Mark Cody Speaks to the Media

April 13, 2011

What They Are Saying About Cody

Tim Johnson
College Wrestling Broadcaster, ESPN & Big Ten Network

"Mark Cody is one of the really good guys in college wrestling.... a program builder, who gives his best to his athletes and brings out their best. What a great hire by OU!"

Rob Koll
Cornell Head Coach

"I have a son who will be attending college in a couple years and the biggest compliment that I can give Mark is that if my son chooses not to attend Cornell, one of the few coaches that I would be thrilled and trust to coach him is Mark Cody. Great coach, great person and great hire by OU."

John Smith
Oklahoma State Head Coach

“Mark Cody is a great hire. He is a man that's going to have to fill some pretty outstanding shoes with Jack Spates leaving. He's a good choice. Mark relates well with student-athletes. He definitely understands the meaning of being a student-athlete and he showed that passion when he was our assistant here at Oklahoma State.”

Andrew Hipps
Owner/Senior Writer of InterMat Wrestling

"Mark Cody is winner in every sense of the word. This is a great hire for the University of Oklahoma. The number of people Cody has influenced is staggering. The odds were stacked against Cody at American University. Very few thought he could win there. He not only made American a relevant Division I wrestling program in short order, but turned into a Division I power. The University of Oklahoma's wrestling program is not going anywhere but up with the hiring of Mark Cody."

Scott Casber
Takedown Wrestling Media

"Mark Cody is one of the most accomplished coaches in America. Turning the American Eagles program around was an amazing feat. Oklahoma and Mark Cody is a perfect match. Mark will take the Sooner program from Coach Spates and run with it just like he did at American."

Opening Statement...
"I am excited to be coming back to Oklahoma. I was just floored when I was out there for my interview. There are a lot of ups-and-downs of course, leaving American University and getting another start out there in Oklahoma. But my family and I couldn't be any more excited about this opportunity."

On the Sooner program he inherited...
"I just accepted the job yesterday and I spent most of the rest of that day letting my boosters know, having a team meeting and that is where I spent most of the day yesterday. Today I did have a discussion with Jack Spates about the individuals that were coming back and who we thought I needed to reach out to at this point.

I know a lot about the roster right now. We also talked about recruiting and who the prospects are and who they have already signed. I have spent most of today working on that."

On the differences between coaching at American and Oklahoma...
"At American the pace that we had to go was very hard and we had to do a lot of extra (stuff) to keep up with some of the other top programs in the country. I will probably go at the same pace that I have had to go here. I have to get in there and find out what we have and talk to the guys about what I feel is going to be important going forward. I had very high standards for my team at American. When I get there (to Oklahoma) I will do the same. We will try to implement that and try to do the best we can early on. It is important just to get there and talk to the team and let them know what my thoughts are going forward. I want to surely hear from them and find out what their thoughts are at this point and their concerns."

On his impressions of the OU roster after they wrestled one-another season...
"I thought they were a tough team, but the match came right down to heavyweight. It was a good dual. I felt that they beat us, particularly on top. They (OU) were solid in the top position. Really I think that dual helped us a lot for the final stretch of the year, because we had worked on our mat wrestling. To wrestle competition like we had all year, like I have tried to stress here at American that we wrestle better competition, we can find out what our weaknesses are and hopefully make those our strengths. I was very impressed with Oklahoma team at that time. They came out and they fought hard and it was a typical Jack Spates' team."

On his decision to become the next coach at Oklahoma...
"When I came here (American) from Oklahoma State it was a good move for me at that time because I had not been a head coach. Now I think this is a good move because I am taking over one of the, potentially, best jobs in the country. I think that we've been able to build this into a power here."

On what it will be like to be a part of Bedlam again...
"It will be exciting. I have been a part of that two different times in my coaching career and that was always a very high level of intensity. When I was at Oklahoma State I was the only one on the staff that didn't wrestle at Oklahoma State. I was probably a little calmer than everyone else. But I can remember John Smith, Pat Smith and Mark Branch; their stress level was through the roof, more so than when we wrestled Iowa or Minnesota. We had Bedlam at our place and there were 1,200 people there and that was a pretty neat experience. It was always a good scrap and good battle. I am looking forward to being a part of that. It is just so neat that you get to wrestle home-and-home. There are a couple opportunities and to have that Bedlam match twice in one year is going to be exciting and a lot of fun."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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