Mike Gundy Inducted into Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame

Headlining a star-studded 2021 class, Mike Gundy on Monday was one of six inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Gundy fielded questions at the event on — what else? — realignment and his program’s standing in the madness that is college athletics right now.

“I’m a traditionalist,” he said in part. “I was not fired up about losing the Big Eight. I was not fired up about losing Nebraska and Colorado. … That’s just my history. Whether we like it or not, there’s a business that’s taking over college athletics. We have to move forward. I don’t think anybody has any idea what’s going to happen. I will say this: We have tremendous leadership. … I’m very impressed [with Dr. Shrum and Chad Weiberg] and have a lot of confidence in Oklahoma State University.”

Gundy’s comments echoed a similar sentiment he shared last week in an interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith in which he expressed optimism about the future of OSU and its athletic programs and, in the same interview, shared his thoughts on OU and Texas leaving for the SEC. You can read the transcript here.

What Gundy has done at OSU since taking over the program in 2005 has been nothing short of HOF-worthy. He’s led OSU to 15 consecutive winning seasons and 15 consecutive bowl appearances, both records for the program. But he has a decorated resume in other roles, too, making his HOF candidacy all the more convincing: He led Midwest City to its first state title in 25 years as its QB in 1985, was a four-year starter at QB for OSU where he led the team to two bowl appearances and then returned to his alma mater — first as an assistant and now as a head coach — to take the Cowboys to new heights.