STILLWATER, Okla.—Coming into a program that jumped into the Top 10 a year ago, new Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young knows better than to do too much tinkering.
His job is to engineer a defense competitive enough that it doesn’t stand in the way of a prolific offense that led the Cowboys to a 9-4 finish last season.
“We think we have a chance to be a very, very good defense,” Young said. “Now, we’re going to play some great offenses so we’ll have some challenges, but at the same time we’re going to be a solid, athletic, aggressive defense.”
Young takes over a defense that was retooled by Tim Beckman over the past two seasons before he left to become head coach at Toledo. Beckman at one point set the modest goal of making OSU one of the top 50 defenses in the country. The Cowboys haven’t even sniffed that mark lately.
Over the past decade, Oklahoma State’s best defensive ranking was 64th in 2001. Last year, it was a woeful 93rd, giving up 405.5 yards per game.
“As a coach, you’re not satisfied if you’re not the best. That’s kind of what we’re doing,” said Young, who has directed top 50 defenses four of the last five years at Kansas and Miami. “Now, you don’t want to be naive. But at the same time, we’re going to set some real lofty goals for our team.”
Lost in all the numbers is that OSU’s defense showed some signs of progress last season. While the offense was struggling, Cowboys defenders returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the first half against Texas A&M. And the victory against No. 3 Missouri, one of the biggest in school history, came courtesy of three second-half interceptions against 2007 Heisman finalist Chase Daniel.
“I feel like if we’re continuing to win games, it doesn’t really matter what our defense is ranked,” said Andre Sexton, one of four seniors in a stacked linebacking corps. “The offenses that we play, they put up a lot of yards and a lot of points whoever they play. Some conferences it’s different. They’re not going against the spread offenses, so they don’t have to worry about the same things that we do.”
Young is back coaching at his alma mater, just like his boss. Mike Gundy, who just signed a seven-year contract worth $15.7 million, is 27-23 in four years as Oklahoma State’s head coach. Last year’s losses? A Holiday Bowl defeat to Oregon and losses to the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 teams in The Associated Press poll.
Offense shouldn’t be a problem this year. Despite losing first-round pick Brandon Pettigrew at tight end, the Cowboys return All-America receiver Dez Bryant, all-Big 12 tailback Kendall Hunter and OSU career total offense leader Zac Robinson at quarterback.
So, it’s up to Young to make the Cowboys’ defense respectable in a division that includes Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. His approach has been one of simplicity.
“We tease around and we say we want to be multiple because you have to give the offense several different looks, but multiple is more than one, not more than 5,000,” Young said.
“As a player, you end up being in paralysis by analysis. You’ve got so much going on that you really can’t react. We’ll confuse them, without question, but we’re hoping not to.”
To make it easier on his players, Young is placing some of the adjustments on himself.
“The schemes are very, very similar to what we’ve done in the past at other places. It’s just easier for me as a coach to change the terminology,” Young said. “Instead of calling something ‘Smash,’ call it ‘Falcon.’ It’s just a name. You can call it anything.”
