ESPN's Marty Smith Stops in and Visits Gundy and Oklahoma State Football Plus FB Update

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy said it. When one of ESPN’s most popular reporters Marty Smith, who was in town to cover the NBA Draft Party celebrating Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham at Eskimo Joes, stopped by the West End Zone to talk to Gundy and get his first look at the Cowboys football operation Gundy described it this way.

“It was a good thing because he has a good following and we had a good time,” Gundy said of the morning spent with Smith. “He and I are a lot alike. He is kind of an old school redneck. He understands the way things are and how things work.”

Odd that on the day after the Big 12 Conference and commissioner Bob Bowlsby sent a “cease and desist” order to the “Worldwide Leader” for allegedly tampering with the Big 12 Conference and its future, here is one of ESPN’s top reporters checking on Oklahoma State football. 

You can see it on Smith’s Twitter account as he even put up a video on some of the tour, he had with Gundy of the West End Zone.

“Well, I showed him around the facility and then we talked for about an hour or so,” Gundy said. “We were probably on camera for about seven-eight minutes. “Yes (he was impressed) and he didn’t know that we had won that much in football. When he started looking at the numbers, he was shocked.”

Fox College Football/Twitter

The numbers do not lie!

Oddly enough, it was ESPN’s competition in Fox College Football that tweeted out the record in the Big 12 for the past decade and Gundy sent this to me and I’m sure it is part of what he showed Marty Smith to impress him on what the Cowboys have accomplished. Between stats like this and Oklahoma State’s record overall, top 10 over the past decade and their record against top 25 competition in college football, it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Cowboys aren’t included in a Power Five line-up.

Oklahoma State football

Gundy and Smith on tour.

Smith posted on Twitter some of the answers to the questions he had for Gundy in the interview on camera. He asked Gundy what he thought the future of the Big 12 might be?

"I wish I knew,” Gundy told Smith. “I think anybody that says they really know the future is maybe stepping out of line. The goal, from what I hear, is that this league stays intact to (20)24."

That would be the desire of Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who is going to extremes it seems with the “cease and desist” order from Wednesday delivered to Smith’s employer ESPN. Smith went on to ask Gundy what he thought about realignment in its entirety.

"I wish I knew,” Gundy kind of repeated. “You hear people talk about ultimately there's going to be a power 4. In my opinion, if I was in meetings or behind closed doors would I say that that's a probability? I'd say yes.”

As for who will decide all of this, Gundy when asked pointed at the conference leaders and their negotiations with the television industry.

"They're the ones representing television dollars, and they make those decisions,” Gundy said. “I think at some point the leaders will get together and say, this is what we have, if this is what you will offer us. If not, it might be something else. Ultimately that's who's going to make the decisions in my opinion."

Gundy told me he knew he didn’t have all the answers, but he actually sounded kind of happy that someone wanted to ask him questions and talk about it.

Robert Allen - Pokes Report

Workouts this week.

As for real football, the Cowboys staff is back at work. They have a mini camp on Saturday where they will hope to see some prospects show up. They have virtual tour for Tyrone Webber (6-5, 300) of New Mexico Military Institute on Friday. It is back to work.

The Cowboys players finish summer with a conditioning test on Friday and then get some down time until reporting for fall camp next Thursday and practice starting next Friday.