Rob Glass Talks to Tulsa World's Bill Haisten, Ponders Future

STILLWATER – Fired Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy, the winningest head coach in Cowboys football history, used to love to say that the program could have survived without him. That is once it was down the line about a decade or so. Gundy knew the work that Rob Glass and his staff did in the weight room in the West End Zone and the work on the field in the offseason and summer would continue to plant the seeds of winning football.

“Rob Glass is the most important person in Cowboys football,” Gundy would often say. 

There are now only a few people with a chance to stay on in the new regime of OSU football under new head coach Eric Morris. Rob Glass is not one of them as he was dismissed last week in a move that caught many by surprise. However, not Glass. He spent two hours reflecting on his over 30-year career at his alma mater training football athlete and athletes from other sports, including some pro athletes like helping Major League slugger Matt Holliday. Many of the Oklahoma State football players that went on to the NFL, such as Barry Sanders, defensive end Kevin Williams, and offensive tackle Charlie Johnson continued to prepare for the rigors of the NFL with Glass’ assistance. 

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Glass and Gundy got Cowboy football through COVID with strong success, but not this NIL and portal era.

“(New coaches) typically want to bring their own people,” Glass told The Tulsa World’s Bill Haisten. “The amount of time we had been with Mike — it almost works against you. To have 21 years with one coach, and then with how the last two seasons transpired — I had a feeling that this would go the way it went, and that’s fine.

“It’s like if someone buys your company and they say, ‘Hey, we’re excited about having you.’ That never took place (with Morris),” Glass continued. “I think the hard part, to be honest with you, is that I’ve been with this football program for 30 years (1986-94 and since 2005). It’s always a little hard to go, and this is how it ends up.”

You’ll need to read the story as it is a solemn read for any Oklahoma State fan that respects Glass, his work, and the legacy of “Body by Glass.”

Glass talks about his future, his past in a year that saw his home where he resided with his wife Laurie, burn to the ground in the Stillwater fires. He also talked about knowing that the end of the run at Oklahoma State with Mike Gundy was foreshadowed with his work last summer.

“We had 37 (new) guys show up in June,” Glass recalled, “and, essentially, we started camp in July. You’re not going to accomplish a lot in 5½ weeks. We’re just trying to modify their behavior patterns. You’re not going to do a lot physiologically in that amount of time.”

It turned out to be impossible to get it done. The roster, honestly, turned out to be faulty. The rest is now sad, recent history.