Loyalty Led Jaleel Johnson Back to Oklahoma State for Senior Season

The long-time Oklahoma State Cowboys defender stayed for his final season but at times felt like an alien in his own program.

Oklahoma State defensive end Jaleel Johnson. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

FRISCO, Texas — Jaleel Johnson could only chuckle at the question. Was all the change this offseason cognitive overload for the long-time Oklahoma State Cowboy?

It was, he agreed. But he proved to be philosophical about the whole thing.

“It felt like I transferred without transferring,” he said at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday.

With all the talk of the near-90 new Cowboys on the roster, there are still some players left from Mike Gundy’s last team. The Oklahoma City native, who played at Putnam City North High School, didn’t sound like someone who had entertained the thought of transferring for his final season of college football.

“I’m big on loyalty,” Johnson said. “Knowing that if there is a reunion, I don’t have to worry about which school to go to. I know I’m coming back to Oklahoma State because that’s home.”

Jaleel Johnson’s Reasons for Returning

Oklahoma State Cowboys defensive end Jaleel Johnson. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Johnson can say he’s seen it all. He was a redshirt in 2022. He played in 12 games in 2023 when the Cowboys reached the Big 12 Championship Game for the second time in three years. He watched the bottom fall out the last two years. He played in 10 games in 2024 and had 24 tackles. He only played in four games last season and missed the rest of the campaign with a shoulder injury.

Watching the season disintegrate, watching Gundy get fired and watching Eric Morris get hired and not being able to do anything about it didn’t sit well with him.

“It was sad for me to not be out there,” he said. “It took a toll on me mentally.”

The process of making sure he stayed started right away. Morris called him and told Johnson he wanted the fourth-year defensive lineman to stay. Morris also brought one of Johnson’s former coaches with him from North Texas — defensive line coach Greg Richmond. He was Johnson’s coach in 2022-23 before he went to UNT.

Morris saw Johnson as a solution to turning the program around.

“He was probably our most disruptive player in the course of spring practice,” Morris said. “He’s somebody that I think can change a game for us.”

Morris called this offseason a “hard reset.” But it came with a few players that still see Oklahoma State as their home. Johnson’s return is timed to help a new head coach build something new in Stillwater and for him to finally get the opportunity to heavily contribute defensively after four years of waiting. He thinks it will be worth it.

“I always loved Oklahoma State,” he said. “This is my dream school. So just coming off these seasons, it hurt me. The fans deserve better than that. I want to be part of the reason we turn this around.”