Josh Sills Has Stepped into a Role He Had to Make Sure Was His
STILLWATER -- Josh Sills showed up in Stillwater in January, ready to go. The former West Virginia Mountaineer that started 24 games over the span of three seasons for WVU had graduated in Agribusiness Management and made Oklahoma State his destination off the transfer portal. Sills was recruited to West Virginia by former Oklahoma State offensive line coach Joe Wickline. When it came time, after a season where he missed all but the first two games with a shoulder injury that required surgery, Sills opted for Oklahoma State.
A 2018 Second Team All-Big 12 selection by the league's coaches, Sills found the hunting and fishing around Stillwater and Payne County as an attraction. The chance for a master's degree that fit into his undergraduate degree was good, but the biggest selling point was being coached by Charlie Dickey, who has put a number of his offensive line students into the National Football League.
Sills says it's even better.
"The big thing for me is I have my undergrad in agribusiness management, and OSU here, they have one of the top 10, top 15 ag schools in the country," said the 6-6, 325-pound lineman that can play tackle, guard, and perhaps center too. "But the other big thing that I noticed right off the bat, just from talking on the phone with coach Gundy, coach Dickey, coach (Rob) Glass, coach (Kasey) Dunn and those guys is they were people that I wanted to be around. I couldn't take a visit, it was on a dead period. They were straight up forward, there wasn't any pulled punches or anything like that. I knew that with coach Dickey's past experience and players that he had, and he developed those guys; and how many years that coach Glass had in the business that they were obviously the right people setting me up for the best possible situation for my future."
"I would say Stillwater's a lot like the community in West Virginia," head coach Mike Gundy said of Sills picking Oklahoma State and being comfortable with the Cowboy culture. "We're a population of 50,000 people. He enjoys hunting, he enjoys fishing. He likes the college town environment. I think he feels very comfortable here. He likes coach Dickey, he likes coach Glass. He has a good relationship with the people on the staff and players here."
Josh Sills shown in last week's game at Kansas has been a tremendous addition to the OSU offensive line.
Bruce Waterfield - Oklahoma State University Athletics
A great fit all the way around including on the offensive line.
Sills thought he was walking into a line set to dominate. In fact, there were no guarantees on a starting position as tackles Teven Jenkins and Dylan Galloway were returning, as was offensive guard Bryce Bray and Ry Schneider had five starts under his belt at center including a strong performance against West Virginia in the Cowboys upset of the No. 7 Mountaineers. The thought was Sills would win the open guard spot over some of the young competition looking to break into the line-up.
Then the attrition began. Galloway opted out of playing and retired from football back in the late spring due to injuries that had piled up, especially to his shoulders. During the early stages of fall camp, Bray and a top back-up in Jacob Farrell were dismissed from the team for violating team policy. Then in the opening game with Tulsa, by halftime, starting right guard Cole Birmingham and right tackle Hunter Anthony were out with significant injuries.
Sills had played the good transfer and tried to blend in, but the ever changing and getting younger offensive line needed some leadership. Some loud and boisterous leadership.
"It's definitely something you got to kind of feel the water out and kind of get to know everybody before you can jump in, especially when you transfer to new schools, cause you know you have new people that you don't really know, or haven't been around," Sills said. "Teven (Jenkins) is great and he cooks food for the offensive line and we watch football together, but he is a man of few words. Ry is a great guy, but he is not someone that talks a lot. It's been interesting to say the least."
The ESPN+ documentary on the Oklahoma State football team and this season showed Sills being quite boisterous at halftime and after the game. He saw a need and he filled it.
"I think he felt very comfortable and that allowed him to jump into a leadership role much quicker than what a player would be able to over a period of time early in their career," Gundy said. In fact, knowing Gundy it might have even been a suggestion as he has been known to see where a player might need to speak up.
The next week there was no doubt that Sills would be emotional. Oklahoma State's second game and Big 12 opener was against his former team and the offensive line showed great improvement against the very talented Stills brothers and that Mountaineers front seven as the Cowboys won 27-13. We requested Sills on the postgame radio interviews on the Cowboys Radio Network, but were told Gundy thought it might be a lot considering Sills had just helped beat his former team.
Sills (72) and teammate and center Ry Schneider (50) combine to block West Virginia lineman Dante Stills.
Pat Kinnison - Pokes Report chief photographer
"It was very meaningful. It enjoyed every second of it, but you can't dwell on that because there's always somebody else that you have to play the next week, that you have to get ready for," Sills said of that win. "As you know, I still talk to a few of those guys, but there's no hard feelings and no bad blood or anything like that. I wished them the best of the rest of the season."
Considering all that has happened with the Oklahoma State offensive line this season, Sills was a perfect addition. He ended up being needed. As a result an offensive line that looked maligned by the end of the Tulsa game has redirected it's momentum and is getting better every week. Sills told me that is very satisfying to him.
"I think the biggest thing that has kind of helped me is I enjoy hard work," Sills said. "My dad, both my parents, instilled that into me at a young age. We didn't always have the best things or the nicest things, but they would make sure that my sister and I would have what we needed. Seeing that, and being around that, just kind of helped shape be into the person that I am today.
"Being around these guys, they're the same way," Sills continued. "They come in every day. They get their work done. They do everything they're supposed to with the best of their ability at a high rate of speed. Those are the people that I want to be around, because that's what brings out the best of each other."
Gundy sees all of that and the positive impact that Sills has had on the field, in the meeting room, in the locker room and overall with the team and the offensive line.
"He works hard. He's got a little bit of a throw back, a tough guy image," Gundy described. "Players like him, he's very personable. Over a period of time you get better every day where the players are starting to respond to him and his enthusiasm."
Sills has plenty of that.
