Oklahoma State coordinator Todd Grantham's defense relies heavily on the outside linebacker role, and Putnam City native Taje McCoy seems to fit it well
STILLWATER — Taje McCoy is happy to be back in his home state, and football is a big reason for the joy.
But not the only one.
“My sister just had my nephew,” McCoy said with a smile. “It’s only an hour drive now, so I get to spend a lot of time and we get to catch up from all the lost time that we had.”
McCoy, originally from Oklahoma City, spent his first two college football seasons at Colorado. But he entered the transfer portal in the spring and landed at Oklahoma State.
Aside from having family so much closer than the 10-hour drive to Boulder, Colorado, McCoy feels at home in his new uniform, too.
“It’s been a blessing to be back in orange and black,” he said. “I started here at Putnam City High School and we wore orange and black. So it’s reminiscent of that. And being closer to family has been a blessing.”
Up next, McCoy is in search of opportunity.
The 6-foot-3 outside linebacker is listed at 245 pounds, about 15 pounds bigger than he was at Colorado in his redshirt freshman season. And he feels familiarity in new OSU defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s scheme.
“I picked up a lot of weight when I got here,” he said. “I could tell my body was changing. I feel more explosive.
“At Colorado, we ran a similar type of defense with Charles Kelly. It’s a lot of the same stuff, just different terminology, so it hasn’t been a lot of work picking it up.”
McCoy appeared in four games while redshirting in 2023, but played in every game last season.
He finished the year with 23 tackles and four sacks, often being inserted in third-down situations. Six of his tackles were for stops on third down. And he was an honorable mention in the Defensive Newcomer of the Year voting by the Big 12 coaches.
McCoy is among a group of transfers, along with Malik Charles from West Georgia, Wendell Gregory from South Carolina and Chandavian Bradley from Hutchinson Community College (after redshirting at Tennessee), who are in the competition for snaps at outside linebacker.
Additionally, returning players Poasa Utu and Temerrick Johnson have moved into that position group as well, giving the Cowboys a good mix of older talent and youth in a role that is critical to the success of Grantham’s defense.
“It’s a fun defense,” McCoy said. “We do a lot of exotic fronts. We’re gonna pressure the quarterback, so I’m excited. We drop back in coverage and do a lot of disguise stuff.
“They call our position the Jack, but I told Coach Grantham we’re the jack of all trades.”
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Taje McCoy 'jack of all trades' for OSU football at outside linebacker
Category: General Sports
