Oklahoma State University Athletics
Orange Power: Athlete Performance at Oklahoma State – Life Skills
July 22, 2015 | Cowboy Football
A look at how OSU empowers its players with knowledge to help them make good decisions.
STILLWATER - Football is enjoying a never-before-seen level of popularity in our country. The NFL is king of the American sports landscape, but in a state like Oklahoma, the popularity of college football surpasses even the NFL.
With a high level of notoriety comes a high level of responsibility, and that's why Oklahoma State empowers the student-athletes on its football team by providing them with a strategic brand of life skills training that helps them make good decisions, both on and off the field.
"We are trying to build a total athlete," said Rob Glass, Assistant Athletic Director for Athlete Performance at Oklahoma State. "There are other areas as well as your speed, your strength, your vision that come into play - sport psychology, the ability to cope with stress, multiple things."
One such vehicle for this is spearheaded by a pair of former Cowboy standouts who understand the lifestyle that goes with big-time college football.
Russell Okung is a Pro Bowl left tackle for the Seattle Seahawks. The sixth pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, he started for Seattle in the 2014 Super Bowl and the 2015 Super Bowl. At Oklahoma State, he was a unanimous All-American in 2009 and teammate of Andrew McGee, a cornerback who secured All-Big 12 recognition in 2010.
Together, the two of them are at the core of Okung's GREATER Foundation – which aims to make a difference by training mentors and sending them out to make a positive impact on those around them.
Okung and McGee work with Mike Gundy, Glass and OSU to bring professional speakers to Stillwater to educate the Cowboys on specifically-targeted issues with the goal of empowering them to make the right decisions and to succeed in life after football.
"Football ends for everyone at some point and we want our guys to be able to transition into everyday life," Glass said. "Whether it's managing finances, handling stresses, family life, avoiding drug and alcohol abuse, continuing leadership skills or leadership training - there are a lot of different things we're trying to help our young men with so once they move out into the work force they will be successful there as well."
While Okung and McGee are recent former players who have found a way to give back to Oklahoma State, they are not alone in the life skills process for the current Cowboys.
"Joel Tudman, who has been with our program for 11 years, handles a lot of our mentoring and leadership development and leadership skills," Glass said. "The way the GREATER foundation is designed, they bring speakers in to address various topics people deal with in everyday life and then we break up into smaller sub-groups within our team and Joel unpacks that information to greater depth with our young men."
With a high level of notoriety comes a high level of responsibility, and that's why Oklahoma State empowers the student-athletes on its football team by providing them with a strategic brand of life skills training that helps them make good decisions, both on and off the field.
"We are trying to build a total athlete," said Rob Glass, Assistant Athletic Director for Athlete Performance at Oklahoma State. "There are other areas as well as your speed, your strength, your vision that come into play - sport psychology, the ability to cope with stress, multiple things."
One such vehicle for this is spearheaded by a pair of former Cowboy standouts who understand the lifestyle that goes with big-time college football.
Russell Okung is a Pro Bowl left tackle for the Seattle Seahawks. The sixth pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, he started for Seattle in the 2014 Super Bowl and the 2015 Super Bowl. At Oklahoma State, he was a unanimous All-American in 2009 and teammate of Andrew McGee, a cornerback who secured All-Big 12 recognition in 2010.
Together, the two of them are at the core of Okung's GREATER Foundation – which aims to make a difference by training mentors and sending them out to make a positive impact on those around them.
Okung and McGee work with Mike Gundy, Glass and OSU to bring professional speakers to Stillwater to educate the Cowboys on specifically-targeted issues with the goal of empowering them to make the right decisions and to succeed in life after football.
"Football ends for everyone at some point and we want our guys to be able to transition into everyday life," Glass said. "Whether it's managing finances, handling stresses, family life, avoiding drug and alcohol abuse, continuing leadership skills or leadership training - there are a lot of different things we're trying to help our young men with so once they move out into the work force they will be successful there as well."
While Okung and McGee are recent former players who have found a way to give back to Oklahoma State, they are not alone in the life skills process for the current Cowboys.
"Joel Tudman, who has been with our program for 11 years, handles a lot of our mentoring and leadership development and leadership skills," Glass said. "The way the GREATER foundation is designed, they bring speakers in to address various topics people deal with in everyday life and then we break up into smaller sub-groups within our team and Joel unpacks that information to greater depth with our young men."
Cowboys Face to Face: Tony Allen
Monday, September 08
Mike Gundy Previews Cowboys vs. Tulsa - Oklahoma State News Conference (9-15-2025)
Monday, September 08
Cowboy Football Ch. 2: Trailer vs Oregon - Opportunity
Saturday, September 06
The Mike Gundy Show: UT Martin Game Review
Thursday, September 04
