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Brennan Presley continues to climb Oklahoma State's all-time football charts

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STILLWATER — Would Oklahoma State receiver Brennan Presley give this kid some reassurance when he was asked earlier this week if he could go back and talk to the high school junior version himself?

Six years later, Presley has climbed the charts among OSU's receiving greats – not an easy place to reach such heights.

But when he was a junior at Bixby High and not as tall as the 5-foot-10, 160 pounds he's currently listed at, Division I offers felt out of reach.

So would he go back and tell his younger self that everything would work out?

“I don’t think I would tell myself that,” Presley said Tuesday in his first meeting with the media during spring training. “If I go back and tell him that, then you start to relax. And then you don't carry yourself with a chip on your shoulder.

“It's this feeling of security that I wouldn't tell him that just because that resentment has to always be there.”

Presley is coming off the best year of his career, catching 101 passes for 991 yards and six touchdowns, all personal bests. For his career, he ranks fourth in OSU history in receptions with 225 – yes, Rashaun Woods' record of 293 is within striking distance – and seventh in receiving yards with 2,548.

He holds two of the top three marks for receptions in a game, with 15 and 16, and has made at least two catches in 30 consecutive games.

More: Brennan Presley sets the Oklahoma State football record and other statistics from the Texas Bowl victory

But six years ago, he still had to wonder whether he would get the chance to prove himself at the Division I level.

“I was stressing about it the whole time,” he said. “You work so hard to play college football and you want to see the fruits of your labor, you want this opportunity and that opportunity to come along. When you don’t, you get a little discouraged.”

It wasn't until after his standout junior season at Bixby that Presley finally started accepting some offers. Smaller programs like Arkansas State and North Texas were first in the spring of 2019, but OSU finally pulled the trigger in June of this year.

“We’ve talked about him and watched him,” head coach Mike Gundy said. “He would make plays, but he’s not very tall. Then I think he weighed about 75 kilos or something. He could run under a coffee table at full speed without hitting his head.

“So you’re worried about his overall physical longevity. But then we watched him make plays.”

Gundy's middle son, Gunnar, was a quarterback at Stillwater High School who crossed paths with Bixby a few times, and that gave Mike additional opportunities to see Presley in action.

“I saw him continue to be productive in big moments,” the coach said. “We like guys in high school who can make a difference, so we said it was worth a try and obviously we were right.”

More: Why is Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy selling his $8 million home? Here's what he said

Gundy has watched Presley get flipped around on the practice field for years, and he's going to drag him to the sideline.

“I look up and he’s back in there,” Gundy said. “I'll tell him, 'You don't have to be in there now.' Then he's back in there. He is who he is at a competitive level. And his body's ability to recover from punishment at this level is pretty amazing.

“The guy could play the game for another five, six, seven years because he just doesn’t know anything other than being productive.”

But first, Presley faces his Cowboys finale, a super-senior year that was an easy decision for him last winter.

“It was pretty easy because I knew there was still a lot of work to do,” he said. “I still have a lot of work to do to figure out who I can become as a receiver. If I had left, I would always ask myself, “What if.” What would have happened that season?

“Let's say I go and don't get drafted, or things happen and you're like, 'Damn, what if I just did it?' I didn’t want to live with those regrets.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Do you have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] 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 Oklahoma journalists by purchasing this article Get a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or via the link at the top of this page.

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