STILLWATER – New Oklahoma State interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen understands that he has a difficult job in front of him.
Bowen has a strong resume with 14 years of running defenses at Kansas, Western Kentucky and North Texas.
His attack for OSU’s final eight regular-season games is to simplify things while teaching.
“That’s always been a philosophy of mine. It really doesn’t matter what I know or the assistant coaches know. All that matters is what the players know,” Bowen said on Monday. “We’ll go back today to day one tackling techniques. It’s just our Monday ritual for 20 years, our tackling technique. And I’m not saying anything’s wrong. You understand there are eight million ways to ever do anything in the game of football if you’ve been in this game long enough.”
Bowen said he’s given up big plays “in every front coverage known to mankind.” But he does have a firm belief in base fundamentals that have to get executed. Tackling is a must, of course.
He also wants to make sure his schemes are understood.
“I always think there’s a process that kids have to go through. One, what do I do Coach? Where do I stand? What do I read? What should I do? Two, get enough reps. The repetitions build muscle memory to where they don’t even know how to react differently. They see and react,” Bowen said. “And then third, when you got all that mastered, now you start going, all right, what are those guys on the other side of the ball doing? Oh, the tailback’s a yard behind the QB. Oh, this splits a little tighter. That’s when you start anticipating plays and being good.
“My approach is we have to go back to step one of the process. What do we do? Master the reactions and then start figuring out what the opponent is doing and we’ll start from there. We’ll be as basic as we need to be.”
Making a quick jump
OSU’s offense was impressive in the first half of the Baylor game, scoring 20 points and putting together four scoring drives and 349 yards.
The play seemed inspirational behind interim head coach Doug Meacham’s debut.
Cowboys defensive tackle Iman Oates was asked if a change of coordinators – Bowen takes over the unit in the interim – can occur at Arizona.
“I believe so as long as we’re bought in, and as long as the guys are ready to play,” Oates said. “I feel like we accept coaching for what it is. If we prepare this week for the game plan that they have for us and then we go out there Saturday with the energy and the passion that we had this past Saturday, it can be infectious.
“When guys make plays, cheering each other along … I just want the best out of these players. That’s the big thing.”
Portal departures
Safety Dylan Smith reportedly has entered the transfer portal.
The junior was in his third season with the Cowboys. He made an immediate impact as a true freshman, playing in 10 games in his rookie campaign.
Overall, Smith played in 25 career games with 16 starts.
The younger brother of Cowboys cornerback Cam Smith, Smith finishes with 75 career tackles including a dozen this season. He had a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss in Saturday’s loss to Baylor.
Long snapper Shea Freibaum was the first player to hit the portal. The junior had 173 career long snaps for the Cowboys.
“After much thought and prayer, I have decided to enter the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining to explore opportunities for the next step in my academic and athletic career,” Freibaum wrote on social media.
Safety DeAndre Boykins, a redshirt senior transfer from North Carolina, also opted for a change. He entered with plenty of experience – 36 career games played including 14 starts – but had a minimal impact during his brief OSU career. He played in two of four games this year with no statistics logged.
Looking ahead
The Big 12 has announced the Oct. 11 kickoff time for the Cowboys’ home game against Houston.
The teams will meet at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast on TNT.
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com
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Eric Bailey
Tulsa World OSU Sports Reporter
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