Mike Gundy’s Exit Signals a New Era at Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State found $15 million to fire Mike Gundy before it found $15 million to pay for a roster that proved capable of defeating an FBS opponent.

In fact, it’s been more than a year — 374 days to be exact — since the Cowboys last defeated an FBS opponent, and that program was Tulsa.

What’s clear is that Oklahoma State’s 69-3 loss to No. 6 Oregon back in Week 2 — the program’s largest margin of defeat to a team not named Oklahoma — could be endured. The loss to Tulsa could not.

Tulsa, the smallest FBS program in the country based on undergraduate enrollment, traveled to Boone Pickens Stadium last Friday night and defeated the Cowboys on their home turf for the first time since 1951. The win snapped a 23-game OSU winning streak over their Cimarron Turnpike “rival” and marked OSU’s first loss to Tulsa football in 27 years.

Not even Gundy — in his 21st year as Oklahoma State’s head coach and nearly 40 years into his time with the program as a player, assistant, and head man — could overcome another disastrous start. And this time, the stumble comes amid a rapidly shifting college football landscape, which has led to the reshuffling of the sport on and off the field.

Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg looked withered and sad as he stood at the podium inside Gallagher-Iba Arena on Tuesday afternoon, fielding questions about his decision to fire Mike Gundy earlier that morning — a move he admitted he never expected to make this season, or anytime soon.

“This was not something that I thought we would be doing today, on this Tuesday, right?” Weiberg said. “I fully expected to beat the University of Tulsa. I expected the results of this season to be different than they’ve been so far.”

That’s the standard Gundy set after taking over as head coach in 2005. He leaves with 170 wins — no other coach in program history has more than 62. As a starting quarterback under Pat Jones, Gundy also won 20 games, handing the ball to Heisman winner Barry Sanders and future NFL legend Thurman Thomas.

Six years after being named head coach at his alma mater, Gundy led Oklahoma State to a 10-win season in 2010. The following year, his 2011 Cowboys delivered the most impressive campaign in program history — winning 12 games with Brandon Weeden at quarterback and coming just short of a national championship berth.

From 2006 to 2023, Oklahoma State won at least seven games every year and made the postseason 18 years in a row. The 2024 season was the lone exception outside of Gundy’s first year — just the second losing season of his entire tenure in Stillwater.

Think about this: There is a high school senior right now who has never known Oklahoma State without Mike Gundy as head coach. It’s been nearly a quarter-century since OSU has conducted a coaching search in football.

All of that changed Tuesday, but the signs have been there since 2018: Gundy’s way of running a football program has become outdated and increasingly out of step with the direction of the modern game. Most notably, he lost the ability to consistently beat teams he used to dominate.

However, a $15 million buyout clause in his contract was thought to keep him in the job for some time longer. Then Weiberg surprised most when he not only found the money necessary to satisfy OSU’s contractual obligation to Gundy, but he went into the athletic department’s general operating budget to pay the buyout.

“I did not ask any of our donors to support that buyout,” Weiberg said.

It’s best considered an investment in the future. Weiberg mentioned the precarious situation his program and others find themselves in with multiple years left on their existing TV contract, and he wanted to position OSU for the future when that time comes.

“That has typically been the trigger for realignment,” Weiberg said. “And I think we are in a critical period, and I think winning is a big part of setting yourself up for success in whatever happens, right? 

“It is important that we get back to the standard of Cowboy football. It’s important that we make a really good decision with the next hire, and it’s important that we get behind him and support him at a level that he can be successful with this program.”

Weiberg didn’t offer much detail about the kind of coach he’s seeking, keeping his vision close to the vest. But it’s clear the next hire will need a plan to navigate NIL, revenue-sharing, marketing, fundraising — and, of course, football itself.

That last part will have to speak for itself. Weiberg emphasized that Oklahoma State athletics is financially healthy and said he has the full support of the university president and board to pursue firm footing for the most important marketing apparatus in school history.

Gundy simply no longer met the criteria for the program’s future success. The man who once made others adapt — or move on — was fired on Tuesday, in the middle of a season still hanging in the balance. That’s how high the stakes are in big-time college football. The price of staying at the table isn’t going down. The blinds keep doubling, and the players keep getting sharper. In the end, the only real surprise might be that it took this long.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.

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