Big 12 Football Media Days closed with Oklahoma State leaving Frisco with a clear message: the Cowboys think they can get competitive fast.
That belief comes with plenty of moving parts. Eric Morris is in his first season at the helm, and Oklahoma State has turned over more than 80 players after back-to-back winless seasons in Big 12 play.
Even with that kind of overhaul, the tone around the program stayed upbeat across the two-day event. Players kept circling back to the same ideas - building chemistry, getting better every week and putting themselves in position to matter in the Big 12.
Drew Mestemaker is a big reason for that confidence. The Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year arrives in Stillwater with real buzz around him, but he made it clear the Cowboys can’t get ahead of themselves. The quarterback, who led North Texas with 4,379 passing yards and 34 touchdowns in 2025, said the focus has to stay on the week-to-week grind instead of any bigger-picture talk.
Quarterback play is going to sit at the center of the conference race again, and Mestemaker joins a loaded group. Kansas State’s Avery Johnson, Arizona’s Noah Fifita and Utah’s Devon Dampier are among the names that drew attention throughout media days, underscoring just how deep the league looks at the position heading into the fall.
Utah’s Dampier also got a notable shoutout during the event when he praised backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin from Muskogee, saying, “he could probably play any skill position on offense,” and complimenting his work.
The week also put several new coaching situations in the spotlight. Collin Klein returned to Manhattan as Kansas State’s head coach after starring there as the Wildcats’ quarterback, and he called the chance to lead his alma mater a dream come true.
Utah is starting over under Morgan Scalley after Kyle Whittingham stepped away following last season. The Utes still look like one of the league’s more interesting teams, thanks to an experienced roster and a defense that ranks among the best in the conference.
Cincinnati’s Scott Satterfield also faced questions during his availability, but he did not address the NCAA’s ongoing inquiry involving quarterback Brendan Sorsby, saying, “Can’t really make any comments about that inquiry.”
For Oklahoma State, the path forward is tied to how quickly all the new pieces click. Morris, Mestemaker and several transfers from North Texas give the Cowboys a foundation for an aggressive passing game, but the jump from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12 will be a real test.
The Cowboys open the 2026 season Sept. 5 at Tulsa before conference play begins later in the month.
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Big 12 Tension With Texas Tech Just Put Houston Fans On Notice
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At the center of the irritation is a long-running dispute over how Texas Tech has been handled, from fines and banned traditions to the perception that other schools have been treated differently. The friction has also spilled into a broader power struggle with booster Cody Campbell, who has sparred with Yormark over scheduling and the leagues direction. For Big 12 schools like Oklahoma State, it is the sort of backdrop that can shape everything from conference politics to game-week optics, and it is clear the temperature between the league office and Lubbock is still rising. [Read more 🡒]
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For Oklahoma State, the news lands in a landscape it already helped normalize after previously dropping its patch with the Osage Nation. The Cowboys are hardly alone in this new era, with Kansas, Arkansas, LSU, Michigan State, Memphis, UNLV and Wisconsin among the schools that have already gone down the jersey-sponsorship road, but the Big 12s deal takes the concept from isolated experiments to a conference standard. [Read more 🡒]
One Oklahoma State Holdover Just Sent A Big Rebuild Message
Amid a roster reset and coaching turnover, Jaleel Johnson has given Oklahoma State something every rebuilding program needs: a veteran holdover willing to stay the course. The defensive lineman confirmed he is returning for his final college season, a decision that gives the Cowboys some continuity on a defense that has been asked to absorb a lot of change at once.
Johnsons choice matters even more because he is coming off a season interrupted by injury, and new head coach Eric Morris has already made clear he sees a real role for him in the front. Johnson has framed the decision around loyalty and a desire to help Oklahoma State climb out of the recent struggles, and in a spring full of new faces, that kind of commitment can carry real weight. [Read more 🡒]