Wait, Are Mike Gundy and Mike Holder Not Getting Along Again?

In the wake of whatever we saw on Tuesday with Mike Gundy and Tennessee, there was a report on ESPN.com that noted a couple of pretty interesting things. It got a little lost in the tidal wave of relief that followed Gundy staying in Stillwater, but it feels like sort of a big deal.

Gundy’s developing interest in Tennessee was heightened by another setback in his relationship with Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder, according to sources. Gundy had met with Holder and other Oklahoma State officials in recent days over a list of items Gundy believed would help recruiting efforts. Sources said talks between Holder and Gundy did not go well.

One sticking point has been Gundy’s desire to put banners commemorating Oklahoma State’s past bowl appearances in the indoor practice facility. [ESPN]

I have long been a Holder supporter, but I don’t understand this. Banners for bowl appearances, and you won’t hang them up? Why? Like, I get it if Gundy asks for a dome to be built over BPS, but my gosh.

There is an alternate theory about the Gundy-Tennessee flirtation that has sort of emanated from multiple outlets over the last 24 hours. The first place I heard it was on our podcast on Tuesday when Carson Cunningham posited it. He wasn’t reporting anything, but I thought his way of thinking made sense: Gundy flirted with Tennessee as a message to Oklahoma State — make the Mike Holder-to-Chad Weiberg move and make it now.

Wait, who is Chad Weiberg? Chad Weiberg is the presumed AD-in-waiting who came over from Texas Tech earlier this year. Nobody knows when the move is going to happen, but if Holder and Gundy are back at it, then it’s not difficult to read between the lines.

“What I think is happening here — he’s not trying to get more money out of OSU — I think he’s trying to get Chad Weiberg in as the athletic director,” said Cunningham. “I think he’s tired of dealing with Mike Holder. The only way that’s going to happen is if he pulls a power play like this. Maybe he’s trying to push that through. That’s my theory.”

Bill Haisten later floated something similar. However, this goes against what Gundy told Guerin Emig over the weekend.

“Mike (Holder) and I have always been good,” Gundy told the Tulsa World. “We’ve just butted heads on certain things. But he and I don’t have any issues on these things. Pretty much everything that I need, they give us. We used to fight over dumb things, in my opinion, but we’re through. We don’t deal with that anymore. We roll with things pretty good.”

So who knows what’s going on here. I talked to one person on Tuesday evening that felt as if this situation was a little messier than it appeared and that Weiberg was actually the one who was holding things together. Side note: In an incredible twist, Weiberg actually used to work for Tennessee AD John Currie at Kansas State.

Warring with your old boss over millions to keep a man with a mullet!

So proud of Chad Weiberg – new Deputy AD at Texas Tech – tremendous person, professional and lifetime friend! #GoCats #WreckEm #Big12

— John Currie (@John_Currie) May 5, 2015

Only time will tell whether these theories are truth as Oklahoma State’s athletics program marches forward. Will Weiberg assume the throne soon? If so, then we will have confirmation that Gundy shot his shot. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the next era of leadership in Stillwater. I’ll always defend Holder for what he’s done in Stillwater, but following the Brad Underwood mess and this near-disaster that was apparently at least partially his fault, it’s getting more difficult to roll on his side.

No matter whose fault any of this is, it’s clear that somebody in the Holder-Gundy relationship can’t seem to help himself (maybe both of them) and that for the long-term sake of the program, a regime change above Gundy is probably for the best.