The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Postgame News Conference

STILLWATER — Mike Gundy fell to 7-1 against Tulsa as the Cowboys’ coach on Friday night.

Oklahoma State lost to the Golden Hurricane 19-12. Here are five quotes from Gundy’s postgame news conference. You can watch his full news conference below.

1. On the Fans and His Job Status

Tyler wrote a deeper piece on this quote, but it certainly belongs here, too.

Gundy’s job and the state of the program were brought up a few times during his postgame presser. Here is how he responded to a question about fans being upset and wondering if he should keep his job.

“I gave you a message earlier about the fans: They were awesome tonight,” Gundy said. “They really were. The stadium was full and they were fired up. They were awesome.

“Those aren’t decisions that I make. My decision is to do exactly what I mentioned earlier is get these guys, keep moving forward and go on down the road, and that’s what we do.”

2. On Zane Flores

Redshirt freshman quarterback Zane Flores made his second career start Friday.

It obviously wasn’t the best of days, as his team lost to Tulsa. Flores went 25-for-40 (63%) for 214 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Some of OSU’s best offense of the day was when Flores tucked the ball and ran. He finished with 56 on the ground and OSU’s lone touchdown.

“He competed,” Gundy said. “He ran, he fought. There’s times he ran the football. He’s learning. He’s learning on the run, but he competed. Showed some grit right until the end. We had our backs against the wall and he fought right until the end. As long as he continues to do that he’s gonna grow and develop. This system he’s in, it’s new to him. He’s learning and growing. As he gets more reps at this and gets a better feel for it he should continue to improve. We did a good job of protecting him overall for the most part, which is another thing that we have to be very aware of.”

3. On Being in This Position after Years of Sustained Success

The 2024 season was just Gundy’s second losing season (the other was his first year in 2005), but OSU seems destined for a third with that loss.

Gundy was asked how it feels for him being in this position given his winning history.

“Well, it’s different, obviously,” Gundy said. “In 21 years, it’s a different position that I’ve been in, but as I say every week, my job is to evaluate the overall program, 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. We’ve certainly been in a different situation a lot of years in a row, but currently we’re not in that situation. But we’re in a position with guys that are still working hard. They’re still learning.”

4. On Rodney Fields Jr.

After redshirting last year and being banged up to start this season, Rodney Fields had his first game as the Cowboys’ featured tailback on Friday, and (despite the final score) he played pretty well.

Fields carried 17 times for 113 yards (6.6 yards per carry) and caught six passes, the most of any Cowboy, for another 39 yards.

“Well, he obviously ran the ball well and had success,” Gundy said. “He was healthy — first time he’s been healthy in a while. He practiced last four or five practices that we’ve had him and feel like that he’s healthy and running full speed. But I was pleased with the way he ran.”

5. Where Does OSU Go From Here?

OSU suffered a loss to a Group of Five team back in 2023 and rebounded to finish with 10 wins and a Big 12 title game appearance.

Things seem a little more dire now, but a turnaround like that has happened before. When asked about his confidence on if he can pull another 2023, here’s what Gundy had to say.

“Well, we’re playing a game against Baylor, and we’re gonna practice just like I share with you earlier, I mentioned to the team that they’re gonna get better every practice and get better every game,” Gundy said. “As we learn the system and learn each other and try to accomplish some of the things that I just mentioned that can help minimize that, then we can continue to move forward. It’s week to week.

“We would’ve loved to have won the game. … So what we try to do is improve on that and reduce those situations for the next game.”