Very few coaches have been more representative of college football this century than Mike Gundy. Between fiery press conferences and unique hairstyles, Gundy built Oklahoma State into a powerhouse.
Oklahoma State hired Gundy after the 2004 season to replace Les Miles at a point when the program was the definition of mediocre. In the decade before Gundy was hired, the Cowboys went 58-59 and made only four bowl appearances.
After a rocky first season, Gundy went on to accumulate 18-straight bowl berths, going 12-6 in those postseason games. He stacked up a 170-90 record in Stillwater, and had the Cowboys inches away from making the four-team playoff at his tenure’s summit.
If Dezmon Jackson scores there, Oklahoma State makes the four-team playoff. That was how high Mike Gundy took the Oklahoma State program.
I mean, just think about all the incredible players that went through Gundy’s program. Justin Blackmon. Brandon Weeden. Mason Rudolph. Dez Bryant. Chuba Hubbard. Emmanuel Ogbah. Russell Okung.
However, things have turned quickly in the four years since that miniscule loss in 2021. With the proliferation of NIL and the Transfer Portal, Gundy’s team struggled through a 7-5 2022 before getting a bit of a dead-cat bounce back in 2023. But things bottomed out quickly in 2024 when the Cowboys went 3-9, including a dismal 0-9 in the new-look Big 12.
Oklahoma State was unable to adequately replace Spencer Sanders at quarterback and fielded a defense that was simply not good enough. After giving up 36 points per game, there were calls to fire Gundy after last year. Last week’s 19-12 loss to Tulsa, however, was clearly the final straw.
Mike Gundy became a victim of his own success
Once you have a taste of national relevance like the Cowboys had in 2021, you begin to chase that again. Where expectations before were to remain mediocre, now they are to compete for conference titles and playoff berths. Mike Gundy made that happen at Oklahoma State. He consistently delivered winning football in Stillwater, raising expectations in the process.
It’s now become clear that even Gundy himself couldn’t meet those exceedingly lofty expectations.
Gundy’s fatal mistake was his decision years ago not to take NIL and the portal seriously. He admitted as much earlier this summer. When other Big 12 programs like Arizona State, Colorado, and Texas Tech were completely rebuilding through the portal, Oklahoma State just wasn’t making those same additions. And that was by choice.
That fateful choice left the Cowboys significantly behind. Oklahoma State finally started playing the modern recruiting game this season, but it had clearly dug too deep a hole. By being unwilling to pay the price to sustain previous recruiting success, Gundy dug his own grave. With less talent on the roster, Gundy made it impossible for himself to keep pace with the rising expectations of the Oklahoma State administration, fans, and donors.
Unfortunately, I believe that will be Gundy’s long-term legacy. Yes, he built a true winner in Stillwater. However, his lack of desire to adapt to modern college football cost the program its chance to sustain that success into the new era. And now, Oklahoma State’s new coach will have to play from behind.
What’s next for Oklahoma State?
It’s pretty rare for Oklahoma State to undergo a coaching search. I mean, Gundy was only the Cowboys’ 12th head coach since World War II. It goes without saying that their first new hire in two decades is crucial.
The new coach must be someone who can build a donor base from scratch and fully embrace the transfer portal. As we’re seeing at Texas Tech, it takes a significant amount of investment to get top-tier talent to go to some of these Big 12 schools. In the modern game, the head coach is equal parts fundraiser, recruiter, and football tactician.
With all that in mind, many fans have been calling for Zac Robinson to become the head coach, and that would make sense. Robinson played quarterback for Gundy at Oklahoma State and would have broad appeal to new donors and existing fans.
However, Robinson has only been a professional coach since 2019 when Sean McVay hired him as the assistant QB coach for the Rams. He’s only been an offensive coordinator since last season when Raheem Morris brought him to Atlanta. Does Robinson have the necessary tools to rebuild the Oklahoma State program for the new era? He might, and his alumni status would certainly help, but he has a concerning lack of experience.
I’d like to see Oklahoma State go get GJ Kinne from Texas State.
A native of Northeast Texas and a three-year starter at Tulsa, Kinne also knows exactly what it takes to win in the region. In a few short years, Kinne has overcome a lack of resources to turn Texas State into a well-regarded Sun Belt program with a move to the Pac-12 on the horizon. His offenses have been nothing short of electric, and crucially, he’s utilized the transfer portal to improve the talent on his roster.
Kinne is a couple years younger than Robinson, has college head coaching experience, and would be a perfect fit in Stillwater.
Other names to monitor include UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, North Texas’s Eric Morris, as well as OCs Ben Arbuckle (Oklahoma) and Collin Klein (Texas A&M). The latter two would be fairly surprising given their current abrasions toward Oklahoma State, but any of those four would be good hires. Frankly, any of the six mentioned here would be solid and realistic options.
While these names are exciting and can carry Oklahoma State into the new era, I’m sure none of them will be able to beat Mike Gundy at the microphone. How else would I end this blog?
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