Watch: OSU Coordinators Todd Grantham and Doug Meacham first press conference

New Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham and Offensive Coordinator Doug Meacham had the opportunity to meet with the media for the first time since their hiring in Stillwater.

Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham

Opening statement:

“First of all, I’d like to thank Coach Gundy for allowing me to be a part of this Oklahoma State football program. I’m very excited to be here. When the opportunity came to come here, I did my research. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career. I worked and played for Frank Beamer, the hall-of-fame coach. I’ve coached for Nick Saban, but when you look at Coach Gundy, he’s the winningest coach in this school’s history and just two years ago they were in the Big 12 Championship game. I always look at the history as the best indication of the future. Just getting to know him, I was excited about being a part of the staff to bring that standard back and I’m really excited to be here. I’d also like to thank the entire athletic administration for making the transition very smooth for myself and our family. We look to embrace the community and look forward to getting to work.”

On the fans and bringing back the high standard of Cowboy football:

“I understand the passion that the fans have and the desire to be successful. Our job now is to work. So I would just say, ‘watch us work,’ and we’re going to work to get better and improve and give the people of this community and this program something to be proud of.”

On having NFL experience and how it will help him:

“It has already helped me in terms of this past portal window. I tried to watch all of the guys that were coming back and kind of have a feel for them. To me it’s always about a vision for each player. I don’t think you can pigeonhole yourself into saying, ‘this player is this.’ I think that I got an overview of the players and then started looking at the players that were available, then trying to have a vision for how they would fit our scheme.”

On having connections with new defensive assistants:

“It’s important to hire the right people. I wanted people that I knew their work ethic and I knew the type of people they were. I knew how they would handle our players and develop our players because we’re in a development business and we have to develop players. I feel very strongly that each person we hired has the ability to enhance and allow our guys to create more value for themselves, both on and off the field.”

On returning to college football and how it compares to pro football:

“College football is actually harder than pro football schematically. The reason I say that, one, in college football, the tempo is the tempo. In pro ball, we get our advanced scout and they would say they go fast. I would say, ‘that’s not fast.’ So it’s all about the perception. The next thing is there are more formations in college because you can create unbalanced formations with all the receivers on the same side, so you have to adjust to that. The third element is the quarterback’s ability to run the ball and create an 11-on-11. In terms of all that, you get challenged more in college football.”

Offensive Coordinator Doug Meacham 

Opening Statement:

"Yeah, just bottom line, I played here. I'm from this area. It means a lot to me to be back here again. This is like my fourth rotation back through here, as a player, a GA, full-time coach and now coming back here as the OC. It means a great deal to me, and there's a lot of guys sitting in that room with me that are just like me, in terms of they played here. A lot of good energy and I'm really excited."

On what he was looking for in his staff hires:

"Well, there's several ways to look at that. One, you want guys that are really good with people, that are good with players, that can manage their players. You want guys that can recruit and along the way just happen to get lucky and get a few guys that actually played here as well. To me, that was kind of big to get that kind of vibe going in the room. I think, because we have some of those guys in place, it's just going to bleed out through the whole room. I think everybody's on board. I think everybody's excited. I think, in that room particularly, because we've been in there a lot lately just trying to put together an offense and defense and whatever, but it's just a really good vibe. Now, we haven't played a game yet. We haven't lost any yet, so it's all good, but it feels really good."

On coaching inside receivers along with being the offensive coordinator:

"I like being involved in it and being a part of a particular group to kind of lean on. I don't think I've ever not had a position. With Gary (Patterson), he had me do special teams too. That may have been a little much for me because I didn't really do much of the team stuff. But I just feel like I'm more a part, I'm not on the sideline watching. I just like to be a part of the instruction. To me, that's what's fun about being a coach. You teach a kid, and he doesn't quite get it and all of a sudden, the light comes on. That's what's fun about coaching, and so just sitting back and assessing and watching everybody else do it, I just felt like I was on the sidelines a little bit. So, I just like to be involved with a position, too."

On what kind of players he looks for:

"Well, you want big and fast, because if you miss on a big, fast guy, then you missed on a big, fast guy. But if you missed on a slow, small guy, it's not as fun. The bottom line is you want bigger, faster, twitchier, and then at the same time, you want guys that are smart and can learn football and they enjoy the process. The stuff that's not measurable is what we have to do a good job of. Anybody can see measurables and forties and all that stuff and see how far they can jump and all of that business. It's what's on the inside. That's what we have to decide, and what kind of kid? What's his background? How does he learn? Can he learn? Ultimately, in today's game with all of the transitioning in, you want guys that can think and enjoy the process as much as anything. If you've got a big, fast guy that can't learn, it's three, two, one, we're playing a game. Well, that doesn't do anyone any good. So, there's a fine line there, but that's part of what we do is try to figure out who those guys are and at the same time, have the capabilities, the measurables and the speed and put it all together."

On if he's happy with the players he brought in:

"Yeah, it was enough. Yeah, we'd take five more, but I think we did well with the short amount of time we had to work on it, and when I first got here, we weren't fully staffed at that point. We were right in the middle of it, so no excuses, (but) we did a pretty good job taking some of the guys we got, all areas included. We kind of addressed every particular position we have. You've got another rotation of it in April and we'll see what happens."