Firing Bryan Nardo Should be Oklahoma State's First Offseason Move

Oklahoma State needs major changes, and it will likely start at coordinator.

OSU’s 52-0 loss to Colorado sealed a winless record in conference play and a 3-9 season, the worst since a winless 1991 campaign. With 2024 being Mike Gundy’s second losing season in 20 years, the longtime Cowboy is unlikely to be on the way out.

However, the Cowboys need some big changes to avoid complacency after an 0-9 Big 12 year. While neither coordinator performed well this season, defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo led one of the worst units in all of college football.

OSU can’t afford to go into next season with the same coaching staff, and Nardo should be the first guy to go. For starters, OSU’s defense under Nardo this season was the worst in the Gundy era.

OSU finished 133rd of 134 teams in total defense this season after finishing 126th of 133 teams last season. Those are the only two seasons in Gundy’s 20 years at the helm where OSU finished in the bottom 10 of the FBS.

The closest OSU has come to having a bottom-10 defense was in 2011, when OSU finshed 107th out of 120 teams. Of course, that squad went 12-1 and has the only Big 12 title in Gundy’s tenure thanks to forcing an FBS-best 3.4 turnovers per game (and having arguably the best offense in school history).

For only the second time in the Gundy era, OSU allowed 30+ points in nine games. 2018 was the only other season where that happened and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was in the first year of rebuilding the OSU defense.

Knowles’ struggles in his first season gave fans optimism about Nardo’s rough first year. However, Knowles built OSU’s defense into a top-5 unit in the FBS by his fourth and final season in Stillwater. Nardo’s unit only got worse in his second try.

Nardo’s defense this season also allowed 35.6 points per game, the worst in any season under Gundy. Compared to the rest of the Gundy era, Nardo led the two worst total defenses, two of the four worst rush defenses and two of the four worst pass defenses, including the worst in all three categories this season.

To say OSU’s defense under Nardo has been bad or disappointing would be an understatement. Even for a team that has struggled on defense throughout the past two decades, Nardo’s units have stood out as some of the worst to ever take the field in Stillwater.

The entire blame of the defense’s struggles can’t be placed on Nardo alone, but with how awful his teams have performed, there is no excuse to keep him around another season.

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