STILLWATER, Okla. — Mike Gundy’s transformation from hero to villain is complete.
The 19-12 loss to Tulsa on Friday night wasn’t an origin story. What we saw here at The House T. Boone Pickens Built was the last chapter of an era gone by when the Cowboys were the good guys and the Wild West’s contenders couldn’t confidently crown themselves Big 12 champions until surviving a shootout in Stillwater.
The most colorful man in the Midwest, a treasure for college football the last three decades, has faded into obscurity — and the winningest coach in Oklahoma State history has no one to blame but himself. If this wasn’t Gundy’s last call alongside Pistol Pete, it only confirms the Cowboys have bigger issues to tackle within their administration. Athletics director Chad Wieberg is on shaky ground, having worked without a contract since June 30 under a new university president. Wieberg may be the boss, but someone above his head may have to swing the axe this weekend.
As Gundy walked off the field Friday night, he did so as the Cowboys’ marching band played the final three notes of OSU’s alma mater — each note eliciting Gundy to instinctively raise his arms to form an “O,” an “S” and then a “U” before disappearing into a tunnel leading into the bowels of Boone Pickens Stadium. The long-drawn “U” sung by the fans then morphed into a smattering of boos.
Eleven straight losses to FBS opponents, the longest stretch in school history and currently the longest among power teams, seemed forever unfathomable under Gundy. Not anymore.
Afterward, I asked Gundy what he would tell those fans after a program-gutting loss. As he leaned over a podium and praised the faithful Cowpokes for filling the stadium on a Friday night, he finally addressed the burning question about his future.
“But those aren’t decisions that I make, and my decision is to do exactly what I mentioned earlier,” he said, “and get these guys and keep moving forward and go on down the road. That’s what we do.”
It’s never easy saying goodbye, but when a reality-TV marriage has long since lost its spark, garnering attention only for their verbal outbursts, the end feels less like heartbreak and more like overdue relief.
Friday night’s game was staged as a blackout, so most of the 48,842 fans donned their black hats and spurs, appropriately dressed for a funeral rather than a big game. They came for The Turnpike Classic but ended up watching a burial.
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This wasn’t a fluke. The Golden Hurricane’s first win in Stillwater since 1951 was won with brute force and excellent game planning against a Cowboys program that has been out-scored 140-15 in their last three FBS games. First-year coach Tre Lamb was also helped by a pair of former Oklahoma State players out for blood: Dominic Richardson powered his way to 146 rushing yards, icing the game with his legs in the fourth quarter, and Braylin Presley scored the game’s first touchdown.
Two weeks after Gundy bemoaned Oregon’s $40 million roster, calling nonconference matchups against less-fortunate rosters unfair before a 69-3 bludgeoning in Eugene, Tulsa strolled into Boone Pickens Stadium as the underdog, the undervalued program. Truth be told, the Cimarron Turnpike probably pocketed more quarters Friday than the Golden Hurricane has in their entire NIL budget.
And yet, Lamb roared onto the field and out-coached the legend, and Tulsa’s Kings out-played the Cowboys.
How did Oklahoma State sink so low, so fast? Remember, this program beat Oklahoma in the “final” Bedlam less than two years ago — but here we are, staring into the void with OSU winless against FBS teams since September 2024.
Say what you will about how Oklahoma State rebounded to reach the Big 12 Championship Game two years ago after a disheartening 33-7 loss to South Alabama. This loss to Tulsa felt different Friday night.
“In 21 years, it’s a different position than I’ve been in,” Gundy said. “But as I say every week, my job is to evaluate the overall program, players, the systems and then be able to put it down and think about it.
“What do we need to do to improve? Then I have to make a decision on where we’re at based on what we have. And that’s what I do.”
The result Friday night was really five years in the making. It was Gundy, not Oklahoma State, who avoided the transfer portal for nearly five seasons. It was Gundy who kept loyal aides on his staff far too long. It was Gundy who didn’t wise up to NIL and the power of money on the recruiting trail until the bank vault closed.
So, here Oklahoma State stands, on the precipice of the future, afraid to step into the unknown because of the program’s loyalty to a man who has accomplished feats no coach has — and may never again — reached in Stillwater.
Gundy is a legend, and not because of years of colorful rants or his penchant for the unusual, but because of the wins, steered by an incredible, record-breaking offense that captured the nation’s attention. For a decade, he made a college town of 50,138 in northern Oklahoma the go-to destination in the Big 12. He won 10 or more games seven times and hoisted the Big 12 Championship trophy in 2011.
The stretch of 18 straight winning seasons ended with a thud last season with a disastrous 3-9 record, a precursor to the mess on display Friday night. A program with 41 new transfers, more than the combined total lured to Stillwater in the previous six years, was never going to come together overnight. Heck, Gundy told CBS Sports in July he couldn’t match the new faces with names on the roster.
A coach in his 21st season shouldn’t be caught empty-handed in the offseason, scouring the country for scraps in the transfer portal. The fact is, no matter how you sell it, this Cowboys’ roster was cobbled together from a box of outcasts and small-school stars. No coach as experienced as Gundy should publicly admit that last January was the first time he used NIL money to lure transfers to campus.
Admire the man for telling the truth, shouldering the burden for ignoring the portal’s importance in previous years, when he spread a shallow pool of NIL money ($7 million, he said) among players currently on the roster rather than soliciting newcomers he could later develop into Oklahoma State’s new crop of superstars.
The rebuilding project is too little, too late.
And that’s the problem: It doesn’t matter if college athletics’ future looks so different. Gundy has held tightly onto the job the last five years, avoiding potshots and angry boosters long enough to remain at the top and finish seasons strong, including wins against Oklahoma the last two times the Sooners came to Stillwater.
Rather than be fired by an angry Board of Regents in December, he sought another lifeline. He renegotiated his near-untouchable contract, lowering a $25 million buyout and giving up $1 million in annual salary to help offset a small percentage of revenue-sharing payments to players. His automatic rollover clause was also eliminated. It wasn’t the first time Gundy had to fight behind the scenes for his livelihood, but it might be the last. The restructured deal last winter came five years after he agreed to a $1 million reduction following an internal review of the program.
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Gundy’s buyout is $15 million and remains unchanged for another three seasons. It doesn’t matter if OSU makes its move today or in November 2026; the cost is the same, but the program’s stock may continue to sink.
It’s interesting that Gundy’s contract calls for him to help evaluate and identify his successor. A courtesy call might be all he receives.
Oklahoma State fans seemingly voted with their voices and attendance Friday. Many left the stadium with 7:49 remaining in the game. When the Cowboys fell behind 16-3 at halftime, a familiar chorus erupted from the grandstands: boos. Not even Oklahoma State’s in-house radio broadcast could hold back their disdain at halftime.
“You can’t put a Band-Aid on this and make it look any better,” one announcer said on the broadcast. “It’s the worst sore we’ve seen in a long time on Oklahoma State football. … This is about as bad a beatdown as I’ve seen in a long, long time for Oklahoma State football. I thought we hit rock bottom at Colorado (a 52-0 loss in the season finale in 2024). This is even worse.”
Oklahoma State is so closely tied to Mike Gundy that he’s more recognizable than Pistol Pete. He’s responsible for 10 of the school’s 11 10-win seasons — eight as head coach and two as the starting quarterback.
But that’s the past.
It was clear Friday night that Gundy, who for so long failed to embrace the present, may not see the future.
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