Mike Gundy Speaks Highly of Barry J. Sanders at Big 12 Media Day

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy had nothing but good things to say about newcomer Barry J. Sanders, although he hasn’t seen the running back in action that much.

When asked bat Big 12 media days on Monday, Gundy had this to say about the graduate transfer.

“I know that he’s mature,” said Gundy. “That he’s dependable, seems to be durable. He came from a winning program and from an offense that obviously runs the football. So we’re excited about him being a part of our team. We hope that he will make a contribution that will help us be a better running football team. But his personality, his attitude has been really good up to this point from the people inside the program that keep me up with what’s going on. I’m excited about getting out there with him in August and seeing just what he can do for our football team.”

In response to a later question, here’s what Gundy said on Sanders’ father Barry and his legacy at OSU.

“In my opinion, his dad was the greatest running back in college football, maybe ever,” said Gundy. “So to have him in our program at this point in his career, I think, is great for Oklahoma State and Oklahoma State football. When he was coming out of high school he had expressed a desire to maybe go somewhere else based on maybe a small part of not wanting to follow in his dad’s foot steps and I think we can certainly understand that. At this point, he’s excited about being at Oklahoma State and we’re excited about having him on our team.”

Sanders will enter a stable of running backs that, excluding other newcomers, includes Rennie Childs, Chris Carson and Jeff Carr. Even if Sanders were to lose the starting job, presumably to Carson or Childs, he would still be a valuable asset for OSU, whether it be in the return game or as a skill position specialist.

Whether Sanders will excel at OSU is yet to be seen, but his numbers indicate that he could provide a boost to an expectedly lackluster run game. Gundy, along with everybody else, will just have to wait until August to see what Sanders can do for the Cowboys.