Gundy Talks About (Not) Leaving

Photo Attribution: US Presswire

Robert Allen did a terrific job with this interview yesterday and got some of the most candid quotes we’ve seen from Gundy in a while.

I wanted to clip some of those, pare them down, and bring you my thoughts along with them…let’s jump in.

Well, it’s not a comfortable situation for anybody, but the truth of the matter is that Mike Gundy and his family love Oklahoma State, and our children like being in Stillwater and we have family that is healthy and within an hour’s drive and that’s not ever going to change.

I love him going third person right off the bat. Also the “that’s not ever going to change” part is going to be broken down like the Zapruder film on OrangePower.com, they’ll need backup servers.

The decisions that I make in any part of our program that deal with my future and my family’s future becomes public information and that is where we have an issue.

You get paid $3M+ to deal with this “issue.”

There is a lot of talk out there about the relationship between myself and Coach Holder, and it was discouraging to me but we weren’t in a position with him and myself to get out and hold a press conference and try to clear the air because one, I don’t think it is necessary and I don’t think Coach Holder feels any different.

How was it not necessary? If part of your job as the head coach and athletic director is to strengthen a fan base, why wouldn’t you want to hold this press conference?

Ninety-five percent of the discussions that Coach Holder and I have that have to do with Oklahoma State football, we agree on. He’s been very good to me and I am very fortunate to be in the situation that I am.

[cut to Kliff Kingsbury nodding so hard his head rolls off his neck].

Just because Kristen and I have a disagreement doesn’t mean we aren’t buddies. She has an opinion and I have an opinion and eventually we have to work together and make it happen.

There is not a scale to evaluate how much I love his husband-wife analogies.

That was discouraging and disappointing to me because there was so much talk about it and there is nothing we can really do about it. I have expressed my opinion on who I think we should schedule and Coach (Holder) has his opinion and we try to meet half way. Ultimately, he’s the boss and I work for him and for the Board of Regents and for the President of the University. They can tell me what to do at any time and if I’m going to be at Oklahoma State then I say, ‘yes sir,’ and if I don’t then I need to try and go find a job somewhere else.

I think the point is that if the head coach has to ask repeatedly, he is going to find a job elsewhere.

Chat rooms, (the) internet, Facebook, talk radio, and Twitter is what pays the bills,” said Gundy of the coverage these situations receive. “We can turn on ESPN or Fox and any of these television shows when we are getting ready to go work out or to practice on our TV. I listen to them often and I think that guy is so far in leftfield that it is amazing that he is even on the air, but that is what pays the bills.

Blogs, Michael, you forgot about blogs. And chat rooms…? This isn’t 1997…

I never thought that I would have to publicly come out and say this is the relationship that we have, but times are changing. Offensive football is changing, recruiting is changing, so maybe this is a time for me to say that was all blown way out of proportion and the panic button never needed to be hit. There was never a time for the panic button to be hit.

Disagree.

That is really the way I feel and Oklahoma State has a foundation here for success in the long term. It is never going to be easy. If it were easy then everybody would be doing it. The relationships aren’t where people can’t work together. The whole thing got blown way out of proportion, and hopefully we’ve put that to rest and we can continue to move forward.

Really, the way you feel about all of this is dependent upon two things:

1. Whether or not you believe Gundy actually interviewed with Arkansas and Tennessee

2. Whether or not you believe Gundy when he says that his relationship with Holder is OK.

I choose to believe he did interview and that their relationship still sucks no matter what he says. I also believe that if this wasn’t OSU and if Gundy didn’t have family around, he would have been gone a few years ago.

No matter your perception though, it’s clear that a rift has been had and I’m not so sure it’s going anywhere anytime soon…