Mike Gundy ‘Excited’ about His Team despite Uncertain Season

While most of the world is consumed with one or two pretty massive things, Mike Gundy likely has a million little things weighing on his mind.

Practices, curfews, position battles and the occasional turned ankle. While the state of his chosen livelihood is steeped in as much uncertainty as ever, he seems to be taking comfort in business as usual.

On Monday, Gundy was asked about the potential of his touted 2020 team and his answer seemed strangely normal given the abnormal reality that will frame this upcoming football season.

“We have a number of veteran players,” said Gundy. “We’ve got guys that can make plays. I think it’s like any other season. You get ready to go, you play hard. You hope that your team stays healthy.”

Like any other season.

In the new world that is college football in 2020, two of the five major conferences have opted out and the other three, including Gundy’s Big 12, have landed on a COVID-truncated season.

From a macro view, sports falls somewhere between an afterthought and a needed distraction to most. But looking from 100 feet down at BPS, it’s a little easier to get excited about our favorite fall pastime.

Replete with a pair of All-Americans in Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace and an up-and-coming potential star in Spencer Sanders at QB, Gundy’s offense stacks up against some of the best he’s ever fielded. But his best teams have boasted a legit, or at least disruptive D.

That’s the best part. Down the stretch of the 2019 season — if you turned your head just right — the Cowboys looked like a legit Big 12 defense and return most of their stars and depth.

Gundy was asked about how his upcoming squad might compare to some of the more exciting teams he had in the past. Once again, he was matter-of-fact and answered the question more like he was surrounded by a dozen media members in-person than speaking through a microphone over a Zoom call.

“We’re starting to get back to real football now based on being in the third week of practice. So I’m comfortable with where we’re at,” said Gundy. “I don’t play in the games. It’s all about the players, the decisions they make. So we’ll see what direction they go with it. Football will always be a team game. It has to be a game that’s played by unselfish players that are willing to lay it on the line for somebody else.

“So as we develop over the next two weeks, if they put themselves in that position then they should [have success]. … If they go a different direction then you just make it through the season and go on down the road.”

That’s the long version of the timeless Gundy quip: “they look good in practice, but we’ll know more in November.”

Things are still wildly uncertain. Who knows. A spike in positive tests could still make for another schedule change or spell the end the season before it begins.

Coaches preach tunnel vision to their players for good reason. Take it one day at a time. Take nothing for granted. Throw in any bit of coach’s speak and training vernacular you can think of. It all applies and maybe more so now than ever.

Normalcy may sound like a priceless commodity for most of us, but it’s a necessity for Gundy and his team.