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Longtime Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy is at an impasse after his school gave him a simple ultimatum, take a pay cut or get fired. While the options are simple, the situation is anything but, and the latest reports are that Gundy, whose Cowboys finished 3-9 this season, is willing to “compromise” with the school.
“In my two decades doing this, I don't know that I've seen one quite like this,” ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel admitted on Saturday morning.
“Yesterday, Oklahoma State officials approached Mike Gundy and said to him, ‘You need to take a pay cut and a cut in his buyout or we're firing you.' Gundy, as of now, is still in this contract standoff with Oklahoma State. He makes $7.7 million year. his buyout would be $25 million. I've been told Gubdy has shown a willingness to compromise. We'll see if it happened this weekend.”
Report from @CollegeGameDay on Mike Gundy’s standoff in Stillwater. Was told this morning he’s shown a willingness to compromise after being asked to take a pay cut or be fired. He’s owed $25 million, per his contract. pic.twitter.com/se1HiLm2jY
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 7, 2024
The scuttlebutt here is that the Oklahoma State football program wants to take money away from its head coach and invest it in its NIL program to lure better players to Stillwater with bigger paydays. It seems as though the thinking is, the powers that be now know that with the current level of player, they know what they can get from Gundy, and that is a lowly 3-9 campaign.
If the program takes that money and puts it toward playing players, they could get better results.
Gundy has been the Oklahoma State football coach for 20 years, taking over the program in 2005. During that time he has a 169-88 record with 18 consecutive Bowl appearances before this season. Despite the overall success, Gundy hasn't taken the program to the heights of college football. His best finish in the AP Poll was third in 2011 and the team has only finished in the top-10 one other time (seventh in 2021).
The former Oklahoma State quarterback (1986-89) has also had his share of strange and controversial moments while coaching at his alma mater.
What's most interesting about this is that it is the first major shot from a school at a big-name head coach in the NIL era that is explicitly aimed at taking money from a coach and giving it to the players. What Gundy does will likely affect how schools approach this type of situation moving forward.
