Is Mike Gundy Really Done Flirting With Other Jobs?

“I just wish more people understood this is how the business is done and it’s not personal,” former OSU lineman Evan Epstein told me on Tuesday. “He’s not any less loyal and true, he’s simply a successful coach who has to pay attention to his career and lifestyle. He’s a great coach and he will continue to be a great coach for OSU.”

Not to speak for Epstein, but reading between the lines of that comment, I find eight simple words: This is how it’s done in college football.

And he’s right, for the most part. Jimbo Fisher has hemmed and hawed in Tallahassee for as long as I can remember, only to return with the promise of better facilities, more invested resources, more Tomahawk chop action, etc.

This is how you get leverage. Whether Gundy wants a raise or wants Holder gone so he can hang bowl banners in his farm house makes no difference. Gundy had a motive to flirt with UT, which, believe it or not, might have been simply to hear them out and see what they offer.

But will Mike Gundy’s message of “Cowboy for life” ring true through the entirety of the offseason? Or if, say, Florida State comes calling after Jimbo bolts for A&M, does Gundy throw his name in the hat and play Ring Around the Rosie just for funsies again?

Consider me dubious that Gundy could turn down A) the attention that comes with being considered for a high major job and B) The chance to stir the pot when angst grows that he might leave.

Months from now, when he gets permission to hang bowl banners or is granted extra salary to hire another assistant, there will inevitably be something else he’ll grow frustrated with. There’s always something coaches want to push the envelope on, which doesn’t always get granted immediately. Better facilities, better staff, better technology, more butch wax.

And when that time comes, will Gundy tuck his tail between his legs and say woe is him? Or will he use his leverage — just like he did on Tuesday — to try and get something accomplished?

Whether that means flirting with a job or openly discussing retirement or demanding for a better facility or whatever the case is, my guess is that this latest stunt certainly won’t be Gundy’s last. OSU fans will almost certainly experience more queasiness in the future thinking Gundy might bolt.

But I also don’t think it will be the last stunt that ends in Gundy returning to Oklahoma State. If he’s turning down $42 million from a place like Tennessee, dumpster fire or not, I have to believe he’s not going anywhere.

Gundy really is a Cowboy for life.