John Smith says 'the future looks bright' for Oklahoma State wrestling, but what's next?

STILLWATER — On multiple occasions during his final post-tournament press conference a few weeks ago, Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith turned the conversation forward.

“The future looks bright,” Smith said of the Cowboys after a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. “We had half our team hadn’t been here before. I think the experience of being in it will make a difference. The quality of guys we got coming in, I think, is gonna give us a real opportunity.

“Oklahoma State wrestling is in a good place right now.”

That’s how Smith felt about his program 17 days ago, most likely knowing fully that it wouldn’t be his program 17 days later.

Smith announced his retirement Thursday, ending a run of 33 years, five national championships, 490 dual victories and 153 All-America honorees.

More: How Oklahoma State wrestling assistant coach Coleman Scott helped rejuvenate Cowboys

The numbers and the honors and the halls of fame still don’t do justice to the legend of Smith, who was one of the most accomplished wrestlers of all time before becoming an almost instant success as OSU’s coach when he began his career in 1992.

And he’s been one of the most successful coaches ever since.

So, where does Cowboy wrestling go from here?

As for its next coach, perhaps the answer is already in the room.

Smith hired one of his former wrestlers, Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott, away from a head coaching job at North Carolina, bringing in Scott as the top assistant, and occasional face of the program.

Scott made multiple appearances in Smith’s place at press conferences, including prior to the final round of the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, last month.

It seemed the wheels were already in motion, and a strong season — the Cowboys rose as high as No. 2 in dual rankings and returned to the top 10 at NCAAs after a two-year hiatus — the timing seems ideal to pass the program on to a protege.

“Man, my life’s so much easier,” Smith said when asked in February about Scott’s influence on the program. “I think the message he helped bring here, a lot of these guys jumped on, so he’s been a blessing for us, to be able to come out of this two-year slump and go forward.”

More: Why was Oklahoma State wrestler Daton Fix a villain to fans at NCAA Championships?

By Oklahoma state law, Smith’s vacant job must be publicly posted for five days, so for now, Scott will serve as interim coach. But an 18-day search, like athletic director Chad Weiberg had in replacing Mike Boynton as men’s basketball coach, seems quite unlikely.

The program is not only on sturdy footing, it has a young roster. Five-time All-American and four-time NCAA runner-up Daton Fix is gone, along with All-American Izzak Olejnik, and NCAA runner-up Dustin Plott will be a super-senior, but the bulk of the starting lineup consisted of freshmen and sophomores.

Dean Hamiti has announced his intentions to transfer to OSU from Wisconsin, where he was an All-American in his first two college seasons. And freshman Christian Carroll, who recently won the Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier at 97 kilograms — or roughly 214 pounds — will surely fight his way into the lineup next year after redshirting this past season.

That’s not even getting into the incoming recruiting class, which includes one of the nation's top recruits, Cody Merrill, and a Japanese Junior World Team member, Rin Sakamoto.

Smith and Weiberg will address the media Monday morning, though no matter what Smith says, it’ll be hard for him to encompass his OSU career more succinctly than he did in Thursday’s press release.

“It has been an honor to coach for more than 32 years at the same institution,” Smith said. “I can’t even begin to tell you what Oklahoma State has done for me, my wife, my immediate family and brothers and sisters who all graduated from OSU. My journey started at age 17 here at Oklahoma State and it has allowed me to accomplish everything I ever wanted.”

More: Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith announces retirement after 33 years with Cowboys

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: With John Smith retiring, what's next for Oklahoma State wrestling?