By Ryan Steele

CNHI News Service

STILLWATER — On days like Thursday, it’s easy to tell how much impact Rob Glass has on players during the summer.

After Oklahoma State completed its first football practice, coach Mike Gundy expressed his satisfaction with his club’s endurance.

“It’s much different now than it ever has been in the past — they come into camp in shape,” he added. “I feel good about it. I think they’ve worked really hard and they look good. They don’t have a lot of fat.”

Glass, who is entering his fourth season as the school’s assistant athletic director for speed, strength and conditioning, has a workout program which has been implemented during every offseason. Gundy has no doubts about the program’s effectiveness.

“There’s no question they’ve bought into it,” he said. “It’s been force-fed to them — I don’t think they really had a choice with Coach Glass. If they ever have a day where they don’t buy into it, he kicks them out of the weight room.

“These guys understand that if they just perform like he wants them to in the offseason, they’ll be in tremendous shape and it’s going to benefit the team.”

The Cowboys return 14 starters from last season’s squad that finished 7-6 with a victory against Indiana in the Insight Bowl. One of the top players coming back is junior quarterback Zac Robinson, who completed 60.4 percent of his passes a year ago for 2,824 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Robinson, who also ran for 847 yards, joined Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida as the only players in BCS conferences to rush for 800 yards and pass for 2,800. Robinson also set OSU’s single-season record for total offense (3,671 yards).

“Zac’s a good leader for us,” Gundy said. “He’s done a nice job in the offseason. He’s put on about eight to 10 pounds of muscle — he’s thicker and still runs well. If Zac stays healthy, he’s going to have a really good year.”

Robinson added, “I’ve never really felt like I needed to build my arm strength or anything. It’s just in the third and fourth quarters, it’s more of my legs getting tired. I’ve tried to just be in the best shape I can and right now, I feel great.”