Tulsa HC Makes Interesting Comments on 'Seven-Year Players' Before OSU Game

Soon to face Oklahoma State's Alan Bowman, Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson made comments regarding seven-year players.

Oklahoma State's Alan Bowman (7) celebrates following the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Arkansas Razorbacks at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla.,, Saturday, Sept., 7, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

College football players typically get four years of eligibility and can earn a fifth-year should they redshirt. The COVID era brought in six-year players, but Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman is two games into his seventh year playing college football.

Between injuries, redshirting and COVID, Bowman was granted a seventh year of college football eligibility, giving him a second season in Stillwater.

So far, Bowman has led the Cowboys to a 2-0 start, and now the No. 13-ranked Oklahoma State squad is set to hit the road, traveling east on the turnpike to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson isn't quite a fan of the idea of college football players being eligible for a seventh season, as he noted ahead of the contest.

“I don’t know if I’m into seven-year players,” Wilson said. “I think we’re gonna get one of these days it’s five years no redshirt. I know COVID got us to six. I told a couple of guys that were seven years wanting to come back they needed to get a job and start working. It’s time to get out of college. Sometimes you gotta tell your (graduate assistants), ‘Get a job. Move on. You’re not gonna get the Notre Dame job. Man, go get an FCS, D-II job and start coaching.'”

Every head coach approaches things differently. It's not foreign to Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy to have an older, experienced quarterback. Bowman brings a wealth of experience under center and is simply taking advantage of the opportunity given to him.

Whether Wilson likes it or not, he's got to try and stop the Bowman-led Cowboys offense as Oklahoma State heads to Tulsa as a 20-point favorite.

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