The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Pre-UCF News Conference

STILLWATER — Mike Gundy’s Bedlam record might not be pristine, but he won the last one, which will mean a great deal to his fanbase.

Oklahoma State’s coach met with the media two days removed from the end of the rivalry for his pre-UCF media luncheon. Here are five of his best quotes from it, with the full video posted below.

‘There’s Not a Secret Anymore’

When Oklahoma State plays UCF for the first time this weekend, the Knights aren’t going to be surprised with what the Cowboys do on offense: the Pokes are handing the ball to Ollie Gordon.

That level of insight entering a game hasn’t always been there for opposing teams this season. Gordon didn’t get more than 10 carries in any of the Cowboys’ nonconference games. So, Gordon might’ve come as a surprise to Iowa State, Kansas State or even Kansas. But at this point in the year — with Gordon leading the nation with 1,225 rushing yards — the Knights will be tasked this week with trying to find a way to slow the sophomore down.

“For us, we are who we are now offensively,” Gundy said. “Everybody in this room knows who we are offensively, and they know who we are offensively. So now we need to be good at what we do on offense because there’s not a secret anymore. Like Kansas State-ish, Kansas-ish, maybe West Virginia — nobody really knew who we were, but now everybody knows who we are.”

Burning Leon Johnson’s Redshirt

This will be Leon Johnson’s last season of college football — something that wasn’t the case a month ago.

With injuries at receiver, Johnson played in his fourth game of the year against Cincinnati, where he burst onto the scene with 149 receiving yards on five catches. That was the last game he could have played in and still maintained a redshirt.

But when the Cowboys took to the field in Bedlam, Johnson ran out with the starting group, making it official that, at the conclusion of this season, his college career will be over. He had five catches for 70 yards against the Sooners.

With as thin as the Cowboys have been at the position (Gundy opted not to answer a question on the health of the group Monday), this might be Johnson’s best opportunity to make an on-field impact. There are certainly snaps to be had.

Gundy said the only other option the Cowboys had if they wanted to keep Johnson’s redshirt intact was playing an inexperienced, young receiver. Although Johnson, a D-III George Fox transfer, doesn’t have much Power Five experience, Gundy said his age and maturity provide enough to make a difference compared to true freshmen.

“We didn’t have anybody else — nobody with any experience,” Gundy said. “We have young guys in our program that aren’t ready to play. When you play players that are young in your program that are not ready to play, most cases good things don’t happen.

“… We would’ve loved to have him back next year, but we didn’t have any other options, other than go youth and inexperience — bad combination.”

‘Holder’s Killing Me’

The Cowboys have a daunting upcoming slate of nonconference games.

Oregon, Alabama, Nebraska and Arkansas will tango with the Cowboys over the next dozen years. Gundy was asked about the Oregon home-and-home in 2025 and 2026 (for a reason we’ll get to) on Monday when he let some fun insight into how scheduling those games went.

“Who scheduled that? Holder?” Gundy said. “Holder’s killing me. Honestly, if I agreed to it, which I probably didn’t, most of the ones he did, he signed them and then said, ‘Hey, what do you think about playing the Patriots in 2028?’ And I’d go, ‘Well, I don’t think it’s best.’ He goes, ‘I already signed it.'”

Wouldn’t Touch Bedlam Resurrection Talks ‘With a 10-Foot Pole’

Gundy was asked about Oregon because the college football landscape is changing.

The Ducks are Big Ten bound. The Big 12 will look entirely different next year than the already-different look it has in 2023. So what if some of those scheduled games fall through? Would Gundy be willing to schedule the SEC-bound Sooners?

“I wouldn’t touch that on Twitter with a 10-foot pole,” Gundy said. “That’s like commenting on gun laws or abortion or immigration or something like that. You have no chance on winning from the public on that, so if I ever want to run for governor of the state of Oklahoma, you gotta learn to avoid questions like that.”

Goalposts Are Apparently Pretty Pricey

It’ll apparently cost Oklahoma State $15,000 to get a new goalpost in the east end zone of Boone Pickens Stadium after the fans tore it down, paraded it around campus and threw it into Theta Pond.

Gundy said had it just gotten torn down and not somehow gotten out of the mostly enclosed stadium that they could’ve cut it up and sold pieces of it to fund NIL. He was asked Monday if he would be happy to foot the $15,000 bill considering how good his crowds have been this season.

“Let me think about that,” Gundy said. “I’m trying to think if I could use it as a tax write-off. It’s funny, when we were driving home I thought about it a little bit, but I don’t think anybody cares on covering something like that. The only issue you have with that is people send me the copies of videos from, I guess, Twitter, where the goalpost falls and hits people in the head. Those are things that you worry about. The rest of it, students, it’s part of life. Let them have it, tear it down.”