Bearkat Bites: Did The Emergence of 2 NFL Pro-Bowlers Lead To The Hiring of Sam Houston's New WR Coach?
PLUS Oregon St. Game Preview AND a SPECIAL SURPRISE for paid subscribers!
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A Pair of NFL WR’s Led Sam to it’s New Wide Receivers Coach?
A gaping hole on the Sam Houston coaching staff was filled this past week, as head coach Phil Longo hired Keyan Williams as the new Bearkats wide receivers coach. How did a young offensive assistant from Missouri’s coaching coaching staff end up in Huntsville?
The answer may lie with Jacob Peeler, the current Mizzou Tigers WR coach who served in the same role at Ole Miss from 2017-19 under….then-Ole Miss OC Phil Longo.
Together, Longo and Peeler helped to mold future NFLers AJ Brown and DK Metcalf. After his Ole Miss days, Peeler went to Texas St to serve as their OC then ended up at Mizzou to coach their pass-catchers and be a guide for his new assistant, Keyan Williams.
When Tyler Scott resigned as the Sam Houston WR coach earlier this spring, Longo needed someone he could trust in his first season as the head coach in Huntsville, calling around in search of solid names.
During his time with Brown and Metcalf, Peeler had sharpened his experience with coaching skilled WRs. So when Peeler’s former boss called in need of a WR coach, Peeler had just the guy, Keyan Williams, in whom he had imparted his knowledge.
This continues Phil Longo’s pattern in hiring familiar guys that have P4 experience. We saw the something similar with the hiring of defensive coordinator Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay.
Williams had been with the Mizzou Tigers since 2023.
Oregon St. Preview
After a trip to LaTech, Sam Houston continues it’s road trip with a visit to one of the prettier sceneries on their schedule with a stop at Oregon St. Despite playing in a 2-team Pac12, the Beavers fell short of 2024’s lofty goal of making the CFP. Is a bounce back year in the cards?
This is a series of team by team way-too-early game previews of the Sam Houston’s football opponents. You can read the previous entries at the underlined links below. If you see a “W” I think that is a Sam Houston win. Conversely, an “L” indicates that I see a loss.
Western Kentucky (L)
UNLV (L)
Hawaii (W)
Texas (L)
New Mexico St. (W)
Jacksonville St. (L)
UTEP (W)
LaTech (L)
The Opponent
Oregon St. Beavers
2024 Record
(5-7, 1-0 in Pac12)
The Coach
Trent Bray is in year two as the head man in Coravllis, after serving as an assistant with the school from 2018-2023. He is in search of that certain magical something that previous HC Jonathan Smith had found before departing for Michigan St. Like Smith, Bray is a former OSU football player from the mid-2000s. Fun fact: both coaches posted identical 5-7 records in their new positions.
Along for the ride with smith is another former Oregon St. player from the mid-2000s, Ryan Gunderson, who was a backup QB here from 2003-2007. He will be tasked with picking back up an OSU offense that faltered a bit during the second half of 2024. Their D-coordinator, Keith Heyward (former Oregon St. football player), stepped down to spend more time with family, so HC Bray will call the defense with guest appearances from co-DC Rod Chance (not a former Oregon St. football player).
The Quarterback
After guiding Duke to a solid 2024, Maalik Murphy is here to run the Beaver offense. You, reader, might remember Murphy as the odd man out during his time as a QB at Texas. Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning forced Murphy’s hand, leading him on a cross country journey from the Blue Devils all the way out west to Coravllis. At 6-5 and 235lbs, he has the size and accuracy to be a massive upgrade over Oregon St.’s 2024 quarterback rotation of Gevani McCoy and Ben Gulbranson. Clearly, Murphy’s visit to Oregon went better than his first.
Offseason Guide
For a “non-Power 4” team that fell apart down the stretch last year, Oregon St. has a surprising amount of continuity among it’s major contributors. The wide receivers are a shining example of this, as the Beavers return all but two of their top pass-catchers from a year ago. Among those coming back is Trent Walker, who almost got to 1,000 receiving yards. The same can be said of the run game as 1,000 yard rusher (and 15 rushing TDs!!) Anthony Hankerson returns to the team as well. Backing him up will be former LaTech RB Marquis Crosby, who had one run for 9 yards last year against Sam Houston.
While the skill positions are solid for OSU, the o-line is a bit of question; returning just one starter from 2024. However, there is enough experience here to combine with the quick decisions of Murphy and Hankerson to make this unit look better than maybe it is on paper. This is a potent offense that just needs to find consistency from the start of 2025 to the finish.
If there is a drawback for the Beavers, it will be defensively, where OSU had an FBS low 7 sacks all of last year. HC Bray is hoping that guys like Nebraska transfer Kai Wallin can help change the team’s fortunes in that department. They’ve added six transfers to the d-line but none of them are earth-shattering from a size standpoint. The linebackers, meanwhile all have decent experience and should help raise the profile of the front seven. The secondary appears to be in good shape as well, led by West Virginia transfer TJ Crandall Jr. He joins an experienced backfield that has size and speed.
Who Will Beat Who?
This will be Sam Houston’s second straight road game after a Friday night contest against LaTech, while Oregon St. will enter this game after a battle against rival (and the only other member of the 2-team Pack12!!) Washington St. It will be the Bearkats’ first time ever locking horns with the Beavers. While OSU’s defense will allow for some opportunity for the ‘Kats, I think the skill players of their offensive attack led by QB Murphy will be a bit too much to overcome on a chilly Saturday night in Corvallis. Look for Oregon St. to grab a win here.
Big Sam Tees Are Almost Ready! What Do You Think?
Other than college football, the one thing I have looking forward to this fall is the release of our Big Sam t-shirts! I wanted to do something different that honors the school’s namesake while offering a cool element to the design. I thought to myself, “why not have Sam Houston hitting the Heisman? The result is the shirt you see above. Want one? More details on that are coming soon!