Mike Gundy Relaxed, Confident and Comfortable With 2017 Season Approaching

On Friday, less than one week until the start of one of the most hyped football seasons in Oklahoma State history, Mike Gundy was relaxed, mullet flowing down his back, exuding a quiet confidence that only a coach of Gundy’s demeanor would be comfortable letting on.

Emphasis on the relaxed part.

“I thought Donald Trump was over here or somethin’!” Gundy quipped of the media scrum surrounding Mike Yurcich he saw upon his entrance at the suite level for his press conference Friday.

Gundy, as well-known for his CEO-like traits as any coach in the country, was ultra-cool with a little extra pep in his step. He showed up 30 minutes early (by accident), and stood around to talk to OSU staffers about what I can only presume was the brand of butch wax he’s using these days. Naturally, the first words I heard come out of his mouth reminded me more of Kevin Hart than of a Division I head football coach of a top 10 team.

That’s just the mood of a confident coach preparing for the football season.

As entertaining as Gundy’s press conference was — where he fielded questions about Bob Stoops’ interest in joining the College Football Playoff Committee, the newly-released depth chart, how his quarterbacks are developing behind Mason Rudolph, and everything in between — it felt like a genuine, regular guy talking to the media.

He wasn’t trying to put on a show. He was loose, cracking jokes like all of us were cracking a cold one together on the back porch of his ranch. And he embraced the talk of his quiet football players — a tradition that has earned a small spot on his bingo card — and leaned into the running joke by raving about the players (Justice Hill and James Washington) who hardly say a word. All the while, he wore that wry smile framed by his locks that makes you think he’s both telling the joke and in on it as well.

When it finally came to taking stock of his 2017 roster, though, he didn’t shy away from comparisons to 2011 and shot straight from the hip about his assessment of his roster.

“I think we have a really good team,” said Gundy. “I said that earlier this year. I ride in the car a lot of times with teenagers because my boys are teenagers. They argue over who’s a better player — Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. They look at their phones and try to throw stats out. They ask me, and you can’t compare something like that. They’re both great players.

“I think this is a really good football team. I think they’ve been committed to each other. That’s not coach’s talk. You know I’m beyond coach’s talk by now.”

OSU has a lot of holes to plug from last season to be the team that is a trendy pick to win the conference. Cornerback, although talented as all get-out, is a question mark with two new starters. The running back position will feature a true freshman in J.D. King and, likely, Chuba Hubbard. And the offensive line, which has allowed 104 sacks over the last three seasons, is breaking in a new left tackle. There’s a lot of unknowns.

Even with the lofty preseason expectations that come with a top 10 ranking and a College Football Playoff projection from a major media outlet, Gundy appears as confident and relaxed as ever as he prepares for Game 1 of the regular season next Thursday.

While it’s entirely possible his relaxed persona has only become public as he’s grown into his role as the face of the university, I think Gundy is quietly confident this team might be prepared to achieve something special in the 2017 season. A mountaintop that only one of his teams has ever touched before. A Big 12 title.

And maybe even more.