How and Why Mike Gundy Used a Helicopter to His Advantage in Recruiting

Carson Cunningham and I joked on our podcast earlier this year that Mike Gundy doesn’t do #SwagCopters, he does #SwagTractors. And then Gundy up and got himself into a whirly bird to help round out his 2018 recruiting class.

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The photos were predictably hilarious, but Gundy said on Wednesday that his chopper was not only for show. It was also economical, which matters when you’re trying to juggle bowl game prep and hold off crootin poachers.

Gundy said he visited almost every player in his class in person, except for the guys in south Texas, and his chopper was one of the biggest reasons why. The two-pronged success for Gundy is that recruits love that their future head coach landed in a helicopter, and parents love that their son’s future head coach was able to make it to visit them face to face.

“Is it strenuous? Sure it is,” said Gundy of the early signing period. “You finish up, you have recruiting weekends, you have home visits, you have school visits. You should invest in a helicopter. That’s what I would do. You can get other places. Don’t tell me about the problems, just give me a solution. You get in one, the little thing goes like this (moves hand like a copter blade) and you fly around quick. That’s a solution.”

It is, and it’s one Gundy used … a lot.

Big shout out to Chuck Dixon and Tulsa County Helicopters for taking care of me today on the recruiting trail. Great day with a first class operation. #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/K0CMON4hFL

— Mike Gundy (@CoachGundy) December 11, 2017

Thanks for the stop by today coach!!☢️▪️? @CoachGundy pic.twitter.com/2errjkzq3C

— Jason Taylor II♻️ (@JTII_25) December 12, 2017

OKState Cowboy1 leaving Sachse today. 1st time in history a helicopter lands on the field! Thanks for the visit @CoachGundy @joebobclements pic.twitter.com/12Huu0r5qD

— Veronica Lacy (@_VLacy) December 13, 2017

“When we were setting it down, there was never less than 6-8 people out there videoing and phones … so that was pretty cool,” added Gundy. For me, I go back to how much time do we have on the road.

“There’s a number of young men that we have to see. Almost every player on this list, I have seen him at his location. … I was able to get there and visit with the coach, visit with the young man and/or their parents on that location and say, ‘Hey, thanks. I appreciate what you’ve done. I appreciate the help you’ve given us with your player and/or your son.

“That gives me the opportunity to go to those schools, see the young man, see the coaches … and move on. The work that I can accomplish in one day would take three days in a car. That’s one thing we have done to combat the early signing period.”

Of course all of this might just be a front for Gundy to add “helicoptering” to his ever-lengthening resume. Later in his presser he went on a tangent about how OSU doesn’t ever have to front who it is when players come in. They are who they are, he said.

“The head coach has long hair, he likes hunting rattlesnakes, he flies in helicopters and he’ll wear a wrestling singlet. That’s who we are. This is a non-BS organization.”

It’s also a smart one. Maybe not as powerful on the recruiting trail as some would like, but Gundy continues to push the boundaries of what the Pokes have done in the past to work every angle of making OSU as good as it can possibly be.