'He is class': New Oklahoma State DL coach Paul Randolph brings experience, character
STILLWATER — Todd Dilbeck spent one season on a coaching staff with Paul Randolph.
It was nearly 18 years ago at Rice University.
They were on opposite sides of the ball.
Yet when you hear Dilbeck talk about Oklahoma State’s new defensive line coach, you’d think they were best friends who just had lunch together yesterday.
OSU coach Mike Gundy officially announced Thursday the hiring of Randolph, a 25-year coaching veteran who spent the last two seasons at Indiana, as his new defensive line coach.
“I’m so excited for Coach Gundy and his program,” said Dilbeck, a longtime high school coach in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas who left his job as Mustang’s head coach to join the Rice staff of Todd Graham in 2006. “When I met Paul Randolph, he was coming from Alabama to Rice, and let me tell you something, there’s not a finer man.
“He is class. The kids are gonna love him. He’s a great recruiter. He has an energy level that is second to none. He’s an unbelievable family guy. And I think he really fits Oklahoma State.”
Randolph replaces Greg Richmond, an OSU alumnus who had just finished his sixth year with the Cowboys and second as the solo defensive line coach after previously sharing the role with Joe Bob Clements.
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Richmond had one year left on his contract, but Gundy decided to move in a different direction with the 57-year-old Randolph, who has spent the majority of his coaching career at the Power Five level.
Originally from Gainesville, Florida, Randolph played college football at Tennessee-Martin, then had a 10-year career in the Canadian Football League. He was part of two teams that won the Grey Cup and is a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame.
He returned to Tennessee-Martin in 1998 to begin his college coaching career and quickly began working his way up the ladder. He got his first Power Five opportunity at West Virginia in 2002, then was hired at Alabama, where he worked from 2003-05.
After his year at Rice, he followed Graham to Tulsa for four years before stints at Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Memphis, Texas Tech, and most recently, Indiana.
Not only does he have 25 years of coaching under his belt, Randolph has been a defensive coordinator, and at multiple stops, he held the title of associate head coach, giving him the opportunity to be involved with the program management side of college football.
He was Graham’s right-hand man at Rice, Tulsa and Arizona State.
“We were together for four years at Tulsa, and he coached the D-line, but he did a whole lot of administrative stuff,” said Bill Blankenship, the legendary Oklahoma high school coach who also spent several years at Tulsa, including four on the staff with Graham and Randolph from 2007-10. “He’s a great character guy. Very invested in his players. I think he goes the extra mile in terms of relationships and caring about his guys.
“He does it the right way. He’s worked at a lot of good places and has a wealth of experience.”
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When Randolph arrived at Tulsa in 2007, it was his first job in the state of Oklahoma, and that same season was Blankenship’s first at the college level. Yet their coaching connections ran deep before they ever met.
“Paul’s background had been such that I knew people who knew Paul,” Blankenship said. “He had bounced around and been at Alabama. He had been at Illinois State, where I had friends on the staff. There were all these little connections.
“He was personable anyway, so the ice broke pretty quick when I met Paul.”
Randolph followed Graham to Pitt, then Arizona State while Blankenship stayed to take over the Tulsa program. But that experience helped Blankenship see why Randolph is such a good fit with a major-college coaching staff.
“He’s one of those guys that has the kind of personality, the kind of ego and the kind of confidence that he’s gonna bring value wherever he goes,” Blankenship said. “He’s gonna blend. He’s not a look-at-me guy. It’s not about him. He’s gonna bring value to that staff. He’s gonna honor the opportunity and he’s gonna honor the guys around him.
“He’s a technical coach, but very relational in how he interacts with his players. He’s just a high-level guy.”
Relationships matter most to Randolph, which is a big reason why someone like Dilbeck, who spent less than one calendar year working with him, still has immense respect for him.
“There’s people you meet in this world — and Paul is one of them — who you can tell are tremendous men of character,” Dilbeck said. “I love the guy. I love his family. He builds great relationships with coaches and players on both sides of the ball.
“His energy level, his passion — he’s gonna bounce around and high-five kids and he’s gonna love ‘em. He is a great asset to a program.”
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com 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.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football hires Paul Randolph as defensive line coach
