Mike Gundy Reflects on Oklahoma State's Class

The Cowboys received 28 National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day, including a commitment from a highly-ranked running back.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:11 pm

By: News On 6

Mike Gundy Reflects on Oklahoma State's Class

Originally Published: Feb 2, 2011 3:2 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

STILLWATER, Oklahoma -- The Oklahoma State Cowboys’ recruiting class is official. The Cowboys inked 28 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent Tuesday on National Signing Day.

Despite landing some big offensive names, the emphasis for OSU leaded toward the defense – signing 16 on the defensive side of the ball.

“We did want to concentrate on putting together a strong front-seven on defense, with some extra consideration on defensive linemen,” head coach Mike Gundy said in a teleconference. “You have to fill a certain number of spots on both sides of the ball. Fortunately we were able to do that.”

A year ago on National Signing Day, the Cowboys were hoping that the new athletes could have an immediate impact on the defensive side of the ball. However with the depth that the Cowboys developed, despite being difference-makers players may have an opportunity to take a back seat.

“Last year we were really thin on defense, which contributed to being really thin on special teams, so we needed some freshman skill players to come in and help us,” Gundy said. “I don’t see that as being as critical this year as we went into it last year. We’ve built up some of that depth for this upcoming season. I’d like to play some skill positions on both sides of the ball, but it’s not as critical as it was last year.”

Oklahoma State grabbed two key offensive players from the 2011 Class; four-star running back J.W. Walsh from Denton, Texas and a signing-day commitment from the second ranked running back in the nation Herschel Sims.

At the time of the teleconference, Sims wasn’t signed and Gundy was unable to comment, but said he had been aware of his other marquee offensive signing – Walsh – for nearly a year.

“We identified him as a guy that could fit our system about a year ago,” Gundy said. “We were able to get a commitment close after that"