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Mike and Cale Gundy’s Mother, Judy, Passes Away

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The mother of Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy passed away on Sunday, his younger brother, Cale, announced Monday night on Twitter. SI.com‘s Robert Allen reported her passing came after recently suffering a stroke and a broken hip, and she later developed pneumonia.

Allen reports she was surrounded by family including her two sons, Mike and Cale; her daughter, Kari Long; and her husband, Ray Gundy. Mike was the middle child.

Judy and Ray grew their family in Midwest City and groomed two of the most influential coaches in the state’s history.

According to the Tulsa World, Judy “was the glue of the family” while Ray provided structure and discipline. Mike has said he got “a good mix” of qualities from both parents.

“My mom has great compassion and a tremendous heart, so she was able to deflect some of the hard discipline and times when we thought we weren’t going to make it,” Mike once told The Oklahoman.

Judy was a soothsayer, too, predicting long ago that his playing career would pale in comparison with what he’d accomplish as a coach. He is OSU’s winningest football coach.

Mike said his mother always told him he will be a much better coach once he became a father. Then he would know how parents felt and he would view players as somebody’s child. Mike said he never understood what his mother was saying. But he understands now. [Tulsa World]

One example of Judy’s parenting style, as the Tulsa World wrote about, came in eighth grade when Mike was at Midwest City. During a wrestling event, he was matched in the finals against a wrestler he’d never beaten before — and Judy told Mike to “toughen up and realize he was better” than the kid.

Mike won, and he cited that as a turning point for him in his wrestling and personal life. (Mike quit wrestling after the ninth grade, after going 35-0.)

Despite the family’s success and center around sports, sports were off the table for Judy — at least at the dinner table. In 2008 Mike told Bill Haisten that Thanksgiving dinners, which come just before the annual Bedlam game, meant football was an unwelcome talking point.

Mike Gundy insists that football will not be a conversation topic when he and Cale are at the dinner table.

“Not any kind of football,” he said. “That will always lead back to (Bedlam). She doesn’t want to listen to any of that. Football doesn’t even get brought up. Very seldom do they even turn the TV on and watch a pro game.” [Tulsa World]

Judy is survived by her three children, her husband and eight grandchildren.

[Featured photo credit: Facebook]

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