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Notebook: Gundy, Sinor, Cowboys Own Day 2 of Big 12 Media Days

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7 years ago

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FRISCO, Tex. — The Oklahoma State Cowboys were winning before they even took off from Stillwater a little after 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

With half-woke coach Mike Gundy on the phone and self-proclaimed Heisman Trophy candidate punter Zach Sinor on his way in the plane, Tuesday was destined for greatness at Big 12 Media Days.

And it was. Here are some highlights:

• About an hour and a half after takeoff from Stillwater, the Cowboys were at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys new uber-enhanced practice facility/headquarters. Sinor was still not at attention for the early morning photos.

• The Star is a magnificent facility. Publisher Kyle Porter and I were there, and everyone we talked with had only enriching things to say about their being there. The spaciousness was unparalleled compared to the Omni Hotel in Dallas, where Media Days have been held for the past few years. Many were confused about how everything would be laid out, but the logistics were truly flawless.

• Walt Anderson, Big 12 Director of Officials, the man who conceded that the OSU-Central Michigan game was blown, began the festivities outlining the rule and procedural changes that had been made for the coming season. They are, for the most part, as follows.

• There will be no more accepted requests for a lengthened halftime. Halftimes will be 20 minutes, and a clock inside the stadium will begin countdown once the first half is completed. There will be no exceptions for Homecoming or Senior Day.

• Tackling a ball-carrier or otherwise defenseless player by the jersey above the back numbering will be ruled a horse collar tackle.

• Surprise! There is now a Big 12 Replay Command Center that will review questionable calls and rule interpretations live. Can’t imagine that would ever be useful. Anderson said this was in practice for years and in no way was created reactively to the Central Michigan game. Yeah.

• Coaches running onto the field to protest a call or rule interpretation will be flagged, every time. Anderson made sure everyone got the big picture about what he was talking about.

• New Texas coach Tom Herman led off for the coaches Tuesday. He seemed interested in what he will do at Texas, what he did at Houston and what he did at Ohio State before that. All were exposed in one question a New York Times reporter asked during his nationally televised press conference.

• He did share a powerful story about the state of Texas football though. Absolutely soul-crushing if you’re a fan of burnt orange.

• West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen was next and for a good chunk of his presser was about his 10 months in Stillwater with Gundy and what he thinks of the mulleted man now.

“(Gundy) acts a hell of a lot older than 50. I act a lot younger than 45. He might say the opposite.”

• New Baylor coach Matt Rhule also made his Big 12 Media Day debut Tuesday. He said a lot of good things, including but not excluded to how sexual harassment and gender violence is “not just a Baylor problem,” but rather a “higher education problem.” He didn’t deflect what happened at Baylor before he got there. He just broadened the spotlight, which — I thought — was interesting for a rookie.

• Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, battling throat cancer miraculously for a 77-year-old football coach, said the phrase “goofy video games.” He is truly one of the great men of our generation. I talked with a K-State player, who said he didn’t realize it until he got to Manhattan but wished he had. Thought that was pretty special.

• Then came Gundy, who was asked about now being the longest, continuous tenured coach in the conference; carrying that torch and, of course, his hair, which he valued at “millions.” He also called The Oklahoman‘s Barry Tramel his “Homeboy.”

• But the fireworks didn’t start until the breakout session when the live cameras were put away. That’s when stories about Gundy inviting James Washington and Chad Whitener to hunt coyotes on his land, Sinor doing everything in his power to earn a Heisman vote ( literally everything … everything … everything) or Gundy explaining that time he put his hair in a ponytail and got down into his swim trunks to embarrass his sons in front of girls. And oh yes, that happened. We have video of it.

• All of the hootenanny basically boiled down to one thing though: The Cowboys are relaxed.

• A relaxed team can mean a confident one, a dangerous one, one that – as Gundy put it – “fears no one.”

• The lackadaisical nature of it all wasn’t even almost replicated by any other team at Big 12 Media Days. Media members talked with Porter and I about “how much more fun” OSU is than OU. But just because Gundy and Sinor provided more comedy than the rest of the conference combined doesn’t mean the looseness isn’t channelled.

• My final note comes from quarterback Mason Rudolph. He, an actual Heisman Trophy candidate, somehow flew under the radar of a lot of media coverage, but he served as a point of maturity and seriousness in the face of whimsy. And this quote on 50/50 jump balls absolutely pierced through Sinor’s Heisman poses.

“We call ‘em 70/30 balls. They’re not 50/50 anymore. The ball skills that those guys have, the ability we have to hold ‘em up on the throw and put a little bit on the back shoulder. If you see them off the line, we’re putting some more air on the sideline.

“It’s something we work on every day, and it’s something that we’re extremely good at, and it is that, ‘We’re better than you, so we’re gonna go do that. I don’t care what coverage it is.’ Obviously there are coverages that will take that away, but press coverage, cover 1, a lot of people try to play that, and we’ll make you pay.”

We will have more quotes and stories in the coming weeks from Big 12 Media Days in Frisco.

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