Oklahoma State Cowboys 2026 Fall Camp Preview: Special Teams

Here is the first of a series of previews by position going into Oklahoma State fall football camp, beginning with the special teams.

Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For Oklahoma State, its brave new world of college football begins with the first fall workout of the 2026 season.

For the first time in more than two decades, Mike Gundy will not be running practice. The former player, assistant coach and head coach was dismissed after a 1-2 start last season. In his place is former North Texas head coach Eric Morris, who led the Mean Green to a 12-2 season in 2025, which led OSU to hire him.

He has flipped nearly the entire roster, with almost 90 new transfers. How Morris and his staff begin to craft their football team in fall workouts will go a long way toward determining how well the team plays this season.

Oklahoma State on SI begins its fall camp position previews with a look at special teams, coached by Drew Svoboda.

Kicker

Oklahoma State special teams coach Drew Svoboda coaches while at Alabama. | USA TODAY Sports

Competition: Sam Keltner (r-So., transfer from SMU), Gabe Pendyala (freshman), Joseph Kim (r-Jr., transfer from Central Oklahoma).

Keltner has the edge going into camp, but there’s daylight. He went 14-for-20 on field goals at SMU last season. On the upside he has solid range. Six of his makes were from 40 or more years and one was from 51 yards. Oklahoma State will want more than 70% accuracy.

Kim has range, too. He made a 51-yarder at Central Oklahoma last season and was 11-for-17 on field goals. With 27 touchbacks on kickoffs, it’s possible he could handle that role regardless of how the competition plays out.

Pendyala is a kicker and punter. He scored 88 points as a kicker at Sunnyvale High School in Sunnyvale, Texas.

Punter

Competition: Lachie Pozzobon (So., transfer from Stephen F. Austin), Nate Ost (r-Sr., transfer from Robert Morris).

This is basically Pozzobon’s job to lose. The Australia native was a freshman all-America punter at SFA as he averaged 41.8 yards per punt, had 17 punts downed inside the 20 and six that went at least 50 yards.

Ost doesn’t have any punting experience based on his bio. But he was the holder at Robert Morris last year, so it stands to reason he’ll compete to be the holder for field goals and extra points.

Long Snapper

Competition: Caden Yates (r-Jr., transfer from North Texas), Nolan Akins (r-Fr., transfer from SMU).

Given that Svoboda was at North Texas last year, it stands to reason that Yates as the inside track. Yates was UNT’s primary long snapper for two seasons. Akins was a redshirt last season and snapped the ball twice. But he needs to study up in case Yates gets hurt.

Return Game

Oklahoma State's Chris Barnes. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Primary: Chris Barnes (r-So., transfer from Wake Forest).

The competition will be to find a back-up or two for Barnes, who figures to be the primary kickoff returner after what he did at Wake Forest last season. He had the highest kickoff return average for any ACC player with five or more returns and took one to the end zone. The question is whether the Cowboys want him to handle punts, too. The Cowboys could turn to Wyatt Young there, who has experience. But Young is expected to be the No. 1 wide receiver. OSU may want to protect him. Barnes has proven to be too explosive on kickoff returns to not use.