Mike Gundy’s Most Important Program Ingredient

Mike Gundy is the most important (and best) coach in Oklahoma State football (and maybe sports) history. The football part is at least indisputable. So I’m always interested to see what he has to say about program building.

Obviously Boone Pickens’ money goes a long way whether you’re in Corvallis, Stillwater or Gainesville. Cash is paramount to building programs. But the one thing I’ve noticed Gundy mention over and over again is continuity. I have this theory about why Gundy hired Mike Yurcich a few years ago, and it has nothing to do with LEGOs.

Gundy hired Yurcich, I think, because he wanted to get somebody who would be around for at least five years (I have written about this before). He rolled the dice on an unknown because he knew he could train him (because Yurcich is clearly intelligent) and knew that OSU would still feel big time to Yurcich in a way it didn’t to Holgorsen or Monken after a year or two.

Gundy all but said this in the preseason.

“Mike has come a long way,” said Gundy. “The reason that we brought Coach Yurcich to Oklahoma State is because we felt he was a young, upcoming, innovative coach and I had been very fortunate as a head coach to have that style of a coach with Larry Fedora and Dana Holgersen and Todd Monken, guys that are innovative and strong-willed and can make a decision and Mike’s fallen into that category.”

And he even wants to stay!

Then Gundy affirmed it in his weekly radio show this week and mentioned why continuity is important (recruiting — duh).””We have a plan, and we adjust it each year based on where the strengths are talent-wise on both sides of the ball, but the overall terminology, the structure in offensive meetings with the coaches, not only scheme-wise but also in recruiting, stays the same,” Gundy. “In preseason, when I had my meetings, those took considerably less time because everybody had already been with me for a year.

You get the feeling he wanted to follow this up with a praise Him from whom all blessings flow.

“I don’t have to go over all of that stuff before they get it, so that’s less time they spend in there listening to me and they can go in there and do something constructive. When you have two or three new guys on the staff, you have to go over everything to make sure it’s done right exactly the way you want it. It just takes time to bring those guys along.”

The self-deprecation is compelling, and the point resounding: Oklahoma State (and any school) is good when its coaches are good, are all on the same page and have been there a long time. Gundy has that right now, and OSU is rolling.