Bill Haisten: For OSU's Rob Glass, duty calls during the worst of times
- Mar 25, 2025 Updated 6 hrs ago
There was a business-as-usual normalcy about the Tuesday process of training football athletes, but otherwise nothing is normal for Glass and his wife Laurie.
After practice, instead of returning home to his southwest Stillwater house of 20 years, Glass reunited with Laurie at their temporary residence – a hotel.
Their home was among those that were destroyed on March 14.
Rob Glass has a fancy title: Assistant Athletic Director for Athlete Performance. He more commonly is known as OSU’s nationally renowned strength coach and Mike Gundy’s most valued staff member since 2005.
“Our wedding pictures are gone,” the 63-year-old Glass said. “The pictures of our kids as they were growing up – they’re gone. For a mom especially, it’s really hard.”
On Friday, March 14, Glass left the campus at noon. He and Laurie were packed for a weekend trip to Florida. As they were about to board a Southwest flight at the Oklahoma City airport, Glass took a call from a neighbor.
Because smoke had become visible to the south of Glass’ subdivision, the neighbor offered to activate the sprinkler system at Glass’ home.
“While we were on the phone, I could hear a siren in the background,” Glass recalls.
That was the first sign of trouble, and it came exactly at the moment when Laurie and Rob were taking their seats on the plane. While waiting in Houston to change planes, Laurie and Rob called friends and neighbors but learned only that there had been a mandated evacuation of their subdivision.
Laurie, Rob and thousands of other Stillwater residents couldn’t comprehend the magnitude of what was developing.
There wasn’t another update until mid-evening. At that time, Laurie received a call from a friend who delivered the worst message imaginable: “I’m so sorry.”
It was then that Laurie and Rob learned that their home was gone.
When Rob Glass saw an image of his home, the damage was so extensive that he was able to positively identify the house only because he could see the address stamped on the remains of the mailbox.
Glass had a collection of championship rings and bowl-game rings. About 30 of them were recovered, but they were mangled.
After their home sustained extensive water damage two years ago, Laurie and Rob worked for several months on the restoration. Now, they are now stuck in a hotel situation because their repaired home was in the path of a fire that became so violent because of 40-70 mph wind.
One of the more damaging of the Stillwater fires was within a half-mile of Gundy’s 110-acre property southwest of Stillwater.
When it was mentioned that so many of Gundy’s friends and associates were dealt horrific outcomes, the head coach replied, “My old house that I moved into in 2001 – the houses right next to it were burned up. Just a crazy deal. I haven’t gone over there to look yet. It’s heartbreaking for me.”
Gary Calcagno also is a longtime member of the Oklahoma State strength-and-conditioning staff, and he also lost his home on March 14. So did Cowboy basketball staff member Scott Sutton. So did Lee Roy Smith, a former Cowboy wrestling great who now is the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s executive director.
As most of OSU’s players were on outdoor surfaces during an 80-degree Tuesday afternoon, a few currently sidelined Cowboys were doing rehab exercises inside.
Eleven days after their homes were gutted by wind-swept flames, Rob Glass and Calcagno answered the call of duty. They were here to oversee the recovery of injured athletes.
“It’s good to disconnect from (the despair) and to do this,” Glass stated. “Getting back into football has been a good little outlet for me.”
