Notebook: Gundy Talks Kicking, Thanksgiving and Gary Busey at his Weekly News Conference

STILLWATER — As far as Mike Gundy’s weekly news conferences go, Monday was a little more scattered than normal.

Gundy talked football, Gary Busey and Thanksgiving all in the span of 30 minutes. Here are a few key talking points.

The Gundy Family Thanksgiving

Thursday, Gundy will celebrate his favorite holiday — Thanksgiving.

To those who say, why wouldn’t it be Christmas? Christmas is the same as Thanksgiving plus presents. Here is what Gundy would say to you:

“Favorite holiday ’cause, hopefully, you get together with family eat and spend time, and you don’t have to open presents. Presents are a distraction.”

The Gundy side of the family will celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, while Gundy’s wife, Kristen, will have her side’s festivities Friday. Unfortunately, OU co-offensive coordinator Cale Gundy, Mike Gundy’s brother, will miss out on the holiday because the Sooners play at West Virginia on Friday.

“It’ll be a little different this year because Cale, he won’t be there ’cause they have to leave,” Gundy said. “Usually he’s there and keeps it entertaining. He may drain the refrigerator out of beer, but at least he’s there as good entertainment. It’s a great time for us.”

Gundy said his favorite dining selections for the holiday are vegetables and sides. He said he can get ham or turkey any day of the year, so he fills his plate with the sides his mother and sister cook.

Mike Gundy is Gary Busey’s Hero

OSU alum Gary Busey was at the Cowboys’ game against West Virginia, where Busey called the Pokes’ comeback.

Busey roamed his way to the OSU sideline where he met with Gundy during the game because why not? Per Gundy here is how the conversation went while the Cowboys’ were fighting for bowl eligibility a few feet away:

Busey: “Man, you’ve always been my hero.”

Gundy: “Well, you’re welcome here all the time. … You need to come around, road games, whatever, we’ll take care of ya.”

Busey: “Ah, man, I love that. I didn’t know I could be around.”

Gundy: “Oh, you can be around whenever you want.”

Busey: “Man, I watch Cowboy football all the time.”

McClure to Retain Kickoff Duties

Redshirt freshman Jake McClure has hit 77 kickoffs this season, 46 of which have been touchbacks, but seven have gone out of bounds.

In the first half of the Cowboys’ 45-41 victory against West Virginia, McClure sent two out of bounds. McClure got benched, and Matt Hockett took over kickoff duties. Hockett hit five kickoffs, averaging 53 yards a kick. He had one touchback.

Hockett also filled in at punter in place of the injured Zach Sinor where he punted five times and pinned the Mountaineers inside the 20 twice.

Gundy said McClure will resume his kickoff duties this week despite being replaced Saturday. Gundy compared McClure’s kicking motion to a golf swing that needs to be worked out.

“(McClure) is going to go at it again,” Gundy said. “When you start out the way he did, we have to make a change, and I’m not a big fan of that, but at that point, we had to put somebody else in there and let them kick, and Hockett came in and did great.

“Hockett was awesome for us Saturday in a variety of ways. But, (McClure) will go back at it. We’ll put him in there and let him kick. I think he’ll be fine. He’s young. He doesn’t understand how strong his leg is.

“He’s got a powerful leg, he just needs to be smooth. He’s gonna get 160 out of his 9-iron if he’s just smooth through the ball.”