Oklahoma State Makes Another Move, Fires Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham

Oklahoma State has made another coaching change.

On Sunday, OSU announced the firing of defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. The Cowboys have named Clint Bowen as interim defensive coordinator after he began the year in the role of offense quality control.

This move comes less than a week after Mike Gundy was fired in his 21st season as the Cowboys’ head coach. Grantham came to OSU this offseason as part of the new staff under Gundy, but his defense’s inability to perform to expectations led to his firing only four games into the season.

Grantham’s time in Stillwater will be rather forgettable, given that OSU’s defense performed among the worst in the country. Allowing 473 yards per game, the Cowboys hold the seventh-worst defense in the FBS by total offense and also rank in the bottom 10 in rush defense.

OSU is also in poor company when it comes to forcing turnovers, racking up just three takeaways through four games and being one of 33 FBS teams to average less than one takeaway per game through September.

While Grantham came to Stillwater this offseason with decades of experience as a defensive coach, he hadn’t served as a defensive coordinator since he was at Florida in 2021. He came to OSU after the Cowboys fired Bryan Nardo for having one of the worst defenses in the FBS in 2024.

OSU allowed only seven points and 225 yards of total offense in the season opener against UT Martin, seemingly signaling some improvement on that side. However, OSU has since allowed 69 points to Oregon and 45 points to Baylor while giving up over 600 yards of offense in both contests.

Moving forward, OSU will hope that Bowen can rally the troops a bit on that side of the ball and help the defense can become more sound both schematically and physically. Considering OSU’s offense showed some life against Baylor in Doug Meacham’s debut as interim head coach, the Cowboys might be able to get back on track if their defense can have a similar boost from Grantham’s firing.

While hiring a new head coach easily could have come with a new defensive coordinator, this move simply sped up the inevitable with Grantham, whose defense was poor at best. OSU might not be able to field a legitimately good defense at any point this season, regardless of Grantham’s status, but this move at least shows the program’s commitment to getting better and that it isn’t afraid of making changes.