Jake Schultz Is Settling Into New Cowboy Back Role

STILLWATER – Cowboy back coach Jason McEndoo entered spring football in a bit of a quandary as his position group lacked reps and a bit of depth heading into the 2022 season.

Austin Jarrard transferred out of the program midway through March and former cowboy back Silas Barr, who has since medically retired from football due to a bicep injury not healing, had made the move back to offensive line.

They brought in true freshman Tabry Shettron, but he is still in the learning phase. They also have sophomore Blaine Green, but he’s out indefinitely after suffering a wrist injury during fall camp.

So, McEndoo and offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn took inventory of the roster, specifically the immense depth at defensive end, and approached a likely candidate: Jake Schultz.

Schultz, a walk-on from Prague, OK, originally joined the Cowboys as a linebacker in the 2019 class. He recorded three total tackles his redshirt freshman season, playing in 10 of the 11 games that season and recorded a tackle against Kansas, Baylor and in the Cheez-It Bowl against Miami.

He then made the move up to defensive end in 2021, but mainly played on special teams and played in all 14 games, while recording an assisted stop against Tulsa and in the Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame.

“[The coaches] came to me, they thought I’d be a good fit,” said redshirt junior Jake Schultz. “We lost some guys at the cowboy back position. They left, [the coaches] needed some bodies to fill in and they thought I’d be a good fit. I wasn’t on board with it right away, I was pretty hesitant. They actually asked me a couple of times and I said ‘no, no, no,’ but this spring, coach [Kasey] Dunn really pushed hard and said to give it a shot, so I did.”

Hesitant at first, but now that he’s gotten his feet wet in the first few weeks of the season, he’s looking to expand his role just a bit.

“I’d love to [stretch the cowboy back position],” Schultz told Pokes Report’s Robert Allen with a smile. “Obviously, one of my first goals was to catch a touchdown pass as a tight end, cowboy back, so that might happen this week, but we’ll see.”

The cowboy back out of Prague, who hauled in one catch for 13 yards against Central Michigan, should have a pretty decent chance of recording his first career touchdown this coming weekend as the Pokes are set to face FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff.