Offensive Line and Etienne Shaping Up and Ready to Prove Doubters Wrong

STILLWATER – The offensive line fatalists, the “Debbie Downers” of the trenches would want you to believe that none of the players that have come in from various football ports of call have panned out and that Oklahoma State has a thin wall upfront on offense and that quarterback Spencer Sanders will be running for his life. Sanders had his rant earlier in fall camp as he went on the warpath toward offensive line detractors. Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy isn’t ready to accept the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football, but he has seen improvement and it is not one of his central areas of concern at this stage with fall camp into the final days, three practice left to be exact.

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Dickey and his offensive line are challenged heavily every day by that defensive line that is loaded.

“We have a number of guys,” Gundy started. (Offensive line coach Charlie Dickey) is working some through at different positions, but we’ve got guys that rotate in with the ones and the twos that played a pretty significant number of snaps this year in quality games, which is better than where we were at last year.”

There is no doubt about that. In the two deep right now are players with 55 college starts. Right guard Hunter Woodard with 22 and right tackle Jake Springfield with 16 lead the way. New center Preston Wilson has 12. The left side has a grand total of one start and that is guard Taylor Miterko. Backup center Joe Michalski has four starts, but likely starting left tackle Caleb Etienne has not started a game. He played in three games last season: Missouri State, Kansas State, and Kansas.

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Etienne was a solid 350 last fall camp.

Etienne as they say, “looks the part.” He has since he arrived at 6-7, 350-pounds, but the native of Louisiana high school powerhouse New Orleans Warren Easton and well-traveled with junior college stops at Fort Scott C.C. and Butler County C.C. is now Rob Glass ready.

“Caleb still has a ways to go, but he’s a completely different player right now. He’s, I’m not for sure, 40 pounds lighter maybe. He might be 50 pounds lighter, I’m not sure. But he’s in condition now,” Gundy said of the work with Glass and his staff. “He’s been with us long enough that he understands who we are and how we practice. Once he got his body under control, now he can think and play fast. He’s getting better every day. He looks much, much better. He was a long way off last year. He was a victim of the COVID. Really the last time he played up until he plays this year will be in high school. They didn’t do much in junior college. When he showed up, he just had a long way to go, but he’s doing much better at this time.”

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His work in the weight room and in conditioning has made him a candidate to amaze this season.

Etienne looks more confident and he speaks with a lot more certainty about what he is doing By the way, unlike camp last season, he has started out as the left tackle and been there with the first unit every day.

“You just got to go out there and compete, ain’t nobody’s job secure yet,” Etienne reinforced. “Anybody’s job can be taken. You just have to go out there and show the coaches you want to be in there and buy in. You can’t take the day off. You have to go out there and work because that is what you have to do.”

Etienne looks much more confident and he speaks with that confidence. He has gone from needing help to helping others. He understands the transition and is working to speed it up for another junior college transfer in Tyrone Webber.

“That’s my guy and I just take in anybody, even playing behind me, no matter what,” he said of working with Webber. “After metabolics we would get extra work in. He’s been folling me and I’ve been trying to teach him the extra things as well. Just, just whatever he needed help with.”

Etienne is a key piece and a one-time four-star prospect that if he keep moving forward will move through Stillwater with the next stop somewhere in the National Football League.