Mike Gundy Admitted He’s in ‘Different Position’ After Oklahoma State’s Latest Loss

Mike Gundy was already on the hot seat after Oklahoma State’s blowout loss to No. 6 Oregon last weekend, and after falling to Tulsa as 10-point favorites on Friday night, his seat is only getting hotter.

The 19–12 defeat was the first time that the Cowboys had lost to Tulsa in 27 years, and the first time they’d lost to them at home since 1951. Those are not the types of facts a coach on the hot seat wants to see.

Gundy has been connected to Oklahoma State football for four decades, first as a player and then as a position coach that worked his way up the sideline. After a brief stint as a QB coach at other programs, Gundy returned as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator in 2001 and took over as head coach in 2005.

In the world of college football, tenures as long as Gundy’s are few and far between, but after the team’s most recent devastating loss, it feels as though change might be in the air, and Gundy was quite aware of the mood hanging over his program while speaking with reporters in his postgame presser.

“We just have to continue to push forward,” Gundy said of his team. “They’re working. I have faith in them. I told them that. I have faith in the concepts. We just have to get better at it.”

Gundy openly acknowledged that the loss put his team in uncharted territory.

“It’s different obviously. In 21 years, it’s a different position than I’ve been in. But as I say every week, my job is to evaluate the overall program, the players, the systems, and then be able to put it down and think about it. What do we need to do to improve? And then I have to make a decision on where we’re at based on what we have. And that’s what I do.”

Still, Gundy had faith that with time, the tree could bear fruit.

“We’re in a position with guys that are still working hard, they’re still learning. We’re still playing with a young quarterback that in my opinion, in four or five weeks will be considerably different than he is now just through experience.”

Whether or not Gundy will get the chance to coach his players through the next four or five weeks, or even through the next week, feels like it’s still an open question.

Gundy and the Cowboys are scheduled to open up Big 12 conference play next week when they host Baylor. If they can’t turn things around between now and then, changes could be coming sooner rather than later.