Why coaches who know Paul Randolph call him a 'home run hire' for Oklahoma State football
STILLWATER — Not long after he arrived for his new job as a defensive graduate assistant with the Arizona State football program, Ray Brown suddenly found himself sharing his coaching dreams with a man he’d just met.
It was 2014 and Brown had just left a one-year stint as a grad assistant at Washington State, his first season at the Division I level. He hadn’t been a standout player. He had to work his way up from the D-II coaching ranks.
Brown was essentially a no-name at the Power Five coaching level, yet this veteran coach — who wasn’t even Brown’s direct superior — seemed genuinely interested in helping Brown find his way. Not just for the sake of the Sun Devils, but for the sake of his coaching future.
That’s when Brown realized Paul Randolph was a different kind of coach.
“Paul pulled me under his wing and was like, ‘Hey, what do you need? How can I help you?’” Brown said, referencing their first meeting at ASU. “He was so concerned with being able to help, it was unbelievable.
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“It really stood out that he cared about me on the front end, not caring about what my title was or what I had done. It was just, ‘Hey, I’m gonna care about you as a person.’”
Brown and Randolph were together at Arizona State for the 2014-15 seasons, then went their separate ways, but they’ve stayed in touch.
And Brown couldn’t help but share his excitement when he heard of his mentor’s latest coaching move, which landed Randolph in Brown’s home state.
After spending two years at Indiana, Randolph was hired by Mike Gundy on Jan. 11 as the new defensive line coach at Oklahoma State, replacing Greg Richmond, who was not retained after the season.
And while Brown has never worked directly with Gundy, Brown knows Randolph will be a perfect fit in the Cowboy coach’s culture.
“Paul can go anywhere around the country and do a phenomenal job, but he’s gonna fit Oklahoma State perfectly,” said Brown, a 2002 graduate of Putnam City High School who played at East Central University and later coached at Oklahoma Baptist.
“Knowing that place and what they’ve done, just being an Oklahoma guy, I think he’s a phenomenal fit. He’s a home run hire and they’ll love him there.”
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Who is Paul Randolph?
Randolph is originally from Gainesville, Georgia, and played college ball at Tennessee-Martin before going on to a successful 10-year career in the Canadian Football League.
Now 57, he’s entering his 26th year of college coaching, and though only four of those years (2007-10) have been spent in Oklahoma when he was on Todd Graham’s Tulsa staff, Randolph’s connections to the state run deep.
Aside from Brown, who now coaches defensive backs at Washington State, that Arizona State staff was led by defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, a Marlow native who is now the head coach at Abilene Christian.
The two were again together at Texas Tech from 2019-21 on the staff of Sallisaw native Matt Wells, which also included his younger brother, Luke Wells.
Yet Randolph’s Okie connections run even deeper.
Denver Johnson served as an OSU graduate assistant under Pat Jones in 1985 and got his first full-time coaching job working with the offensive line at UT-Martin in 1986.
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“Paul was already there, playing linebacker,” Johnson said. “Back then, you didn’t have strength coaches and all that, so I was in charge of the weight program, so I had a lot of interaction with all the kids on both sides of the ball.
“He was a tremendous player, team captain, all-conference. He commanded the locker room. Just a really outstanding football player.”
Despite being on the opposite side of the ball, Johnson learned enough about Randolph in their time together that Johnson eventually hired Randolph as the defensive line coach at Illinois State in 2000.
“Paul Randolph is one of the finest human beings I’ve ever met,” said Johnson, now the offensive line coach at Lindenwood University. “I still call him a young man. We’re both quite a bit older than we were back then. But he’s a tremendous guy, tremendous family guy.
“His personality is outgoing, which has always been a great asset on the team. Great morale guy, always been a good recruiter. I think Mike has really hit a home run with this deal.”
Johnson and Randolph connected again later when both were at Tulsa on a staff that included legendary Oklahoma high school coach Bill Blankenship and others.
And a few key traits have remained steady in Randolph’s coaching approach throughout his career: his excitement, his eye for technical details and his desire to connect with his players.
“Coaching with a passion and a purpose with energy is my biggest asset,” Randolph said in a story posted on the Indiana University website after he was hired there in 2022. “I think the guys tend to do what you do. So if my energy level is high and I’m having a great day, which I do every day, then they’re going to do the same thing.”
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Paul Johnson 'brings juice every day'
His energy carries over to other coaches as well.
Prior to practices at Arizona State, Brown would often peek over at Randolph as he gathered with the defensive linemen. Brown particularly liked to watch when Randolph would break down the huddle to start drills.
“It was the one thing I looked forward to,” Brown said. “I’d always turn around to see him break his guys down. He got the energy going, got his guys going. He rolled around that place. He coached really, really hard, but he made it fun.
“I don’t think Paul Randolph has ever met a bad day in his life.”
Randolph was in his late 40s back then, but age hasn’t altered his joy or his coaching style.
“He is one of the best people in this profession,” said Luke Wells, who spent the 2019-21 seasons with him at Texas Tech. “Coaching is like a ministry to him. The guy is gonna sink his teeth into these kids, dive into their lives, challenge them to be better men. And on top of that, he’s gonna challenge them to be better football players.
“He’s older than you think he is, and you don’t know it, because he brings juice every day.”
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Paul Johnson has been a versatile coach
While the bulk of his career has been as a defensive line coach, he has also been a coordinator and has taken on additional responsibility as an associate head coach at multiple stops.
Yet one of the key factors that makes Randolph a good fit at Oklahoma State is his relationship-driven approach.
“He gets the most out of his kids, and they know he’s in the fight with them,” Wells said. “When you get a chance to work with somebody, you find out what they're all about. We went through some ups and downs when we were at Tech together, but Paul’s the same dude every day. You know what you’re gonna get.
“He’s gonna pour everything he can into his players. Whether you’re a player or a coach, he makes you feel important.”
Johnson, who was OSU’s offensive line coach from 1989-92, saw in Randolph’s playing days the passion and work ethic he believed would make Randolph a good coach.
“I felt like I was fortunate to be able to hire him at Illinois State, and I think Oklahoma State is fortunate to be able to hire him now,” Johnson said. “People that get to know him are gonna love him. Players are gonna respect him first of all, because of his knowledge and work ethic, and then because of his personality.
“He’s an energetic, hard-working guy, very sound football coach and just an honest, straight-forward guy.”
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 adds Paul Randolph to staff, a 'home run hire'
