With All the Openings in College Football, Mike Gundy Must Be Prepared

STILLWATER – I don’t know anything except that Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy makes sure he is prepared for anything. 

“Nothing really ever surprises me in this business anymore,” Gundy has said quite often going back about the last six-years or so. That means Gundy in his first dozen years as a head coach feels like he saw quite a bit. In short, during that time Gundy saw the program from initial rebuilding to a string of bowl appearances, a conference championship, a slght slip in performance and back to championship level. All through it winning seasons and bowl appearances. He lost several coordinators. Larry Fedora to Southern Miss, Dana Holgorsen to West Virginia, Todd Monken to Southern Miss, Mike Yurcich to Ohio State, Marcus Arroyo to UNLV, and Jim Knowles to Ohio State.

Gundy assistants have a tradition of strong upward mobility in the coaching profession. Now with multiple Division I FBS jobs already sitting there this fall both of Gundy’s current coordinators have been mentioned as candidates. On Sunday alone, Wisconsin and Colorado were added to the list of schools firing their head coach.

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Mike Gundy talking with then Arizona State head  coach Herm Edwards.

Oklahoma State best Arizona State earlier this season 34-17 and a couple of weeks later and Herm Edwards was out. The Sun Devils job is a potentially good one, but currently has added difficulty and some unknown because of serious alleged NCAA recruiting violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn has been mentioned in national media as a candidate for that job and the Colorado opening. Dunn, in his third season as the Cowboys offensive play caller has an NFL pedigree having coached for offensive guru Mike Holmgren at Seattle. He has also coached in the Mountain West and Pac-12 and is familiar with the Western United States. He is looked at as not only an excellent X-and-O coach but also a strong recruiter. 

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Mason was as good a head coach as Vanderbilt has had.

Defensive coordinator Derek Mason has been mentioned by multiple sources as a candidate for the Arizona State vacancy. Mason is a native of the Phoenix area and went to college at Northern Arizona. He too has an NFL pedigree with the Minnesota Vikings and was at Stanford in the Pac-12 before taking his first college head coaching job at Vanderbilt. He did better with the Commodores than any other head coach they’ve had. 

Both coaches have daughters that have finished school or are at least finishing up college. Moving is not going to uproot their children from school. 

Now, I also feel both coaches are loyal and understanding when a special opportunity is achievable. Oklahoma State at 4-0 and ranked No. 7 in the major polls is in a position where anything is possible for this season. I really don’t think either Dunn or Mason would leave Oklahoma State when that possibility is still in play.

However, if you are Mike Gundy then you have to be ready for anything. The good news is Gundy is the kind of coach that keeps a plan for even the unforeseen. 

I like to see good things happen to good and deserving people. Both Dunn and Mason fit that category, but selfishly, you want to see them finish this season the way it is shaping up at Oklahoma State.