Oklahoma State’s Culture of Independence Shines During a Pandemic

This might be difficult to believe, but Mike Gundy did talk about a few other things outside of trying to fit a square timeline into a round hole (which we’ve been over to the point that — as one reader noted — the equine is deceased ?).

One of those things was the importance of the culture OSU has built in his 15 years on the job. I’ve been an advocate for Gundy as a program-builder over the years, and I think some of the fruit of that labor becomes more obvious during a pandemic.

“As you know we have the best strength coach in the country, (Rob Glass) has been in touch with our players since Day 1,” said Gundy. “He’s divided our team up amongst his staff, they stay in touch with them. They have the ability to get gear if they need it, most of them don’t need gear. Their nutrition has been sent to them. So it’s on a player basis. Coaches provided them with what they need in all different areas, whether there’s facilities to work out or it’s at home stuff.

“Nutrition, gear, and we’ve stayed in touch with them. I’ve seen posts on Facebooks and Twitters and things like that with them lifting and continuing to train and work.”

The Facebooks and Twitters do in fact show that this is happening. And granted, it’s probably happening most places, but I’m guessing it’s not happening with as little friction as it is at Oklahoma State.

Gotta work with what you got? pic.twitter.com/Gsv21zbJqf

— Brock Martin (@btmartin40) April 2, 2020

We putting in work no matter the circumstances ?? pic.twitter.com/4kqeVQVrKt

— ?LANi ? (@jelani_thegreat) April 5, 2020

Little at home workout!??@CowboyFB pic.twitter.com/pNaUyRk76v

— Malcolm Rodriguez (@malcolmlrod) April 5, 2020

“One good thing about Oklahoma State football is this, our culture is to take care of yourself,” added Gundy. “From a day that a young man walks on this campus, until he leaves we instill in them that we’re gonna give you way more than you’re gonna get for the rest of your life. You’re getting a free education, you’re getting free food, you’re getting free housing, you’re getting free nutrition … but you need to learn to take care of yourself.”

One thing he didn’t mention but has in the past is that when your best players are also your hardest workers, it makes this message a lot easier to get across. I talked to Phil Forte about this recently as it relates to Marcus Smart. The same is true of Tylan Wallace. Here’s Gundy from last August.

“He doesn’t think he’s any different from anyone else,” said Gundy of No. 2. “He’s in every blocking drill. He dives for balls. I see him doing it in practice, and I look over at coach Dunn and I’m like, ‘Really? Does he really need to run down the field and dive for a ball eight times a day?’ He just does it. It’s what he does. You can’t get him out. He’s going to play hard, he’s going to be humble, he’s never going to look to himself. If there’s any young people out there looking for a mentor, there’s your mentor.”

Again, this comes in handy during a pandemic.

Back to Gundy last week.

“So when you leave here, you’re ready to go out in the world, take care of yourself, if you chose to be married, take care of your wife, if you want to have kids take care of your kids,” he said. “That’s what college is all about. We’re developing young men. Our culture has allowed us to let these guys go on their own and take care of themselves.

“Now, if a guy doesn’t want to train, doesn’t want to run, doesn’t want to stay in shape, doesn’t want to keep his strength levels up, you’re not gonna do it. When we get the players back in three, four weeks whenever we get them back, we’re gonna know who trained and who worked out. They’re gonna tell us something about themselves, and we’re gonna learn a lot about the culture of Oklahoma State football once our players come back.”

This is the good stuff.

I have no idea when anyone (or anything) is coming back, but I do know that OSU is in a better position than most with a lost spring. Because it returns so many starters from a good (not great) 2019 team and because of the culture it has in place, OSU will be better prepared than a lot of its competition.

That might not mean much come time for games (if that time comes at all), but in a sport where the margins are laugh-out-loud thin, even a 2 percent or 4 percent boost is noteworthy. Nobody wants a global health crisis, of course, but because of the systems put in place, Oklahoma State’s football organization is in a better position to handle it than most other teams in the country.