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Stillwater NewsPress, Okla.
OSU running back Ayo Adeyi's fresh start meant reuniting with familiar faces
- Story byStillwater NewsPress, Okla.
- OSU running back Ayo Adeyi's fresh start meant reuniting with familiar faces
There was no guarantee that Ayo Adeyi would ever find himself reunited on the football field with Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris and running backs coach Patrick Cobbs.
Adeyi took the leap from North Texas to James Madison after Morris and Cobbs helped turn him into a 2,000-plus-yard rusher in his first three seasons. But as seasons stacked up and injuries piled on while playing time and encouragement dipped, Adeyi reminisced on his UNT days.
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Then things lined up. As Adeyi entered the portal ahead of his sixth season, Morris was hired at OSU and began looking to fill nearly 90 roster spots. A chance to be back with Morris and Cobbs again, at a Power Four school?
"It was the biggest factor, to be honest with you," Adeyi said Saturday at OSU Media Day. "Just the success I had with that staff, and then to be a little bit more specific, this is my running backs coach, Coach Cobbs. I've had the most success with him the three years at UNT. And so, it was a no-brainer entering the portal. It was like, 'Wherever you're going, I'm gonna follow you, if given the opportunity. I'm very blessed to be able to rejoin with those guys."
The running back rotation behind starter Caleb Hawkins is still taking shape, and Adeyi is right in the mix. He still has his battles, like trying to stay healthy after being injured the past two seasons, but now he's back in a room with Cobbs and a running back group that's helped him resharpen.
Adeyi is back where he belongs and is back to pick up where he left off with this staff.
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"It's kind of brought me back to that mindset," Adeyi said. "I feel like Coach Cobbs is definitely the most competitive running back coach I've had. So, just getting that competitive drive back again and just trying to tap into that every single day. I'm excited."
Adeyi, 5-foot-7 and 194 pounds, rushed 84 times for 496 yards as a freshman and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team. The next season, he played in 12 games with three starts and surpassed 100 carries and 800 yards.
He had his most productive year as a junior, rushing 143 times for 1,017 yards. Adeyi took a jump each year with Morris and Cobbs. That came to a halt at JMU.
Adeyi started his first two games in 2024 but was injured in Game 2 and ruled out for the season. He received a medical redshirt and returned in 2025, which was also plagued with injury and recovery. He carried the ball only 25 times all year and maintained a redshirt.
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But his trajectory had flipped. Two years, 160 rushing yards.
"To be honest, just a little bit frustrating," Adeyi said.
That's when he decided to explore the transfer portal, and nothing interested him quite like going back to play for the coaches who first gave him a shot.
"(Cobbs) is a winner. I feel like if you can take a guy like me, seeing how I started out, and just make him into a 1,000-yard running back, I feel like you're a pretty good coach," Adeyi said. "I'm gonna give a lot of credit to him."
Trying something new, or going back to something in Adeyi's case, can be a fresh start.
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"Sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing for these kids and allows them to mentally reset just because this game is obviously so taxing from a physical standpoint," Morris said.
The Cowboys are looking for someone to take No. 2 snaps behind Hawkins, and though Adeyi is the most experienced in the room other than Hawkins, he also has to stay healthy.
"It's been really tough, just trying to break that mold of the injury-prone," Adeyi said. "It's something that I'm not shying away from this year, just doing all I can to stay healthy."
He wants to get back to that version of old himself, from when he became a 1,000-yard rusher at UNT.
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That translates to lots of "prehab" to stay ahead of injury problems. Adeyi said he lives in the weight room, getting extra stretching and extra workouts.
"I don't leave the facility, it seems like," Adeyi said. "I feel like I'm up here all day, whether it's getting here early, getting in the tubs afterward, doing massages, any type of treatment – prehab, I would say."
During OSU's first padded practice Saturday, the running back group ran pass protection drills, and Adeyi jumped in like old times. It's not his first Cobbs' practice.
"He's a vet. He's a little older, but Ayo helps a lot. He's helped me a lot since I first got here with pass protections because he's played for Coach Morris before," said redshirt sophomore transfer running back Tre Page III. "He knows what's going on like it's the back of his hand, basically."
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The fire has been lit again for Adeyi. It took a detour, but his path led him back to Morris and Cobbs. And this time, he's positive he's in the best spot for himself.
"This is the best I've felt," Adeyi said. "I'm really excited."
