Oklahoma State fires football coach Mike Gundy after 20-plus years

The Mike Gundy era is over.

Gundy, one of college football’s most colorful coaches over the last two decades, was fired by Oklahoma State on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old Gundy had a career record of 170-90 at his alma mater, where he was a star quarterback in the late 1980s. He posted winning records every season from 2006 to 2023, but had losing records in his final two years. He entered the season ranked third among active coaches in victories at their current school, trailing only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and Clemson's Dabo Swinney.

In all, Gundy spent well over 30 years at Oklahoma State as a player, assistant coach and head coach. As a player, he was the undersized gunslinger who balanced the Cowboys' offense when it featured star running backs Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. He ended his career as the Big 8's all-time leading passer, then had several assistant coaching roles at the school before reviving the program as head coach.

“Cowboy Football reached an unprecedented level of success and national prominence under Coach Gundy’s leadership,” Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg said in a statement. “I believe I speak for OSU fans everywhere when I say that we are grateful for all he did to raise the standard and show us all what is possible for Oklahoma State football.”

Gundy arrived as head coach in 2005, and the Oklahoma City native's charm and sense of humor appealed to fans and recruits and helped the Cowboys compete with and often surpass better-funded schools. As late billionaire T. Boone Pickens poured millions into the program, Gundy turned Oklahoma State into an unlikely powerhouse that often affected the national championship race. The Cowboys won the Big 12 in 2011 and played in the Big 12 title game in 2021 and 2023. He led the Cowboys to five New Year’s Six bowl appearances and eight 10-win seasons.

He was capable of capturing the nation’s interest at any time, whether it be with a quip or one-liner, or with his ability to break down complex issues. In his final two seasons, he emerged as a refreshingly open and honest voice about the changes in the sport. During camp before the 2024 season, he'd had enough of talking about money.

“I told the players there’s no negotiating now,” he said. “Portal’s over. All negotiation’s history. Now we’re playing football. Just coaching and playing football.

“The business side of what we do now is, we have to have those conversations with them,” he said. “Tell your agent to quit calling us and asking for more money. It’s non-negotiable now. Start again in December.”

His personality wasn’t enough as college football changed. The transfer portal and NIL made it more difficult for a coach who made his name mining diamonds in the rough. He lost 11 of his final 12 games with the program.

On Monday, Gundy said he wanted to stay.

“Ever since I was hired, I’ve put my heart and soul into this, and I’ll continue to do that until I don’t want to do it anymore, or until someone else says we don’t want you to do it,” he said.

For all his positives, Gundy came with quirks. He is known as much for his “I’m a man, I’m 40” rant that he made defending a player — a diatribe that remains a part of pop culture through a Consumer Cellular commercial — as for his success.

In 2020, he apologized for calling COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus, ” and again months later after he wore a T-shirt featuring the far-right One America News Network that created a disagreement with running back Chuba Hubbard.

All those things were forgiven as the team won. But the Cowboys lost their last nine games last season, the final defeat a 52-0 blowout at Colorado.

This season, Oklahoma State struggled out of the gate against FCS program Tennessee-Martin, winning 27-7 but raising eyebrows with its struggles after quarterback Hauss Hejny went down with a broken foot in the first quarter.

The next week, the Cowboys lost at Oregon 69-3. Ducks coach Dan Lanning said Gundy got his team fired up by talking about how much money Oregon had at its disposal.