As the flurry of summer Big 12 commitments continues out of Texas, Oklahoma State added its first offensive lineman in the 2019 class in Katy mauler Cole Birmingham.
He committed following an official visit this past week and gives the Cowboys an instant dose of toughness up front as they continue to bolster their 2019 recruiting class. Case in point, one of the first talking points with Birmingham when talking about his decision was the commitment to the strength training program at OSU.
“I went there unofficially during spring break and I really liked it and they offered me an official visit,” he said. “I took that last Thursday through Saturday and I liked all the coaches – it was a really good family atmosphere with them – they really care about all their players. Their strength and conditioning coach, Coach (Rob) Glass, is one of the best in the business. Everything just felt right.”
Katy has a long tradition of producing hulking, road-grading offensive linemen en route to becoming one of the top programs in Texas year-in and year-out. Birmingham already has the look of one of the most menacing prospects in recent memory and the Cowboys staff seems anxious to see what he can bring to the table.
“I’d probably play guard,” he said. “They said that I can play tackle, it’s just going to be wherever I can get on the field the fastest is what they said. They’ve recruited me as a guard, so that’s what it’s probably going to be, it just depends.”
Birmingham said that Colorado, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt all had made him a top priority in the weeks ahead of his commitment, but he said that his decision to commit to Oklahoma State ‘wasn’t close’ and he’s ‘totally done with recruiting.’ He said that he doesn’t have plans to return to Stillwater over the summer but does plan on going back on Katy’s bye week when the Cowboys host Texas Tech on September 22.
Meanwhile, offensive linemen might not be the most natural choice to recruit other prospects, but Birmingham is optimistic that he can help out a little bit with a high-profile teammate of his.
“Deondrick Glass, our running back, he has an offer and they’re in his Top 10,” he said. “So I’m going to push him to try and get up there, but it’s his decision.”
Otherwise, Birmingham is content with his decision and seems ready to get rolling with his senior season. He said that part of the appeal of Oklahoma State was that he sees many similarities between the Cowboys offense and what he’s accustomed to at Katy but his relationship to the staff was the clincher.
“Coach (Josh) Henson is awesome,” he said. “He’s genuine and straight to the point. He doesn’t work around anything, he’ll tell you just where you are and how you fit into the program. Coach (Mike) Gundy is the same way. The whole staff is great and it’s a really good atmosphere.”
