Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy appears set to return to the Cowboys for a 21st season. The two sides are expected to get a restructured contract in place, a team source told The Athletic Saturday morning.
There is an expectation that the deal will be agreed upon before the end of the day, according to the source, after details of the deal began to get sorted out late Friday night. As part of the new contract, Gundy would be paid considerably less than he previously had agreed to and the buyout structure of the deal also is expected to change.
Gundy’s salary was $7.75 million in 2024 as part of a perpetual five-year contract that was to extend each January, along with an annual raise of $125,000. His buyout, were he to be fired this month, would be roughly $25 million. The specifics of his restructured contract remain unclear at time of publish.
The team source indicated to The Athletic that Gundy wanted this to be resolved quickly due to the transfer portal window opening Monday and the program needing to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators. Previous coordinators Kasey Dunn and Bryan Nardo were fired earlier this week, per team sources. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the moves have not been officially announced.
Gundy’s future was momentarily in doubt on Friday, as the decades-long partnership between the 57-year-old head coach and his alma mater came under intense scrutiny. According to a team source, Oklahoma State approached Gundy with a restructured contract after a 3-9 season — the worst of his 20 at the helm — during which Gundy sparked outrage by saying the team’s critics were the same people “that can’t pay their own bills” and are “not taking care of their own job” last month.
The Cowboys lost 52-0 to Colorado last Friday to end the 2024 season on a nine-game losing streak and winless in Big 12 play. The three wins were the lowest single-season total of Gundy’s tenure and only his second losing season at Oklahoma State, and the blowout by Colorado was the worst defeat of Gundy’s career.
On Friday morning, the Oklahoma A&M Colleges Board of Regents held a special meeting with a stated agenda of “evaluation/assessment and other information relevant to the employment of Oklahoma State University football staff.” The board met for roughly two hours in a private executive session, with university athletic director Chad Weiberg and president Kayse Shrum both present for a portion of it. No immediate action was taken, but after the meeting, chairman Jimmy Harrel told local reporters who were present: “We have a plan working. As soon as we have it tied down, we’ll inform you.”
The university approached Gundy with a restructured contract, and there were discussions about firing Gundy for cause, a team source told The Athletic. That news was first reported by ESPN.
Gundy’s quotes directed at the team’s critics came during a standard midweek press conference following a home loss to Arizona State.“When they go to bed at night, they’re the same failure that they were before they said anything negative about anybody else,” said Gundy. The remarks deeply offended prominent Oklahoma State supporters and administrators, according to sources briefed on the situation. Gundy and Shrum both released subsequent apology statements.
It’s unclear if those comments would have been grounds for a for-cause firing. Gundy’s previous contract included a clause regarding “conduct affecting university,” the Tulsa World reported, which includes being involved in any situation that reflects unfavorably on the reputation of the university.
Gundy’s 169 career wins, all with Oklahoma State, ranks fifth among active college football coaches, and he is the second-longest-tenured coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
(Photo: David K Purdy / Getty Images)
