Bryan Nardo Gets Some National Love from ESPN Plus

STILLWATER – Last offseason ESPN writer Adam Rittenberg did a deep dive into which Big 12 school had the best chance to carry the Big 12 once departers Texas and Oklahoma left for the SEC. His story was reaally pronounced on Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys and Baylor both got solid mention as being the best bets. They still could be, but both schools struggled last season as Oklahoma State best Baylor 36-25 in Waco early in the season. Now Rittenberg is hardly to blame for how the seasons turned out for the orange and black or the green and gold. So, the fact that Rittenberg turned his reporter’s attention to interesting coordinator hires in college football and featured Oklahoma State’s new defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo should not concern you. 

ESPN

Adam Rittenberg

“Its’ a good story. I find it refreshing when a coach goes a different route like Mike Gundy did and hires a coordinator from Division II or FCS level,” Rittenberg told me on the radio on Tuesday (July 25). “There are good coaches, deserving at those levels and even high school that didn’t a connection, a big contact, or were a great player. I like seeing those coaches get a chance.”

I can promise you that Bryan Nardo will not free fall and I don’t think Rittenberg does either. The interest comes from the fact that Mike Gundy not only claims that there are good coaches at every level of football from the NFL down to the high school ranks, but Gundy has proven it before when he went to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and hired Mike Yurcich from Shippensburg to be his new offensive coordinator. Since Oklahoma State, Yurcich has worked at Ohio State, Texas, and is now the offensive coordinator at Penn State.

The whole process was familiar to Gundy. The weather didn’t cooperate and Gundy and his defensive staff all involved in the interview process didn’t get to go to Erie, Pa. and instead flew Nardo into Stillwater. 

“I drove him to the hotel and put him up there (on the white board in front of the defensive staff) and said, ‘just go day one installation.,’” Gundy has said. “’I just want to know who you are and what you do in your system.’ 

“So, six hours later, he had to catch a flight or I literally would not have stopped because he was teaching us, and there were six or seven of us in there, including myself,” Gundy continued of the interview. “It was impressive. I was learning football and I’m not a defensive guy, but he was teaching me football. I tried several things (on the white board) I put up a diamond (formation), shotgun, gun, several things like Texas Tech does some and I asked, how are you going to handle it, kind of jacking with him. He asks, ‘can this guy run, the quarterback?’ I said, ‘well, yeah.’”

Nardo went into explaining that he has to defend him (quarterback). Gundy said Nardo didn’t just throw things out. He asked questions, important questions that would make a difference in his answers. Nardo wanted to know the variables and that would allow him to figure it out. 

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Bryan Nardo talking at the OSU Coaches Clinic.

“I put a lot out there for him and I wanted to know how he would handle them because he doesn’t have a lot of experience at this level; right, wrong, or indifferent,” Gundy said. “He handled it real well, so at the end, in my head, I thought to myself that this is the best guy for the job.”

He did, and in talking to Rittenberg, Nardo said the whole process and the way Gundy interviewed him gave him confidence. It propped him up.

“I remember talking to people or talking to my wife about it, and the one thing we kept saying was, 'He's done this before,'" Nardo told ESPN. "The fact that he's shown that confidence and belief and shows that you can be a good football coach, regardless of where you come from, regardless of the level, reaffirmed that he's calling you for a reason."

“This guy is excited about coaching,” Rittenberg said of Nardo. “I could tell that when I talked to him and he’s really grateful to be where he is now at Oklahoma State. It is similar to what happened with Mike Yurcich and you can see that worked out well.”

Columbus Dispatch

Jimmy Burrow and his wife, Robin.

Nardo did have a connection to inspire him in Jimmy Burrow at Ohio University. Burrow was a hard hitting safety at Nebraska that came with longtime Ohio head coach Frank Solich. Burrow, known more now as the father of Heisman Trophy winner and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Nardo started soaking up defense from Burrow.

Burrow passed on many lessons.

"He was not a dictator; it wasn't Jimmy's way or the highway," Nardo said. "So here, it's about, how can we build this together? I don't want people to think, 'Man, what a great call by Bryan Nardo.' I want people to say, 'What a great play by Oklahoma State's defense.' I don't care if it was my idea."

That was also an interesting part of the story, the connection to the Burrows,” added Rittenberg. “This was just a good story.”

Now, the hope is that it will just keep going and with the Oklahoma State defense guided by Nardo and the defensive staff that had a hand in hiring him playing lights out and proving that coordinators can come for all levels to the Power Five. Mike Gundy believes it.