PHOENIX, Ariz. – You don’t have to like the result of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Things have changed in a calendar year. In a few days it will be the year anniversary of Oklahoma State pulling off the thrilling comeback to beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and finish as a top 10 team with a 12-2 record. Tuesday night Oklahoma State at least kept pushing and even lucked out with a fourth quarter touchdown and added a field goal to get back in a game that looked long gone before losing to Wisconsin 24-17.
Sitting in the postgame press conference between two of his players in Jason Taylor II and Brennan Presley, Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy did not deserve this.
Gundy was asked by a reporter whether he planned to make staff changes. Anyone with experience as a competitor would know that is too soon to go that direction. The wounds are too fresh from a season with a rough finish. Besides, these are coaches and staff that have been responsible for a lot of wins and success. They deserve more respect as does Gundy and those players sitting with him.
Those people will all be on a charter flight home tomorrow and it is not fair for wives and children to hear that from a press conference and wonder if their lives are about to change drastically. There is a procedure. Is Mike Gundy going to examine his program, players, schemes, coaches, staff. Yes, he does every season. Could he make changes? Sure, and he has before. Is he going to announce it first to the media? No.
There is a classy way to run a program and to deal with people that have worked hard and given great effort to contribute to a football program. That is the way Mike Gundy has and will continue to run his program.
There is also a way for media members to act and conduct themselves. I get it. The social media and Twitter world where people can act foolish and choose if they want to be identified has outrageous takes all the time. I’ve dealt with some of this myself this season at Triple Play Sports Radio. Fans can, and often do step over the line. It is, unfortunately the society we live in. Media don’t need to act like fans. They too are professionals. They are supposed to be.
If there will be changes, they will happen. I know that Mike Gundy intends to change some facets of the program. There are things that he firmly believes can be done better and must be done better. There will be a time and a place to address any and all of those. It was not in that media room in Chase Field after a tough loss to Wisconsin.
