It was a normal June post-practice team meeting at Sherman E. Smith Training Center until Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris began calling out a few walk-ons.
Redshirt sophomore tight end Carson Kolb perked up when his name was one of the three that Morris mentioned. The excitement really started flowing after Morris said, "These three guys, from this day on, are going on scholarship."
Kolb's mouth dropped, and teammates jumped onto him in celebration.
"It was magical, honestly. It felt like a Disney movie," Kolb said after practice last week. "I'd watched so many clips of guys getting put on scholarship, and I was always thinking, 'One day that's going to be me.' It was just a dream come true, and it felt like a movie moment."
But the dream hasn't ended for Kolb, an Oregon State transfer. He arrived in Stillwater as a special teams guy who had bounced around between linebacker and tight end in his first two years of college and who was projected around fourth on the tight end depth chart.
That hasn't slowed Kolb down, and not only does he have a scholarship now, but he is also shaking up the tight ends room and trending toward playing valuable snaps on Saturdays this fall.
"If we played a game tomorrow, there's a good chance he's our starting tight end right now, too," Morris said last week. "Someone that's improved so much, has to continue to work on ball skills and catching it with people around him. But he's someone that thinks fast, he's able to do multiple things out there."
Kolb played linebacker through high school and some tight end, but he made the full-time switch to tight end at Oregon State. It was a difficult transition, he said, then he was moved back to linebacker just about the time he was buying in to his new position.
In total, Kolb played in 16 games for the Beavers and made six tackles, all on special teams. No offensive stats.
His career has had a rebirth in Stillwater at the Cowboys' tight end position, and Morris has noticed.
"Carson, typical meathead," Morris said. "He's someone that's always drinking an energy, full of energy, screaming in the weight room. He's kind of a throwback in that regard."
That's a badge Kolb wears proudly.
"Yeah, that's no surprise, I've been getting called a meathead by my high school coaches and all my coaches. I mean, I embrace it," Kolb said. "I try to bring as much physicality to the game as possible. I feel like it's missing some of that at this day and time. So, I'm trying to reinstitute that at the tight end position."
The OSU tight ends room features players such as LSU transfer Donovan Green and former North Texas transfer and standout Oscar Hammond, who both have more skill sets as a receiver and route runner than Kolb.
Morris said while players like Hammond are more of a receiver converted to a tight end, Kolb has that linebacker mentality. His strengths come in blocking and playing physically rather than pass-catching and finesse.
Kolb has continued to work to round out his game, though, and his progression was something Morris and his staff didn't expect.
"He just continues to be a guy that gets noticed around here in every camp," Morris said. "And even though he's not a freshman, but somebody that we brought in that we didn't foresee this kid possibly being a starting tight end when we started this thing. But he's earned it and continues to move his way up and get more and more reps."
Kolb rotated with several depth chart groups through the spring, but now tight ends coach Drew Svoboda has him running with the first string some days. That's been cool, Kolb said, but he's not putting pressure on himself and just focusing on continuing what he's been doing.
It's worked so far, taking him from a walk-on to a scholarship player competing for snaps at tight end, and maybe even a starting role at some point.
"I'm really happy with where I am at, whether I get playing time at tight end or not," Kolb said. "I've still got three seasons left and I'm starting on all special teams, and that's really all I came here to do. So tight end is just kind of like the cherry on top for me. I'm happy to contribute to special teams and just get out there and play on Saturdays."
