Gundy a Confident Flag-Bearer for Big 12 Post-Stoops

Mike Gundy’s candor at Big 12 Media Days was never-before-seen, even more than last year when he kicked his feet up on the table. That openness is now the face of the Big 12.

With now-retired Bob Stoops out of coaching and out of the Big 12, the Oklahoma State coach is the longest, continuous tenured coach in the conference. And, at 49, he is at peace with that.

“I’m excited about it,” Gundy said during his press conference. “I’ve been around a long time and have a long history in not only the Big 12 but the old Big Eight in this part of the country. So I feel like from that standpoint, I can bring a lot to the conference.”

That he has.

Gundy has the best winning percentage of any coach while competing in the Big 12 and has won more than 100 games in a few more than 150 tries. He has brought things like the “I’m 40” speech, the postgame dances and the million-dollar mullet. Whether that’s the right face of the conference, Gundy has provided more entertainment and eyes, frankly, than any other coach in the field.

During the breakout session, Gundy said that in Matt Rhule’s time at Temple, he earned the university about $20 million, based off economists’ calculations there. If the new Baylor coach raked in $20 million over four seasons for his old school in the AAC, imagine what Gundy has done for the OSU and the Big 12 since 2005.

Of course, with that came a recent pay raise and long-term, two-way commitment. The contract became a matter of when, not if, so things slowed down. A lot.

“I’m a much different person and coach than I was 13 years ago,” Gundy said. “I would say patience has played a big role in that, and over a period of time, I’ve learned to have a lot of fun.”

Which, yes, most of us are much different than we were 13 years ago, but for Gundy, it’s about understanding that newfound responsibility. Throughout Big 12 Media Days, coaches shimmied off any sort of burden they might have to now carry because of Stoops’ retirement.

TCU’s Gary Patterson said all of the conference’s coaches have a responsibility to “recruit better players, play better on the field and have a responsibility to our league and our people that we do well.” But seconds before that, said, “We just need to keep doing what we’re doing as a league.”

Stoops’ replacement, Lincoln Riley, said he doesn’t feel any extra pressure, “because I know if we do our job well, just like has been done at Oklahoma over the past several years, that will be a positive for this conference.” Riley was right, but to say there is no added pressure is at least bold and at least not proactive. Riley has been hot in recruiting but sold himself short on it, saying a lot of those who recently committed were, “close anyways.”

Texas coach Tom Herman said he doesn’t feel any duty to tend to the conference, saying, “It’s none of (the coaches’) jobs to take care of the Big 12. You know what our job is, is to win games,” which in turn endorses the conference. That is inherently true, but it outlines he isn’t committed to taking his Texas hat off and putting a Big 12 one on. And if you disagree, he said this immediately after:

“I don’t know if we ever really think about, hey, let’s be an ambassador for the conference.”

Then there is Gundy, perhaps the guy you would least expect to have a macro perspective on something like togetherness of coaches to better an organization that wrongly took a win away in a season that could have propelled them deeper into bowl season. For the final question during the press conference sessions of Big 12 Media Days, Gundy was asked whether he evaluates his team in relation with the national perception of the Big 12. His answer showed he is more than a capable leader of coaches in the conference. It showed a level of accountability all others had not.

“I think we’re all responsible for that, and I think that we’re learning as a conference, as a league — obviously, I’m in the state of Oklahoma. We have Oklahoma State, and we have Oklahoma. I think at times the fans, whether they would admit it or not, they would rather one of the rival schools lose than win when we need them to win. I’ll say this, and I’ll say it again. We play Oklahoma in the middle of the year. I’ve always said, when we play Oklahoma, I want them to be 11-0. We play them in the middle this year, so 6-0, whatever it may be.

“I think as a conference we’re stronger than what the national media or our fan base might think. We play a little bit different style of football. It’s an exciting game of football. And I think that we all want each other to win when we’re playing non-conference games, and we’ll continue to get better and better.”