Opinion - A Dark Day at Oklahoma State: Mike Gundy Is Gone, but Nothing Changes

It’s official: Mike Gundy has been fired. Robert Allen reported Tuesday morning Oklahoma State informed Gundy he was being relieved of his duties, effective immediately.

It’s a dark day in Stillwater. Not because the move was unexpected — the writing was on the wall after Oregon and Tulsa and the chants were there Friday night — but because of what this moment really represents.

I’ve been saying it for weeks: nothing is going to change. And now here we are. Gundy is gone, but the same people who stacked the deck at the top are still calling the shots. Accountability still runs downhill. The game is still fixed.

Friday night in Boone Pickens Stadium was the breaking point. Oklahoma State lost to Tulsa. At home. Read that again. Tulsa. Some people will still try to spin it — “bad luck, we lost our quarterback early in the season” — but luck is part of football. Strong programs build depth. They don’t fold after one injury. The last two games made it clear: this is not just about the quarterback.

The Cowboy Marching Band sounded fantastic. The mellophones cut through the night air, the trumpets were tuned up, and the crowd had its moments. But that only made the contrast worse. On the field, football was a disaster.

And none of it was a surprise. Earlier in the week, Tulsa’s sideline reporter told Robert Allen flat out: “We can’t cover a slant.” Everyone heard it. Everyone knew it. And yet Oklahoma State couldn’t exploit it. How are we not taking advantage of a weakness that obvious?

From the opening whistle, the body language was lifeless. Players strolled out of the locker room like it was a walkthrough. No fire. No edge. Then the university president tried to lead the “Orange Power” chant before kickoff — and his microphone wasn’t even on. The cheerleaders bailed him out. That was the symbol of the night, and really, the symbol of the program.

By the end, the students made themselves heard. For the first time I can ever remember in Gundy’s tenure, they chanted “Fire Mike Gundy” in unison. Loud. Clear. That wasn’t noise. That was a verdict.

But here’s the thing — firing Gundy doesn’t solve the deeper problem. Chad Weiberg, the athletic director, is still working without a contract. Not because he turned on Gundy, but because he defended him. That’s the reality here: the man running the athletic department is dangling because he didn’t fall in line with the agenda. If he’s shoved aside too, who exactly is going to want this job? What proven coach or AD is signing up to work under these conditions? Nobody with real options.

The president is still working under a limited contract with little room to maneuver. The board is still stacked to protect itself. Big capital projects — like the vet school — will still be paraded around as victories while football circles the drain. Leadership wanted Gundy gone last year. Dr. Shrum stood in their way. She was forced out. And the knives haven’t been put away since.

Friday night, I had students come into my tailgate and tell me how broken the university feels from top to bottom. They said they felt powerless. But here’s the truth — they’re not. They had the power to chant “Fire Mike Gundy” loud enough to shake the stadium. They have that same power to stand on the library lawn and demand real change. Don’t stop with the coach if you know the rot goes higher.

And here’s where it gets telling.

On Friday morning, instead of addressing how Oklahoma State fixes football, a senior university leader spent his airtime on local radio taking shots at fans. He even quoted lines from my article two weeks ago, word for word. That’s not brushing it off — that’s rattled. And then, almost in the same breath, he wandered into talk about “siloed money” and the vet school. Word is, the president was listening. Maybe that’s the real story: someone finally said out loud what others have been whispering. And rather than confront it head-on, they reached for the easiest target in the room.

Here’s the thing: if you’re quoting my words on-air, you’re not dismissing me — you’re proving I hit a nerve. You measure the effectiveness of your work by the strength of the response.

I’ve never claimed to be a journalist. I’m a fan. Loyal and true. And I’m sick of watching this university stumble over itself while leadership hides behind ribbon cuttings and empty statements.

And yes — I do have a day job. In that job, I evaluate performance and leadership. If some of the folks at Oklahoma State worked for me, their performance reviews would already be happening. I’ll thank this person for the click — but maybe spend a little less time tracking what fans are writing and a little more time answering open records requests.

And hanging over all of this is one more question: did Chad Weiberg just save his job by letting Mike Gundy go? For months, he’s been twisting in the wind without a contract, punished not for undermining Gundy but for defending him. Now, with Gundy gone, Weiberg may have bought himself time — but at what cost? If this was about survival at the top rather than solutions for the program, then Oklahoma State football is still no better off than it was on Friday night.

And now, the whispers are starting. Rumors say donor money was sitting on the sidelines, held back until Gundy was gone. I sure hope that’s true — for leadership’s sake, and for the program’s. Because if that money doesn’t start flowing into real support, into NIL, into the roster, then nothing is going to change on the field. You can reshuffle coaches all you want, but without resources, it’s just rearranging the deck chairs.

So here we are. Gundy is gone. Some fans will cheer. Some will sigh in relief. But don’t kid yourself — nothing changes with this move. The real rot is still at the top. The same leadership that stacked the board, pushed out a sitting president, and turned football into an afterthought is still in charge. Accountability has yet to point upward in Stillwater.

Mike Gundy is Oklahoma State football. For nearly two decades, he was the face of the program, the constant through Big 12 shifts, Bedlam heartbreaks, Fiesta Bowl glory, and everything in between. His quirks, his stubbornness, his mullet — all of it became part of OSU’s identity. And now, that era is over. It ends not with a triumphant sendoff, but with boos in Boone Pickens and a firing after back-to-back embarrassments. That’s not how anyone wanted it to go. But it also didn’t have to go this way. Leadership let the relationship with its most important employee rot, let politics take priority over progress, and let the program drift into the mess we’re watching now. So yes, this is the end of the Gundy era — but unless the people at the top change course, it may also be the beginning of something far worse.