The coaching carousel in Norman continues to spin after a solid playoff run for Brent Venables. After tight end coach Joe Jon Finley left Oklahoma, DBs coach Jay Valai has also followed suit. Now, RBs coach DeMarco Murray has left for Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs to join Eric Bieniemy’s staff. The latest departure has a former Sooners star publicly lobbying for a controversial reunion.

“Mannn, we need to hire Coach Gundy back as the RB coach!!! What yall say??? @Cale Gundy. Let’s make it happen! #Boomer,” wrote former Oklahoma WR Dede Westbrook on X. The 6-foot WR played for the Sooners from 2015 to 2016 and became a unanimous All-American, as well as a Heisman finalist. Cale Gundy, at the time, served as OU’s WRs coach and helped turn Westbrook into a prolific wide receiver.

“Thank you for believing in me,” Westbrook said after leaving Oklahoma. “I don’t care what anyone has to say; Coach Gundy will always have my respect as a man and a coach. From the very first day he got in contact with me when I played JUCO, he went out of his way to show me he believed in me.”

Roping in Cale Gundy makes sense, at least from a cultural standpoint. The 53-year-old was OU’s QB from 1990 to 1993 and later spent most of his coaching years in Norman. He became OU’s graduate assistant in 1994 and, after a four-year stint at UAB, returned to Oklahoma in 1999.

Afterwards, Gundy served as OU’s RBs and WRs coach until the 2022 season and resigned once Lincoln Riley departed for USC. Although Riley invited Gundy to join him at USC, he felt reluctant to move to Los Angeles. Most of his tight-knit family lived in Oklahoma, and he had spent 22 seasons with the team. Ideally, Gundy would have been on the OU staff after Brent Venables’ arrival. However, a controversial incident forced him out of Norman. Gundy resigned from the team after reading aloud an inappropriate and offensive text from a player’s phone.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

“The unfortunate reality is that someone in my position can cause harm without ever meaning to do so,” Gundy said. “I want to be very clear: the words I read aloud from that screen were not my words. What I said was not malicious; it wasn’t even intentional.”

The Midwest City, Oklahoma, native subsequently resigned. At the time, Gundy was the longest-tenured football coach in the Big 12. Brent Venables expressed “sadness” about his coach’s resignation, describing him as having “dedicated more than half his life to Oklahoma Football.”

Sadly, ever since Gundy resigned, he hasn’t taken up another job, and this might be the best time for Oklahoma to hire him.

Cale Gundy is credited with developing three Heisman winners

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to hire OU RBs coach DeMarco Murray. Murray, an OU alum, has been with Oklahoma since the 2020 season. He played for the program from 2006 to 2010 as an RB and was selected in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft. Gundy will be a good replacement because Murray learned his craft from the former.

Gundy was promoted as OU’s Co-OC in 2017 and led the program to a record-breaking season. The team led the FBS in total offense, accumulating 579.6 yards per game, and stood second in yards per play. During that time, he helped develop some of the most prolific players in OU football history, including Heisman winner Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Caleb Williams. He also helped elevate Jalen Hurts’ running game.

“Love for Coach Gundy, he’s provided so much knowledge to me over the years, and I will always support and love him as well as his entire family,” Kyler Murray said. “I wouldn’t be the man I am today without his love/guidance he’s shown me and my family, as well as countless other student athletes over the past 25-plus years.”

All that remains to be seen is if Brent Venables pays heed to Westbrook’s suggestion.