Mike Gundy’s Future Confirmed as 20-Year Oklahoma State Tenure Nears End After Oregon Blowout

Last December, the Oklahoma State Board of Regents came together for a meeting. The agenda? Mike Gundy’s tenure as the head coach. In the end, they came to a decision that they would be in a “standoff” with Gundy. The 2024 season had been the worst in the head coach’s 20-year tenure. Ever since then, a buyout with $25.3 million had been looming over Gundy’s head. RJ Young had stirred a pot a little, “$25 million doesn’t sound like a whole lot when we talk about firing people now because we’ve seen people fire for way more, but it’s still a lot for a place like Oklahoma State.” But turns out that it’s high time that the Cowboys might consider bringing together the riches to get rid of Gundy. Particularly after their big 69-3 loss against the Oregon Ducks. 

Just when the Oklahoma State fans thought that they had seen the worst after Gundy’s boys wrapped a 3-9 record in 2024, they got a reality check. After winning 27-7 against UT Martin, the Cowboys lost against Dan Lanning’s boys. Oregon led by 38 points at halftime and had 473 yards of offense on just 36 plays. That’s over 13 yards per play. Gundy’s defense looked worse than it did a season ago. This is likely to bring up Gundy’s hot seat debate. That’s when Brandon Marcello is reminded of an interview from July.

He posted a clip on X, where he asked Gundy, “I start hearing news in December about the board and restructuring your contract and all that. I’m just wondering what’s going on there. What was that like, that whole process?” That’s when Gundy opened up about how this demanding pressure is getting too much for him to take. “I’ve told the staff…maybe my 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th year coaching, and we would lose a game by a point or two to a team ranked 8th in the country, and everybody’s mad, I told them, y’all created this monster. They think you’re supposed to win every game,” Gundy sounded low.

The head coach is the biggest dilemma that the program is facing right now. Gundy is the Cowboys’ all-time winningest coach, posting a 169-88 record during his time in Stillwater. But good things must end before it all fades out, right? In Gundy’s case, his record has already started to get plagued by putrid records over the last two seasons. With this, in his case, the ending appears to be closer than before. 

Oklahoma State falling behind by more than 60 points is no good sign. And this is not the first time that they lost by such a wide margin. Last season, Deion Sanders’ boys handed them a straight 52-0 loss. Looks like Gundy has already started preparing for the worst. Back in July, he said, “I’m so far along in my career, I get it. And then ultimately if somebody says, ‘Hey, you know what? We need to change at Oklahoma State coaching-wise,’ then I’ll go coach somewhere else.” Already, others have their fingers pointed at him.

Mike Gundy’s remarks about Oregon ruffled feathers in Eugene

As per the reports, Gundy and Oklahoma State reached an agreement on a revised contract. While head coaches sealed a hike, the tables turned for the head coach. His deal went through a sharp cut and was reduced to a salary of $1 million. However, instead of finding ways to save his bridge from burning, Gundy went on to stir the Ducks’ pot. 

During his game week press conference on September 1, the Oklahoma State coach said Oregon is “spending a lot of money and they’ve put a lot into that organization and you can see, they’re a good football team.” And obviously, Lanning did not take it in good spirits. After all, Gundy and his team himself is standing in neck-deep water. “It sounds like there is (a difference in our programs) listening to him talk. If you wanna be a top 10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning. We spend to win. Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t,” came Lanning’s retort. 

Not just the Oregon head coach, a Ducks alum also thought of teaching Gundy a lesson through his sharp jab. That’s none other than the former Jacksonville Jaguars tight end, George Wrighster. “Mike Gundy, shut up with the crying.” The Oregon alum added, “He did this to himself because he is the man who came out and admitted which was foolish. He thought that NIL and the transfer portal would just go away, which is wild. So he didn’t embrace it.” Is it another season for Gundy, or will he hear the final whistle?