Is the Woznaik Running Back Era Over at Oklahoma State?
Oklahoma State will hire Cory Patterson as its new running backs coach, which will likely put an end to the John Wozniak era for the Cowboys. Patterson was recently the associate head coach and receivers coach at Purdue for a pair of seasons. In West Lafayette, Patterson coached Deion Burke who was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten team following 629 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2023.
Before his two seasons with the Boilermakers, Patterson spent five years as an assistant at Illinois. He was the tight ends coach from 2018-20 and moved on to coach the running backs from 21-23. In his first season as running backs coach, Patterson coached Chase Brown to All-Big Ten honors following a 1,005 rushing yard season.
If Patterson replaces Wozniak, it would be a virtual clean sweep for the Oklahoma State coaching staff following a 3-9 season. Head Coach Mike Gundy would be the only coaching holdover from the 2024 Pokes.
Wozniak started coaching for the Cowboys in 2017. During his time as the running backs coach at Oklahoma State, he had the privilege of coaching some of the best running backs in not only Cowboy history but also in all of college football.
Wozniak has coached the likes of Justice Hill, Chuba Hubbard, Jaylen Warren and most recently Ollie Gordon. Not a bad resume of horses that have come from the Wozniak stable. Many of those names are not only playing on Sundays but they are also playing well. Hubbard recently cracked the 1,000-yard mark for the Carolina Panthers this season.
He won the Big 12 Running Backs Coach of the Year a season ago with Ollie Gordon carrying the rock. Gordon led the nation in rushing in 2023 with 1,732 yards to go along with 21 rushing touchdowns. Gordon also won the Doak Walker Award as the top running back in the nation and was a unanimous All-American that season.
What Wozniak did for the Oklahoma State Cowboy run game will never be forgotten.
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Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.