Notes and Thoughts on Mike Gundy’s Pre-Baylor Press Conference

Mike Gundy spoke with the media on Monday after his team’s win over Texas on Saturday and before they take on Baylor next week in Waco. Here are some notes and thoughts on what he said.

• Reiterated that OSU has practiced really well all season, but there was more fatigue and less energy on Sunday because of how late the game was on Saturday.

• On one media member’s beard: “You’re heading toward Duck Dynasty but well-groomed.”

• Gundy said Tylan is basically just a freshman because of how little he played last season. “Good temperament, humble, hard worker.” Said practice reps helped him last year.

• Said they played musical chairs at offensive line with Shane Richards going down against Texas. Felt like they blocked well at Kansas and Kansas State and then had “maybe their best game against Texas.”

• Not sure when they’re getting Arlington Hambright.

• Justice has never come to the coaches asking for more touches.

• Said Justice has done a nice job taking care of the ball ever since he fumbled at Baylor in his freshman season.

• Noted that OU and WVU have separated themselves in the Big 12 and put everybody else in the same category. “Baylor is a much improved team from what they were a year ago.”

• OU “big played” Baylor.

• Big 12 coaches don’t really cross over in recruiting like they used to because you only get one shot at recruiting a lot of kids.

• Chuba is “maturing and getting quality experience and reps.” Signs that he’s ready to be productive against top-quality teams.

• A.J. Green “played very well.” Everybody in the secondary competed against quality Texas receivers. OSU improved in the passing game by being within arm’s length when UT receivers caught passes. They were able to tackle guys.

• Corners looked like they did against WVU last year. First time Gundy has seen them compete like that this season.

• NCAA and CFB have tried hard to have parity, “and they have it now in this conference.” Makes things exciting.

• Gundy thinks next year at this time Jelani will be a solid, good Cowboy Back/tight end. Strength levels have gone up over the last six months. He’s done better at this point than Gundy thought he would. Yurcich and Co. have given him a chance to have success “based on the structure of his body.” ?

• On TC’s TD to win it on Saturday: “They’re all reads.” Every thing is a two-way or three-way read.

• Didn’t feel like OSU had coached very well up to the Texas game. Times when they do too much or don’t do enough. Told staff Sunday morning they got a nice picture of how good the team is when they’re coached well. Said they shrank the plan. Noted having a clear mind and fast feet instead of a cloudy mind and slow feet.

•  Doing too much = too many calls on defense or players who don’t understand. “If you go in with 24 plays and you have missed assignments, maybe you need 18 plays.”

• Told defensive coaches he wanted guys to play with fast feet. Thinks they simplified for Texas.

• “That’s why I stopped calling plays, I was tired of watching tape 12 hours a day on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so I stopped doing that.”

• “We’ve hired guys to do their job, they need to do their jobs, that’s their role. In practice, I watch all the other stuff.” Attitude stuff, not plays. Yurcich has a tougher job than Knolwes because it’s easier for Gundy to see stuff offensively.

• Said Saturday was “the best atmosphere we’ve had here in a long time.”

• You’d be shocked at how many young people you recruit who don’t even know how many games you won that year. Like half the recruits. That’s why it’s difficult to fill stadiums now, because of all the other outside things going on.

• Joked that he tells recruits and their parents that OSU is 12-0 when they ask. ?

• Would like to get postseason rewards for players.

• Said new rules — transferring etc. — are a mess and are going to “create a serious issue.” Thinks December signing day has made for a much cleaner process.

• Been “up and down” for Jim Knowles so far. Never going to be perfect, work in progress right now.

• Offenses in the B12 don’t worry about continuing to exploit you over and over and throw it down the field. That’s what makes it hard to defend them.

• No concern that the fake punt formation was illegal. Said his two special teams guys put that in. They put in 90 percent of the plan. “What happened was better than what we anticipated.” Insinuated that they were actually setting up to run a real play.

• His sons know how he feels about social media. “I don’t even like them being on it. That’s the risk they take of getting beat up on social media, being on there. They laugh about it.”