down pressure guys in our third down package. If we go three-down we’ll pull Tyler (Lacy) inside and put Trace (Ford) and Collin Oliver on the edge and let them rush.”

Gundy as he said above loves his athletes, the young athletes moving into playing position on the back end, but he is certain that those players up front will make their jobs even easier.

“You think of moving Tyler down at 275 pounds down into a three technique and those two guys on the edge,” Gundy got deeper. “Most teams are going to have to slide protection to Collin and then Trace is on the other side. Most teams will try to double the nose (one technique) then some teams might try to double team Tyler as the three technique, but that is hard to do because you have a five technique out there that is either Trace Ford or Collin Oliver.”