OSU football notebook: Cowboys will name special teams coach by start of practices

And Cowboys coach Mike Gundy still isn't completely sure how he wants to fill that void. He hopes to make that decision by the start of fall camp, however.

“We have a pretty good idea of what we want to do,” Gundy said Tuesday at Big 12 media days. “We just haven't finalized it yet before we want to state it.”

Coaching special teams was a bit of a group effort during the spring. The Cowboys return kicker/punter Quinn Sharp, the reigning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year, and Justin Gilbert, a dynamic kick returner.

“We want to keep everything as close and as similar as that's been,” Gundy said. “(That's been) our philosophy when we've lost coaches, when we've lost coordinators and position coaches. We wanted to keep things rolling with very little change.”

GUNDY: MIXED FEELINGS ON PSU TRANSFERS

With the potential for Penn State players making themselves available as transfers, teams are considering possible fits.

Gundy suggested he'd be willing to listen, but isn't necessarily looking.

“There's a lot to digest,” he said. “So much information has come out in the last 24 hours.

“We have not had a lot of success with players that have transferred. The majority of our success has come from guys that have developed in our program.

“My comment would be that I think we have to take a look at everything that's going on. It's a long ways over there. It's not like they're a four-hour car drive from where we are.

“It's not a priority for us right now. But if there were some interest out there, I would think, just like any other business or football team, you would look at it.”

WHO'S THAT MASCOT?

In the midst of a media scrum, Gundy was approached by the TCU mascot, SuperFrog, who offered a fist – fist? – to the Cowboys coach.

Gundy obliged with a bump, then admitted some confusion.

“That's a frog? I thought that was Wally the Wildcat,” Gundy said, referring to the K-State mascot, who is actually Willie. “I thought he had a bad hair day.”

RANDLE ‘EXCITED' TO VISIT ESPN

With former stars Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon gone to the NFL, running back Joseph Randle has started to slide into the role as the spokesman of the OSU program.

He was the most popular Cowboy player at Big 12 Media Days. And Friday, he'll take a visit to ESPN to participate in the “Car Wash,” or a rapid series of interviews across all of network's platforms.

Randle, West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown and Texas defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat will represent the Big 12 at the Worldwide Leader's headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

“I'm very excited,” Randle said. “I've been talking to Geno about it, and I'll get to hang out with Arthur some more, because we're from Wichita. It's going to be fun.”