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2026 Recruits are Feeling the Brunt of Oklahoma State's New Direction

The Cowboys are entering a new era,
Taylor Skieens|
Spirit Rider Avery Langley rides Bullet after a score in the first half of the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa State Cyclones at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday Nov. 29, 2025.
Spirit Rider Avery Langley rides Bullet after a score in the first half of the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa State Cyclones at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday Nov. 29, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Oklahoma State Cowboys

This isn't your grandpa's era of college football, where pride and loyalty rise to the top of collegiate football programs around the nation. The stark reality of the modern game of football now centers around NIL deals and instant success. The transfer portal has made it to where a skilled coaching staff (and an endless budget) can build a winning football team overnight.

The fans have wanted victories, and when those don't come as expected, heads need to roll. The rumbles and whispers rise from the masses and the mob calls for coaches and administration to be held accountable for the struggling program's woes.

Following a 1-11 football season in 2025, Oklahoma State ushered in a new head coach in Eric Morris and hoped he could stop the bleeding for a program that has not won a Big 12 football game in close to two years. The unknown was not something Cowboy Nation was used to, yet it would be the recruiting class of 2026 that had to step up to the firing line.

The decommitments began almost immediately after Gundy's exit, turning what was a modest but promising class into a patchwork of flip risks and hard exits. By mid-October, Oklahoma State had lost at least five high school pledges, including prized in-state talents who cited the coaching vacuum as a deal-breaker. The Cowboys lost QB Kase Evans, DL Landon Anderson, DL Tajh Overton, DB Josiah Vilmeal and LB Trey McGlothlin, just to name a few.

These losses left OSU's 2026 class ranked outside the top 100 nationally by mid-fall—behind mid-majors like Buffalo and even FCS programs like Idaho—highlighting the brutal reality of coaching transitions in the NIL era. Recruits, many of whom pledged sight-unseen to Gundy, weren't waiting around for answers. As one recruiting insider put it, "Decommitments aren't death sentences, but they're loud alarms—kids want stability, not limbo."

With the early signing period looming for the 2026 class, two more decommits hit the table on Sunday night. Offensive lineman Aiden Martin and Tight end Bryton Nui both announced their decommitments from Oklahoma State on Sunday night. An inside source close to both athletes mentioned that phone calls from the new staff were received on Sunday night, and both players were encouraged to reopen their recruitment.

For Cowboy fans, it's a high-stakes reboot: Morris's high-octane scheme could vault OSU back into Big 12 contention, but only if he stabilizes this class fast. As athletic director Chad Weiberg gushed, "The future is bright for OSU Football." Bright? Maybe. Blurry? Definitely—for now. Keep an eye on Morris's first full recruiting cycle; it might just be the spark (or fizzle) that lights the next era in Stillwater.

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Taylor Skieens
TAYLOR SKIEENS

Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.

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