What Mike Gundy Looks For in a High School Recruit

Mike Gundy’s recruiting philosophies have been a source of contention for many OSU fans. He seems to abstain from chasing the big five-star recruits and takes to the under-recruited, undersized kid his son pulled up on YouTube.

Whether or not that hampers the success of his program is a bit of a moot point because it isn’t changing. And unless something drastic happens, Mike Gundy could (and should) head the Oklahoma State football program as long as he wants.

The Mulleteer, along with other college coaches, recently spoke with Ross Hawley of Playced in an article for USA Today about what a high school recruit has to do to stick out to he and his coaching staff.

Here’s part of what he had to say.

As a program, we will never compromise our Cowboy Culture for talent. We will, and we have, passed on recruits that had the talent to play here but didn’t realize it’s so much more than that. Any young man we recruit needs to understand the importance of education and respect. When we go into the home of a recruit, we watch how he handles his mother. Is he treating her with love and respect? If he’s not, that’s a major problem. It tells us that he’s probably not showing other authority figures in his life respect, either. You have no chance of being successful within the Oklahoma State football program if you don’t understand respect. It’s that important. USA Today

This may sound like hyperbole — and it may invite more jokes about recruits’ mothers — but it is consistent with what we’ve seen throughout Gundy’s tenure. And it revisits the question of what is more important to a school — or a fan base, for that matter.

Win at all costs or win clean?

That’s not to say you can’t recruit five-star prospects in an innocuous way. Oklahoma State has played it safe in more ways than one on the recruiting trail. But Mike Gundy’s stance is as rarefied as it is bullheaded. And like it or not, there’s not enough of that in college sports.