The Oklahoma State Cowboys somehow sank even further on Friday night, moving to 1-2 on the 2025 season following a 19-12 loss to the Group of Five Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Mike Gundy, once the proud head football coach of a perennial Big 12 contender while the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners were in the conference, has lost the locker room. His squad shows less grit and physicality than their opponents, even teams against which OSU is a multiple-score favorite.
CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello believes it’s time for Gundy to ride off into the sunset as Oklahoma State University AD Chad Weiberg comes up with a way to fix this situation in Stillwater.
“The 19-12 loss to Tulsa on Friday night wasn't an origin story. What we saw here at The House T. Boone Pickens Built was the last chapter of an era gone by when the Cowboys were the good guys and the Wild West's contenders couldn't confidently crown themselves Big 12 champions until surviving a shootout in Stillwater,” Marcello wrote.
“The most colorful man in the Midwest, a treasure for college football the last three decades, has faded into obscurity -- and the winningest coach in Oklahoma State history has no one to blame but himself. If this wasn't Gundy's last call alongside Pistol Pete, it only confirms the Cowboys have bigger issues to tackle within their administration. Athletics director Chad Wieberg is on shaky ground, having worked without a contract since June 30 under a new university president. Wieberg may be the boss, but someone above his head may have to swing the axe this weekend.”
Gundy’s negotiated buyout would pay him $15 million if he’s fired before December 31, 2027, and $10 million if he’s fired in 2028.
There’s no way OSU is going to wait that long.
The sooner the cord is cut, the better. It’s unclear how Oklahoma State plans on parting ways with its program’s G.O.A.T. head coach. But Gundy getting that $15 million is one of the safer bets you can make in college football at this point.