Mike Gundy, Doug Meacham Hire Double OSU Grads to Coach Offensive Line

STILLWATER – The buzz we were hearing over the weekend was Oklahoma State was hiring a former player and alum to coach offensive line, but check that story. Head coach Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Doug Meacham are hiring two former Oklahoma State players and alums to coach the offensive line. Andrew Mitchell, a former Cowboy offensive lineman that played briefly in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and has coached at multiple stops including head coach at Snow Community College and most recently offensive line coach at New Mexico State, will coach the centers and guards. Cooper Bassett, who played on both sides of the football at Oklahoma State as a tight end and defensive end, has coached at Missouri and most recently at Utah State. Bassett will coach tackles and likely work a lot with new tight ends coach D.J. Tialavea as tackles and tight ends work together in combo blocks and schemes.

Sources confirmed the hiring of the two Oklahoma State alumni around 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon. 

NFL/Cincinnati Bengals

Mitchell (76) with the Bengals.

Mitchell has an extensive experience in football having played at both Snow Community College and than offensive tackle at Oklahoma State (2008-10). He went on to spend time on the practice squad with three teams in Cincinnati, Seattle Seahawks, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He got into coaching as a graduate assistant at North Carolina and then Houston. 

Mitchell was the offensive line coach at Indiana State. He then crossed paths again with new Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Doug Meacham at TCU twice. Mitchell was there with the Frogs helping with the offensive line from 2016. He was there again from 2021. In between, Mitchell as the head coach at his junior college school as he headed up the Snow program. 

New Mexico State University Athletics

Mitchell at New Mexico State.

Most recently, Mitchell has been at New Mexico State, where this past season Mitchell helped coach an offensive line unit that was among the best in the country as the Aggies wrapped up the season with the 14th-ranked rushing attack in the country, averaging nearly 200 yards per game (198.7). The dominant Aggie front ultimately helped lead the program to its second 10-win season in NM State history while earning a spot in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl and an appearance in the Conference USA Championship game in year one as a member of the league. With the support of Mitchell’s unit, the Aggies eclipsed 200 rushing yards six times during the historic season, including an impressive effort in a win over Auburn in which the Aggies rushed for 213 yards and one touchdown against one of the nation’s top run defenses.

Mitchall is married to former UH soccer player (Kaitlin) and has three children.

Cooper Bassett is in his second year as Utah State’s offensive line coach and first as co-offensive coordinator. 

In his first year at Utah State, Bassett helped the Aggies to six wins and an appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which was its third-straight bowl game and 11th in the last 13 seasons. With Bassett on staff, the Aggies led the Mountain West and ranked 25th in the nation in total offense (438.6 ypg). USU was also 26th nationally in scoring offense (33.2 ppg), 30th in rushing offense (184.4 ypg) and 43rd in the nation in passing offense (254.2 ypg).

Utah State Athletics

Cooper Bassett

Bassett came to Utah State after spending the 2022 season as the offensive line coach at Sam Houston State. In 2021 he was the offensive line at Southeast Missouri State. Prior to that he spent four years (2017-20) as the offensive line coach at West Texas A&M, including two seasons as the running game coordinator. After leaving Oklahoma State, Bassett was a graduate assistant at Missouri and an offensive assistant at Maryland.

The Tuttle,, Okla. native lettered four seasons and was a captain at Oklahoma State doing something rare and playing on both sides of the ball, at defensive and tight end. He started at tight end and migrated to defensive end. He is married (Samantha) and has two sons.