Oscar Giles takes on important role in first season at Wyoming
Dec 29, 2022
Oscar Giles remembers being overwhelmed by the enormity of the University of Texas when he arrived on campus in 1987.
He grew up in Palacios, Texas, which is a town of 4,500 people near the Gulf Coast in southeastern Texas.
“My graduating class had 77 people, and my first class at Texas was a big, 1,500-person lecture hall,” Giles said. “I was in the back row and couldn’t hear the professor. He didn’t care. He just wrote stuff up on the wall.
“I talked with some of my older teammates, and they said, ‘The first thing you need to do it get up to the front of the room. Get there early, and get up front so you can learn what’s going on. Otherwise, you’re going to get lost in the shuffle.’ I hadn’t thought about all of that.”
That experience – combined with more than 20 years in college coaching – influenced Giles’ decision to take on a much larger role during his first season as the University of Wyoming’s defensive tackles coach and defensive run game coordinator.
During training camp, Giles asked Cowboys coach Craig Bohl if he could serve as UW’s de facto freshman coach. He also has established a mentorship program that pairs a freshman with a veteran player to help the newcomers adjust to colleges both academically and athletically.
“I noticed some freshmen were by themselves in the cafeteria and decided I was going to kind of be the freshman coach and be around them,” Giles said. “I went and stayed in the dorm for a couple days. My family isn’t here, so that was a great opportunity for me to do that.”
Giles jokes that the week he spent in White Hall on the corner of Grand Avenue and 15th Street helped him make sure none of the freshmen packed their bags and headed home in the middle of the night. What it did, though, was help him bond with a group of players he didn’t recruit.
“We went to a lobby, watched TV and played games,” Giles said. “They started feeling comfortable talking to me. As a coach, you usually just coach your position, and you get to know the defensive linemen, D-tackles and defensive ends because you’re around them the most. You don’t get a chance to talk to the quarterbacks or O-linemen.
“When I was (living) with the freshmen, I was talking to all of them.”
Big adjustment
Going from classrooms with relatively small student-to-teacher ratios to big lecture halls isn’t the biggest transition college football players make. They’re hundreds – sometimes thousands – of miles from home. It’s often the first time they’ve been away from home for an extended period.
They go from being the best player in their area to walking the practice field with 100 young men who also were the best players in their regions. The speed of the game can be difficult to adapt to. Players start to question whether they belong.
Coaches who sweet-talked them into coming to campus are now coaching them hard.
“It’s not an easy thing,” said true freshman tight end Isaac Schoenfeld, who hails from Rock Springs. “You go from playing both sides of the ball and doing everything all the time and being ‘the guy’ to being just another guy. You really want to be out there, but you have to realize it’s going to take time.
“You have to wait your turn, you have to learn, and you have to gain experience. It’s hard to sit out because you want to be out there playing, but it’s a process you have to go through.”
Giles remembered being in their shoes, and how much he appreciated coaches and older teammates going out of their way to reassure him his feelings weren’t unique and that everything would work out. He’s tried to be that calm voice amid the upheaval.
“We talked about the most basic parts of being a college student,” Giles said. “We talked about organizing their time, we’re talking about bank accounts and checkbooks – things they’ve never done.
“I’m teaching life skills that are going beyond football and academics. They don’t have a class to teach you how to be a man. They expect you to learn that from being home and around people.”
Bohl describes Giles’ role as invaluable.
“Oscar is a well-traveled football coach who relates well with people from all different parts of the country,” Bohl said. “We’ve seen an engaged freshman group. He spends time with them. … He will have one-on-one meetings with these players, meetings as a group and some activities.
“Some of these guys have come from challenging backgrounds. Oscar has been able to have some insight other coaches wouldn’t. It’s not that they can’t relate, but his paths and experiences are more relatable. It’s been heartwarming to see that progress.”
Helping hands
Giles knows he can’t help all of the Cowboys’ freshmen alone. Regardless of how good of a relationship he builds with them, there are still things they won’t confide in him. No matter how available he makes himself, his schedule isn’t always going to mesh with a player’s. That’s why he has enlisted the help of current players as mentors.
Fourth-year sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole started his career as a walk-on before playing his way into a starting role and a scholarship. The Casper product has been paired with Schoenfeld.
“It’s about touching base with those younger guys and being a big brother, so to speak,” Bertagnole said. “They’re taking a big step in their lives that we’re all familiar with. It’s about building a relationship and being someone they can lean on.
“I didn’t have that as a freshman, and there were times I was on the ledge and unsure of if this was for me. Every freshman goes through something like that. Having an older guy who made it through and made big steps in his life by staying with his team is important, and it’s going to create a culture for the freshmen.”
In Giles’ mind, having that sort of knowledge is every bit as valuable as any type of technique or a championship.
“I want to have an effect on these kids, and make sure 10 to 20 years from now, they can come back with their wife and kids and say, ‘Thanks, coach,’” Giles told WyoSports in February. “… To me, forget all the trophies, rings and all that stuff. When guys come back, or call and text you and send you pictures, that’s what it’s all about.”
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.