The Madness of Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy
By Jerry Levi
Oklahoma State Football coach Mike Gundy might’ve saved his job Saturday night against his arch nemesis Oklahoma. Or he might not have. Either way Coach Gundy just bought himself some leverage when it comes to situations that have come to light in recent months that had many wondering if the coach was spiraling out of control. But not at this moment. The Cowboys are savoring the moment after clutching victory from the hands of the once mighty Sooners.
Down by 7 with less than a minute to play, Oklahoma State was going to get the ball back on a punt and have to go the length of the field to do so. A running into the kicker penalty negates that and by the grace of Stillwater the Sooners decide to kick it again instead of just giving OSU the ball inside the 20. What happened next was the stuff of legend. Speedster Tyreek Hill gets the ball on the re-kick punt at the 8, gets a block, and then gets catapulted off the USS Mike Gundy; 92 yards later the score is tied 35 all. In the overtime, the Cowboys kick a chip shot field goal to win it 38-35 to send their hopes to a bowl game at 6-6 and keeps their coach off the schneid for the time being. Or has it?
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3 Headed Monster
If anyone knows the inner workings of the goings on in Stillwater, then you know of all things ‘Current Events’ that things aren’t rosy. There’s a 3 Headed Monster in Stillwater called Gundy, Holder, and Pickens. Gundy is the coach. Mike Holder the Athletic Director, and T. Boone Pickens is the philanthropic Oklahoma State billionaire alum who has donated over $400 million to his college that has seen his money buy many an upgrade from Athletics to Academics. Pickens is the de facto ‘owner’ of the school and as such, there are small requirements: Win Bedlam. ‘Beat that school down south,’ as Pickens has been widely known to say, referring to Oklahoma. Before Saturday, Gundy was only 1-8 against the Sooners. Before Saturday, the Cowboys were mired in a 5 game losing streak. What was once a respective relationship between the two was now showing its teeth. In a question posed to Pickens in mid-November of this year, the oilman didn’t exactly mince his words.
"Are you still supportive of Coach Gundy? ‘I’m certainly supportive of Oklahoma State University. I’m always going to be for OSU, I don’t care who coaches ‘em.’"
As for AD Mike Holder, their relationship has seen its ups and downs, just like any AD/Head Coach. At first, in the mid 2000’s, Holder was a champion for Gundy whenever Les Miles left for LSU, and the coaching search was on to replace him, eventually getting Mike Gundy his self described ‘Yankees Job.’ Then came the ‘I’m a Man! I’m 40!’ rant that has followed Coach Gundy since 2007 that many say is disingenuous. The flirtations with SEC schools like Tennessee and Arkansas whenever those jobs came about. Some say Holder wasn’t none too thrilled about the thought of Gundy leaving, that he was thinking, ‘If you’re going to leave, then do it.’ Others point out the fact that Coach Gundy doesn’t like the scheduling that Holder places on the program, scheduling neutral site marquee names like Mississippi State and Florida State the past two years, which Gundy thinks hinders their chances at playing for a national title.
But just about the time all of these relationships seemed strained to the point of breaking, Gundy does something so maddening that brings the program back to the forefront. As said before, the 5-6 Cowboys were deep in a slump before last Saturday. At last week’s press conference during Bedlam Week, Coach Gundy answered questions like Andy Kaufman at a train station. ‘We don’t like to comment on injuries or offensive schemes’ was some of the comments that Gundy had at his press conference, if he decided to comment at all. It left a lot of reporters shaking their heads and a fan base searching for the right words to describe the road Coach was on. Gundy was done. His clock was running out. His stock was running thin as well, with jobs that should’ve had Gundy high on their list choosing to go with less than stellar names at Florida and Nebraska. It made people wonder if Mike Gundy was even considered for those positions. What was left was a Bedlam Beatdown that would all but secure his fate.
But…You give MacGyver a box of Bisquick and a piece of Double Bubble and he can produce something, anything. And that’s just what Gundy did, winning back a fan base and maybe the support of T Boone Pickens and Mike Holder, whether or not he wants it from those two. That’s how Mike Gundy’s Madness works. On a foggy Saturday night in Norman, amongst a sea of stunned crimson clad fans, the true ‘Mad Geller’ was at work, taking it back to Stillwater as the best team in 2014 for Oklahoma. As for those other stellar coaching positions that are still available (Michigan comes to mind). You can bet Gundy’s name has been tossed in there. By the way, ‘The Rant’ turns 7 this year…