It’s not an overstatement to say Oklahoma State football should be miles ahead of where they were before Eric Morris arrived on campus late last year.
The Cowboys already have their desired starting quarterback in North Texas transfer Drew Mestemaker, but he’s not the only one dealing heat in Stillwater these days. A new partnership with Monarc, a sports technology company based in Chicago, introduced a robot, “Seeker,” capable of throwing touchdowns, kicking field goals, and executing punts.
It’s not a physical, humanoid robot; no, it’s more of a launcher-type device – similar to those automatic free-throw retrievers, but far smarter and more versatile for football practice. Multiple Big 12 programs, including Arizona State and TCU, have each worked out with the technology, which easily facilitates multiple drills across position groups.
It’s a new world, and are we really surprised to see such innovation on the football field?
The tech, too, isn’t that new, with the company already a decade old and the equipment in question first appearing around 2020. Oklahoma State is the latest school to introduce the equipment. It appears to be making a true investment in the technology as the football program enters a new chapter.
In the next 10-15 years, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking if most Power Four schools had some sort of automated tech – whether actively incorporated in practice or elsewhere – on campus as an everyday fixture within their football programs.
