The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Thursday Media Luncheon

STILLATER — Another step in the trek to football season: Mike Gundy held his first media luncheon of the 2024 season on Thursday.

This is the last time Gundy is set to meet with the media at large before his team takes to Boone Pickens Stadium to host South Dakota State at 1 p.m. Aug. 31. Here are five things that stood out from what Gundy had to say. The video of his news conference is at the bottom of this post.

1. South Dakota State Could Compete in the Power Four

Not once this offseason has Gundy overlooked the Jackrabbits that will hop their way down the plains to Stillwater on Aug. 31.

By now, you probably know that South Dakota State has won 29 straight games and back-to-back FCS national titles. Or that it returns the reigning Walter Payton Award winner (essentially the FCS Heisman) in quarterback Mark Gronowski. The last time the Jackrabbits played a team from a power conference was Sept. 3, 2022, when South Dakota State went to Kinnick Stadium to play Iowa. The Hawkeyes ended up winning 7-3, but the only points Iowa was able to score on the Jackrabbits came from two safeties and a field goal.

Gundy said that wasn’t a fluke — the Jackrabbits could compete in a Power Four conference.

“This is a really good game for us, and as I said months ago, essentially we’re playing a high-level nonconference schedule,” Gundy said. “This team can compete with the Power Four schools, which they’ve proven to do that.”

2. Kendal Daniels Listed at Linebacker

Talk of Kendal Daniels moving to linebacker has been one of the major storylines in an offseason where there haven’t been a ton of personnel questions because of how much OSU returns from its 2023 team.

Daniels is listed at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds and has, for the past two seasons, started at safety for the Cowboys. But when OSU’s first two-deep of the season released Thursday, he was listed as a linebacker.

Through spring, summer and fall camp, Gundy hasn’t shied away from the fact that Daniels would play some linebacker, but it was hard from the outside to gauge how much. Well, Gundy on Thursday said the defensive coaches have been using him more at linebacker than at safety.

“We thought this would happen based on his body,” Gundy said. “He still has a ways to go. The times that we play him down there based on what concepts and schemes that we’re going against that week, he’s come a long ways. And again, it’ll be real interesting to see how he develops over the first month. The teams we’re playing, (South Dakota State) and nonconference games, and even in conference, teams that play with a lot of heavy personnel, which we’ll use him in that position, it’ll be interesting to watch and see how far that we developed him when we get to the first of October.”

3. Potential Concerns of Donor Fatigue

There perhaps hasn’t been a more expensive time in history to be a financially active college sports fan.

No longer are schools asking only for donations to build facilities or help with team travel. Now, NIL is such a big deal that it essentially trumps those two already expensive ventures.

OSU this week made waves by announcing the Cowboy football team would wear QR codes on the back of their helmets that link to the team’s general NIL fund. With all this fundraising, Gundy was asked whether donor fatigue was a concern. He quickly pointed to the fact that if judge Claudia Wilken signs a bill that permits revenue sharing to college athletes, that should alleviate some of that concern.

“Well, we’re in revenue sharing,” Gundy said. “If she signs this, the donations, there’s a $20-million bucket that’s not donation. That’s coming through revenue sharing that’s already in place.

“That’s gonna take a big chunk off the weight of donor fatigue. The donors are getting worn out. I mentioned this to you a year ago. Before we really talked about revenue sharing, I said donors are getting worn out. The same ones are getting pulled this NIL, that NIL, this sport, this facility, this scholarship — all that. This revenue sharing is gonna help a lot with that.”

4. Brown, Johnson Stepping into Bigger Roles

Of the 23 projected starters from offense and defense on OSU’s two-deep, only three positions have an underclassman at the top. One of those is at a defensive end spot, where redshirt sophomores DeSean Brown and Jaleel Johnson share an “or”.

The two got some run in 2023, where Brown played 277 snaps (per PFF) across 14 games, and Johnson played 126 snaps across 12 games. The pair combined to make 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. But with Anthony Goodlow and Nathan Latu gone (who combined for 1,054 snaps last season), the duo of Brown and Johnson will be expected to play a heavier role in 2024.

Part of the same 2022 recruiting class, Brown was the No. 449 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the class. He had offers to Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Kansas State and others. Johnson was the No. 1,109 player in the class with offers to Texas Tech, Kansas State, Baylor and others.

Collin Oliver will likely assist the two other Okies as he moves between linebacker and an end role, but it looks like there will be plenty of opportunities for Brown and Johnson this season.

“Both those guys are coming along now,” Gundy said. “They’re third-year guys now. They’ve developed their bodies and changed. They’re very similar to what (linebacker) Jeff (Roberson) is in that now they should be playing more of a role in a game when the game matters. Hopefully they’ll continue to gain experience and over four, five, six weeks, they should be much better than they will be Saturday. We understand that. We know that they’ll have to learn on the run, but they’ve been here long enough that they should move along pretty fast and continue to get better throughout the year.”

5. More Josh Ford Hype

One true freshman made an appearance on the two-deep, and it’s a freshman who also garnered headlines throughout spring ball: Josh Ford.

Ford, a tight end out of Stillwater High School, shared an “or” with redshirt senior Quinton Stewart as the backup behind Ohio transfer Tyler Foster. Ford wasn’t ranked when he committed to OSU in January of 2023. He finished as the No. 1,475 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking and never announced an offer outside of Oklahoma State.

“If they knew as much about him as we knew about him, he’d be a four star, I’m guessing,” Gundy said.

Gundy said Ford missed some time during fall camp after getting banged up, but — listed at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, Ford hasn’t had issue with the next-level physicality.

“I think they have him at 245 (pounds) on here,” Gundy said. “He’s closer to 260. Josh is a little unusual from his work ethic and his disregard for his body the way he plays. Collisions at this point don’t mean anything to him. … Most players that come in to this level for the first time, the physicality side of it is what they can’t handle. He was able to overcome that the very first day of spring ball, and he’s maintained it.”