Of Pickens, Gundy Says He Was ‘Lucky Enough’ Just to be Along for the Ride

Mike Gundy spoke at the celebration of life for Boone Pickens on Wednesday in GIA. It’s no secret that Pickens and Gundy had their wars — such is life in trinitarian power* like the one that has existed in Stillwater for a decade and a half — but Gundy was terrific with his speech and gracious with his words.

You can view his talk starting at 46:55 right here, but I pulled some of my favorite quips and quotes below.

On The Boss

“When we lost him, it was sad because he’s always been there as a mainstay. No matter what, when we had a problem we could always go to him and he would fix it. Sometimes it would be a little tough, but he’d fix it.”

On Meeting Him

This was back in the early 2000s when Gundy was an assistant and Boone Pickens Stadium was just a dream.

“He was all business when it came to something he had in his mind, his vision. I noticed right away that no task was too tall for him. I didn’t know … exactly what his goals were or how powerful he was at that time. Not necessarily with wealth but just to be able to accomplish anything.”

On the Transformation of Stillwater

“None of this has changed as much as it has since he got involved through Coach Holder and the gifts he’s given to football. That started it all, and it’s going to be better than ever going forward because of his vision.”

On What He Learned at Pickens’ Ranch

“He had a way of instilling in all of us that were lucky enough to be there work ethic, finding ways to solve a problem … and communication. He said one time to me, ‘Everyone knows how to create problems, we need to find ways to solve problems.’

“What I learned from him was that communication gives us the opportunity to discuss issues we have, find solutions and put a plan in place. People all use his quotes. An idiot with a plan is better off than a genius without one.”

On Taking Chances

“He would say, ‘Mike, don’t be afraid to take chances. People don’t want to come to the games and watch you and your teams just play. They want to see you take chances. It’s good for you, it’s good for your staff, it’s good for your team.’ Never thought about that until he brought that up.”

Me after he said that. ⬇️

On That Georgia Game

Gundy said that he’s never seen Pickens as excited or proud as he was when they opened the new stadium against Georgia and Dez went off. The Mike Holder/Burns Hargis reaction when Gundy said he didn’t want to play that game but Holder made him was perfection.

On Their Disagreements

“[He told me] What’s important is what can we do to make the university better as a group, as partners. He wanted us to be competitive without cheating. He said don’t sacrifice integrity for wins. As a coach, that gave me peace.”

Gundy said a lot of other fantastic stuff including a bit about how Pickens used to tell him that controversy is good and that he shouldn’t be predictable in the way he runs his organization. I guess growing a mullet qualifies.

It was a great speech from one head of OSU’s resurgence to another. And along the way he sneaked in a great line. Mike Gundy, high school gunslinger from Midwest City turned $5-million-a-year state icon and college football treasure, said the truest thing of all.

“I’m just the guy that was lucky enough to be along for the ride.”

*Obviously: Father (Boone), Son (Holder) and Holy Gundy