UPDATED - Gundy Says Alabama Clinic Trip Went Well
STILLWATER – Just a few notes from yesterday which was a very busy one for Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy. Gundy was up early as we reported yesterday and flew to Tuscaloosa, Ala. with senior associate athletic director for facilities Kyle Waters along for the ride. Waters was there to check out some of Alabama’s football facilities as Oklahoma State is in the midst of redoing some of there facilities including the player’s locker room.
Waters was able to put eyes on the Alabama facilities and see how they compare to Oklahoma State and what the Cowboys are doing. It was also a chance to check out other areas such as the training room, weight room, and facilities that will likely get improvements down the line.
“It gave me some quality time with Coach Saban and we were able to go see some of there facilities and we what they are doing and what they are thinking. You learn a lot in those situations and as we improve our facilities here it gives us ideas on what we may want to do.”
Gundy was there, as Poke Report reported, to speak to the Alabama Coaches Clinic of Champions, put on by Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff. Gundy was the second speaker of the day following Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, so Alabama had the two Big 12 Championship Game coaches speaking at their clinic. Aranda spoke on defensive pressure, while Gundy spoke on no-huddle offense and tempo and turbo pace that Oklahoma State often employs.
Gundy said that while Aranda was speaking he had some one-on-one time with Saban.
“He and I visited for an hour one-on-one before my clinic,” Gundy told Pokes Report. “Saban was really good. I’ve talked to him on the phone a lot over the years. We’re never in the same place at the same time, but we had a good hour together and I enjoyed him, hopefully he enjoyed me. I learned some thing and I bet he learned some things about how we do things.”
Gundy has often told the media that he doesn’t spend a lot of time speaking with coaches. There are a select few that he talks with. His former offensive coordinator Todd Monken is one of those. Gundy also has been known to chat it up with former TCU head coach and now Texas analyst Gary Patterson. Gundy has spoke of talking with Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and a few others recently.
Next week Gundy and his staff will host their clinic and the Friday event will feature the Oklahoma State staff and special guest in former Cowboys and NFL quarterback Brandon Weeden. Former Oklahoma State quarterback and current Super Bowl winning Los Angeles Rams receivers coach Zac Robinson was originally scheduled, but the Rams have an OTA event for Friday, April 15 causing Robinson so have to pull out.
Interestingly, Arlington Lamar standout offensive tackle Isaiah Robinson was at Alabama for an unofficial visit on Friday. Robinson at 6-8, 290-pounds is one of the top prospects at offensive tackle in the country. He was at Alabama on Friday and you can see the picture his family took in Nick Saban’s office. He is visiting Auburn on April 9. He will be at Oklahoma State next Saturday, April 16. He finishes up his tour of unofficial visits in April the next week at LSU.
Robinson is a top target for Oklahoma State and virtually every other school on his list.