Mike Gundy Magnified on the Big Screen at Big 12 Media Days Talking Run Game and Bedlam

ARLINGTON, Texas – The day started with Oklahoma State football head coach playing the role of “lone ranger” at Big 12 Football Media Days and sitting by himself in the stands at AT&T Cowboys Stadium surveying what was going on down on the turf. Gundy was by himself as he came down the day before for meetings and his players including linebacker Collin Oliver, receiver Brennan Presley, cornerback Korie Black, and offensive lineman Preston Wilson were supposed to fly down from Stillwater with senior associate athletic director Kevin Klintworth and football media contact Sean Maguire. The plane that was supposed to pick them up had issues and the Oklahoma State contingent wisely drove to Arlington. 

I went over and asked Gundy to come down and do some radio, which he did, and I found the head coach in a good mood, eager to talk about his return to focusing on run schemes that he pushed as an offensive coordinator for Les Miles and his early years as head coach. He has reason to go back to that.

Pokes Report

Gundy makes the big screen at Big 12 Media Days.

“The reason for that was we played with inexperienced quarterbacks in the latter part of the season, and our inability to rush the football put the game on their shoulders,” Gundy said of playing last season without an injured Sanders and sometimes with. “I wasn't comfortable with that. Years ago, we had inexperienced quarterbacks, and we were a good running football team, and we could still effectively score points and win games. So that reason led to allocating more time into rushing the football.”

He said the decision on quarterback for this season hasn’t been made yet. They will go a couple of weekes into fall camp and he feels that it could happen then.

“If not we’ll keep going,” Gundy told me.

Having Alan Bowman is a huge bonus. yes, as we’ve mentioned often, Bowman can run the air raid in his sleep, but after two years at Michigan he was the one quarterback in th room that had taken snaps under center and practiced power run concepts and complimentary play-action pass game.

“We were lucky he had that experience and he helped (Garret) Rangel, Gunnar (Gundy), and (Zane) Flores because those guys had not been under center maybe ever,” Gundy said of his 23-year-old veteran quarterback, who by the way just got engaged. We're not reinventing the wheel. We went through a period of time from 2010 up until 2021, I guess was the year we played in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame, where we're running up massive numbers of yards in points, so as you do that or as we did that, we slowly but surely got away from some of the things that we instilled in our program in my first four or five years as a head coach. I was along for the ride, so it's not like it was on them. But we now have kind of migrated back to these are things we need to do to be successful.” 

He added that he is very comfortable with Bryan Nardo and feels his new defensive coordinator will not take the two years that Jim Knowles seemed to in order to adjust to the conference. 

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Gundy in a good mood at the front desk.

“It will come down to defensive calls, and I feel confident in Nardo and his relationship with his staff and his commiunication with the players,” Gundy said. “That's why we went and got Coach Nardo. I think his relationship with our staff and where we are now gives us flexibility to play some odd front and play some even front. I'm excited about getting started up in a few weeks and seeing the direction it takes us throughout the season.”

Gundy was later reunited with his players and with Klintworth and Maguire. The Cowboys were again a unifoed front and Gundy went to the press conference podium with a good attitude. He was asked about the losses in the portal and the culture in his program and what those losses may have signified. He took it all in stride.

He was more than happy to talk about and compliment the Big 12 commissioner as he seemingly talks frequently with Brett Yormark.  

“I think that we have the most exciting conference right now because it wouldn't be fair for any of us to say that we actually know what's going to happen in Big 12 Conference play this year, based on the last two or three years and how the games have gone and the teams that have had success and the teams that haven't had success,” he said of the leaguee. “I'm excited about that.”

What he appeared to not be as excited about was the repeated questions about Bedlam. Yes, there are reporters that haven’t adjusted to the fact that Bedlam football meetings will go on a hiatus after Nov. 4 this fall. 

Oklahoma State Athletics

No more Bedlam after Nov. 4, not for awhile.

“The Bedlam game is over because Oklahoma chose to leave the Big 12, period,” Gundy said emphatically from the podium in the middle of AT&T Stadium. “It's nothing to do with Oklahoma State. Do I like that? No. Do I like that conferences have broken up in the past? No, I don't. But I also know that we have to control what we can control, which is conference realignment is there. It's probably still going on. Wherever we all end up and whatever schedule they give us to play, we all play it and do the best we can.

“Oklahoma State is not going to change what we do because Oklahoma chose to go to the SEC< Gundy added. “They need to change what they do because they're the ones that made their mind up to go to the SEC. Everybody needs to realize, it didn't have to happen if they didn't change leagues.”

But they did and it’s almost time to move on, almost.

And, I’ve seen Gundy over the years. In case you’re wondering this does look like the Gundy that knows he was picked seventh, but has a poker hand that he feels is much better than that.