It’s been a bleak month for Oklahoma State football and coach Mike Gundy, who would be owed $15 million by the university if he’s fired without cause during the 2025 season.
The Cowboys lost 19-12 to Tulsa on Friday, falling to 1-2 on the season. It was the program’s first home loss to Tulsa, an in-state opponent from the Group of 5, since 1951. The team also suffered a 69-3 road loss to Oregon on Sept. 6, the worst defeat of Gundy’s 21 seasons as head coach.
“Obviously, we’re trying to come around. We’re not where we were two or three years ago,” Gundy said following the Tulsa loss. “We’re building back from where we were. We just have to continue to push forward.”
Asked directly about his job status and fans who may want the school to make a coaching change, Gundy said: “Those aren’t decisions that I make. My decision is to do exactly what I mentioned earlier … and keep moving forward and go on down the road. And that’s what we do.”
Oklahoma State’s next game is Saturday, Sept. 27, at home against Baylor in its Big 12 opener.
All of this comes on the heels of a tumultuous 2024 season, in which Oklahoma State finished 3-9 — another career-worst for Gundy — and the longtime coach agreed to a restructured contract and salary reduction after a brief “standoff” with the university’s board of regents.
Under the restructured contract, according to a copy obtained by The Athletic, Gundy’s buyout is $15 million if he’s fired without cause before Dec. 31, 2027, paid out in monthly installments and offset by future employment. The buyout drops to $10 million in 2028, the final year of the deal.
Gundy, 58, is set to make $6.75 million in 2025, a $1 million reduction from his previous contract, which also featured a perpetual five-year clause that rolled over each season but has since been rescinded. Oklahoma State reinvested the salary reduction into the athletic department, and Gundy’s new deal featured a provision that required more fundraising engagement.
“If (the school) would have decided to make a change, well then I’m going to go coach somewhere,” Gundy told The Athletic this summer, regarding his renegotiated agreement. “But that wasn’t my choice.”
Dating back to a 52-0 loss to Colorado in the final game of the 2024 season, the Cowboys have been outscored 140-15 by their last three FBS opponents, and they’ve lost 11 in a row against FBS teams. Oklahoma State’s lone victory during that stretch was a season-opening win over UT Martin, an FCS program, last month, during which starting quarterback Hauss Hejny was lost to a foot injury.
Gundy has a career record of 170-89 over the course of his 21 seasons at the helm in Stillwater, the most victories in program history by more than 100 wins. He led the Pokes to 18 consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances from 2006-2023, including a Big 12 championship in 2011 and conference title game appearances in 2021 and 2023. Gundy, an Oklahoma native, played quarterback for the Cowboys from 1986-89, and served two stints as an assistant at Oklahoma State, from 1990-95 and 2001-04.
(Photo: William Purnell / Imagn Images)
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