HireOSUAssistants.com — Looking at Mike Gundy’s Promotion Patterns

As Mike Gundy looks at replacing an offensive coordinator, what’s up with his hiring patterns? Past performance tends to be the best indicator for the future. Let’s chew on it while we wait.

When it comes to offensive coordinators, Mike Gundy has been either A) a kingmaker or B) an HR legend. Three of Gundy’s OCs have gone on to head coaching roles (Larry Fedora, Dana Holgorsen, Todd Monken), Mike Yurcich got a six figure-bump to come home to Ohio, and the 2008/2009 duo of Gunter Brewer and Trooper Taylor took lateral moves. Reportedly, Sean Gleeson is an anomaly in that he took a demotion by anyone’s standard.

This track record isn’t to be overlooked — schools like Texas have fired far more often than they’ve lost staff in recent history. They had to give Mike Yurcich $750,000 to move south. I can’t imagine how heavy the eyes of Texas will be on him making $1,700,000 per.

As Gundy wraps up his 15th season in Stillwater as the head coach, he’s made 12 different hires at the coordinator level — seven offensive coordinators and five defensive coordinators.

Here’s what history says:

1. Talented position coaches generally are told to kick rocks and go make their money elsewhere. Nobody has been promoted offensively since Obama’s first term. Kasey Dunn getting a bump in 2018 and sticking around isn’t the norm and says something about how Mike Gundy feels about the guy.

2a. Offensive coordinators are the one place where familiarity and having a previous stop with Gundy on your record isn’t necessary.
2b. An OC needs to be able to work with QBs and bring in a fresh perspective.

With that being said, here’s a prediction on the next coordinator based on past performance alone:

• Dayton offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Eric Evans who led the Flyers to an FCS-leading 42.5 points in 2019 — also who wrote his senior thesis at DePaul on the “History of the Passing Game from 1900 to Present”

• Yale’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin Cahill who had the FCS leader in total offense and receiving yards. Sounds like a guy who could accentuate some prolific talent.

• Most likely scenario: Bodie Reeder, (former) OC/QBs at Eastern Washington and North Texas. sub-par season at UNT that had him let go but a stellar track record at Eastern Washington prior to. Former analyst at OSU, and a perfect candidate to come in and be the quarterbacks coach under coordinator Kasey Dunn. Being available certainly helps!