Mike Boynton Sends Letter to OSU Fans on One Year Anniversary of His Hire

Just over one year ago, on what should have been a slow Saturday for our website, Jeff Goodman rocked our world with the news that Brad Underwood was out, just hours after his team’s dramatic, but early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

The man who claimed to have Stillwater dreams left for a Champaign budget. It was a gut punch for a program (and a fanbase) that seemed to be just catching its breath. Underwood’s supposed love affair with Oklahoma State lasted all of 362 days.

Six days later, the school announced that then-unknown (even by most of us) assistant Mike Boynton would be his mentor’s successor, and the reaction varied from “Who?” to outrage.

Now, 365 days later, the rookie head coach has endeared himself to a fanbase that is used to a complicated relationship with its head coach. And he did so without even making the right Tournament. It hasn’t always been easy with FBI headlines, watching his No. 1 assistant and a man he called his “brother” not only being let go but facing federal charges.

He had to dismiss a fan favorite and one of his few future pieces early in the season. He had to navigate the toughest league in America, stand sideline-to-sideline with some of the best coaches in the biz and through it all, he didn’t flinch. Hell, he actually got the best of a couple Hall of Famers in some big situations and in some big games.

Now on another probably slow Saturday, Boynton sent his own message to Cowboy nation via Twitter. But this is no gut punch, there’s no drama and nothing that should alter your weekend plans. It’s simply a love note in a thank you note wrapper.

“Thank you, first and foremost, to the amazing fans of Oklahoma State. I know what this must have looked like from the outside one year ago today. I was an unproven coach and you were asked to buy in to this from Brooklyn who had never called a timeout before. You took a chance on me. More importantly, you helped galvanize our team; a team with many more questions than answers going into the season. You gave us a chance with your passion for this program to once again make Gallagher-Iba Arena the rowdiest place in the country.”

1 Year. Quite simply… Thanks!!! pic.twitter.com/0vvgcc1gyS

— Mike Boynton (@thacoachmike) March 24, 2018

Oklahoma State has found itself a ball coach and he’s excited for the future of his program. I think you should be too.