MORGANTOWN — He is both mesmerizing, and, in some cases, repelling. He’s part Jerry Seinfeld, part Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
And if those sound like complete opposite ends of the spectrum, then you’re just beginning to understand the fascinating case file of Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy.
“I have a lot of respect for what coach Gundy has done there,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown, who will take the Mountaineers to Stillwater, Okla. at 4 p.m. Saturday to face the Cowboys. “He’s been extremely consistent over a long period of time, and he’s had a lot of success.”
That’s certainly one way to look at Gundy, who led Oklahoma State to the 2021 and 2023 Big 12 title games, while adding in eight 10-plus win seasons over his 20 years at the school.
Only Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz have more wins than Gundy’s 169 at one school among active head coaches.
Then there are the dozens of other interpretations of him.
The mullet. The “I’m a man, I’m 40” rant that probably set some type of views record on YouTube. He’s 57 now, by the way.
He also went topless one time at a homecoming pep rally.
“I would bet you that you could take a poll 20 years from now of some of the people that were there,” Gundy said of the moment. “The one thing they would tell you was Mason (Rudolph) and I taking our shirts off was a lot of fun.
“If you can’t have fun doing this, it’s probably not worth it.”
Gundy is also as adaptive as a chameleon and just might be the most real person roaming a college football sideline.
The first explains his success, being able to change styles with the times and personnel. The latter is usually what gets him in trouble.
In 2020, Gundy apologized publicly for referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus.”
Later that year, his own players held a team meeting after Gundy showed up at practice wearing a T-shirt featuring the far-right One America News Network.
This year, Gundy made headlines again for his comments about star running back Ollie Gordon II’s arrest for DUI, in which Gordon’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .10, just two points above the state of Oklahoma’s legal limit.
Gundy was asked at Big 12 Media Day about any punishment that would be handed out to the running back.
“I’m not justifying what Ollie did, I’m telling you what decision I made,” Gundy said. “I thought, ‘OK, I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life and it was just fine so I got lucky. People get lucky.’”
It’s likely that 90% of all college coaches — regardless of the sport — would have been reprimanded harshly, if not fired, for such a lax view of drinking and driving.
Not Gundy — maybe he is rather lucky after all.
“Mike doesn’t sugarcoat things,” Gundy’s younger brother Cale once told The Associated Press. “Most coaches you hear things from — a lot of people are concerned about how they come off to the public and if it could affect you anyway recruiting or in a house, with parents or something. That’s never been Mike. Mike’s going to tell you what he believes and who he is as a person.”
Just who is Mike Gundy? There is no one answer to that question, and it certainly won’t be answered Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Gundy’s ability to speak his mind is not always a negative — rather he can be as transparent as any coach in the nation.
That’s especially true in the world of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), the driving force behind college athletics today.
At the same Big 12 Media Day — Gundy was a true hit at the event — he told reporters a story of interacting with agents of some of his players.
“The business side of what we do now is, we have to have those conversations with them,” Gundy said. “Tell your agent to quit calling us and asking for more money. It’s non-negotiable now. Start again in December.
“I told the players there’s no negotiating now. Portal’s over. All negotiation’s history. Now we’re playing football. Just coaching and playing football.”
When asked about the recruitment of linebacker Obi Ezeigbo, a transfer from the Division II level, Gundy’s version of the story was raw and honest.
Most coaches would answer that question with a story about a connection with the family or how the kid really liked the campus on his visit.
Not Gundy.
“He was very inexpensive,” he replied. “The number of players we go after that were ready to play at this level, we can’t afford. So, he was a good buy and a really quality young man.”
In truth, there are too many sides to the Big 12’s most celebrated coach. Or should that instead read despised, maybe envied?
With Gundy, they’re probably all true.
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