Bill Haisten
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today
Over its last 10 games against Big 12 opponents, the Oklahoma State defense gave up 42, 38, 38, 38, 42, 38, 56, 52, 45 and 41 points.
And what did all of those 10 games have in common?
Oklahoma State lost 10 times.
That’s a reason why Mike Gundy was fired on Sept. 23, why 2024 defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo was fired in December and 2025 defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was fired last weekend.
The most recent of those 10 wretched defensive performances occurred on Saturday, as the Cowboys were smoked 41-13 at Arizona. The one-dimensional Wildcats have no run game to speak of, but they riddled OSU by completing 72% of their passes for 433 yards and five touchdowns.
An update on the streaks: OSU has 11 consecutive losses to Big 12 opponents and 13 consecutive losses against FBS opponents.
The critical condition of the 2025 Oklahoma State defense makes the 2021 Cowboy defensive season seem like a wonderful mirage.
The mastermind of OSU’s 2021 masterpiece was then-defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who in the next paragraph of this column will be thrust to the forefront of OSU’s coaching-search speculation.
Former OSU defensive lineman Brock Martin played for Knowles in 2021, and Martin believes strongly that Knowles should be the next Cowboy head coach.
“Everyone knows my opinion about Jim Knowles,” said Martin, who today is a Tulsa resident, a 26-year-old account executive for Paycom, and a married man with two young kids.
“If you want to put this in the article, go ahead,” Martin stated. “I think (Knowles) he should be candidate No. 1 for the Oklahoma State job. Without a doubt.”
But, Martin was asked, won’t some OSU decision-makers and fans be concerned that Knowles is 60?
Isn’t more currently conventional to seek a young hire — a 30-something coach who has a history of success of coordinating offenses and calling plays?
“That guy (Knowles) has more energy than most 30-year-olds,” Martin replied. “Plus, his wife is from Oklahoma. I’m telling you, it’s a great fit.
“Knowles will probably hate that I’m talking about this, but I don’t care. It needs to be said.”
Among frequently mentioned possible OSU candidates are 39-year-old Zac Robinson, a former Gundy-coached Cowboy QB who now is the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator and play-caller; 39-year-old Eric Morris, the head coach at North Texas; 45-year-old Ryan Silverfield, the Memphis head coach who has a few years of NFL experience; and 36-year-old GJ Kinne, a former Tulsa quarterback who today is the Texas State head man.
Within the walls of the Cowboy program, it’s very possible that Knowles was the most loved of all Gundy-era assistant coaches. What he developed over four seasons at OSU speaks for itself.
In light of what has happened to the Cowboy defensive culture, what Knowles did at OSU was certifiably miraculous.
Before he departed for Ohio State after the 2021 Cowboys concluded their 12-win season with a Fiesta Bowl conquest of Notre Dame, Knowles’ final OSU defense was ranked fourth nationally in total defense, third in third-down defense, fifth in overall rushing defense, fifth in average yards allowed per rush attempt, and ninth in scoring defense.
“He’s a fast thinker and he reacts to things,” Gundy said of Knowles in December 2021. “The guy is highly intelligent. He has a demeanor in practice that’s a little old school. The players like it. They buy into it.
“On game day, he’s very, very calm. He’s a fantastic play-caller.”
Over the last year, every Big 12 opponent totaled at least 38 points against OSU. The 2021 Knowles defense allowed only 18.1 points per game. Also, that Knowles defense was second nationally in sacks with 56. Only the Alabama defense had more (57).
Knowles’ three-season Ohio State run ended with a Buckeye national title. This season, as a first-year staff member at Penn State, Knowles is making $3.1 million and is the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football.
It’s impossible to know what OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg is really thinking and who he might hire, but it would be a mistake if OSU doesn’t take another good, long look at Knowles and envision how this “highly intelligent . . . very calm” and obviously high-IQ football coach might perform as Oklahoma State’s head man.
With regard to Knowles being 60: You wouldn’t be asking Jim Knowles to replicate Gundy’s two-decade longevity in the job. From Knowles, you ask for two great seasons of rebuilding and repairing the damage done to the program’s reputation, and then you strive for four seasons of winning.
After that, Knowles might decide to light a good cigar, dance into retirement and see the OSU job handed to a younger coach who might roll with the Cowboys for 15 years.
Somebody in Stillwater, do something. Fix this. It’s an embarrassment: Since Knowles departed, OSU has had four different defensive coordinators.
Because the program is so broken — and because football is immeasurably important to the university as a whole — Oklahoma State can’t afford to make a mistake during this ongoing search for a head coach.
Brock Martin was an invested and tremendous OSU football player who believes Jim Knowles can save the Cowboy program.
It might be a smart play for Weiberg to reach out to Martin and other members of that amazing 2021 OSU defense.
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Bill Haisten
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today