Tylan Wallace Situation Wasn't That Complicated, It Made Sense

ORLANDO, Fla. – I know this sounds like the ranting of an old man, but I guess it is a little ranting and I am an old man. In the second half of the 2020 Cheez-It Bowl as No. 21 Oklahoma State was using about everything they could on offense and defense to stave off the comeback of No. 18 Miami, Fla. in going on to win 37-34, many fans missed a good dramatic second half by messaging about Oklahoma State senior wide receiver Tylan Wallace. Cowboys fans should know by now that Wallace is a team guy, so when he was going up and down the sidelines at the start of the second half shaking hands and hugging teammates, coaches, and members of the Cowboys football program they should have known there was no controversy.

Today, Wallace is on his way to South Carolina to meet with a marketing team that will help him and was organized by his agent. He signed with Oklahoma native Kelly Masters and KMM Management, which also represents former Cowboy and current Dallas Cowboys tight end Blake Jarwin. Wallace heads to the NFL, the upcoming Senior Bowl, and hopefully the NFL Combine after that in good health as a conscious decision was made primarily by offensive coordinator and receivers coach Kasey Dunn, but with the blessing of head coach Mike Gundy.

”Well I don't know if it was any particular time,” Gundy said in his postgame Zoom conference. “We had just talked with him about at some point we wanted to get some of the other players in the game that were going to be there next year. And we want to protect him.”

“Oh, 100 percent, Dunn answered if he was involved in the decision. “I told the guys before the game started, you know, over at the hotel. I said, you know, I just want to get some younger guys in in the second half, and to be honest with you, Ty's good. He and his mom and everybody on his side of it, they see it, too. I want to protect that kid, for sure, you know, and I told him that early on when we were going into the Bowl.”

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Cowboys won the Cheez-It Bowl, Wallace Played but came away healthy.

During the second half as it became clear that Wallace was done, the ESPN television broadcast reported that Wallace being out was a player decision resulting in some Cowboys fans losing their minds on social media. During the commercial in the radio broadcast, play-by-play voice Dave Hunziker told me of the social media spike and suggested we find out what was going on. Wallace wasn’t playing so I asked him simply how the decision was made.

“Coach was involved in it,” he said. “Coach Gundy and Coach Dunn. They want to get some other guys out there and protect me.”

Wallace gets it. He chose to play in the game and wanted to be there for and with his team. Wallace also knows about injury and he wanted to exit the Cheez-It Bowl as healthy as he was coming into it. If the Cowboys had lost. I could see the screaming, but this was a win-win situation. Wallace played and showed bowl games are important. He went against some of the modern grain of opting out. In the meantime, his team won and his coaches pulled him to protect him showing they understand. Gundy has always said with players of Wallace’s ability that their future would always be a consideration.

“Our goal is to bring young men in and train and get them a three and a half or four years, teach them about life and do anything we can to make their life better,” Gundy explained. “Obviously, he has a future very, very few people have an opportunity for. And so myself and Coach Dunn were very protective of him. We made a choice at that time to let some of the other players get in, and compete so we just didn't have to hold our breath in that situation.”

Wallace finishes his career with 205 receptions for 3,434-yards and 26 touchdowns. This season he had 58 receptions for 922-yards and will likely become a two-time All-American.

“I said, ‘I'm going to protect you. I know you've got a future in this game.’ So that's 100 percent on me as far as who played and when,” Dunn added. “I told him before the game even started, before he even left the hotel, that I wanted to see Tay in the second half and for Tylan to be prepared to sit that one out. Yeah, 100 percent on me.”

“What Tylan has done for us is he's been unique compared to other players; I should say the majority of some of the other players that are as highly regarded as him from the standpoint he wanted to compete throughout the season and stay with it,” Gundy continued. “That means a lot to us and I think that's going to greatly benefit him when it comes to draft day later on this spring.”

As will being healthy for the Senior Bowl and hopefully, for the NFL Combine and beyond.

This is a good story and not a controversy, although a number of people tried to make it into one.