SAN ANTONIO — Mike Gundy and his Oklahoma State football team will soon finish their season at the Alamo Bowl.
Which means Gundy and his OSU bosses will soon start their negotiations on a contract extension.
Gulp.
All signs point toward this time being testy at best, contentious at worst. After all, a contract extension approved by the OSU Board of Regents nearly six months ago has gone unsigned by the coach and the university. That has already put another cloud over the most successful era of Cowboy football.
And that's a shame.
OSU will play Colorado on Thursday night with a chance to notch its fifth double-digit-win season in seven years. In the program's first 96 seasons combined, it had a total of three double-digit-win seasons. These are clearly the glory days of Cowboy football, high times that only got better Tuesday when Mason Rudolph and James Washington officially announced their returns.
But the truth is that one day when people look back on this era, they will remember not only the success but also the strife.
Gundy flirting with other schools when he feels unloved.
Boone Pickens popping off about Gundy not winning Bedlam enough.
Mike Holder and Burns Hargis going silent when head coach and head booster knock heads, leaving legions of fans to wonder what in the world was going on with their football program.
This latest negotiation is a chance to change that narrative.
But will OSU leaders take the opportunity?
I'd like to be optimistic, but their track record isn't good. You need look no further than what's already happened with this extension.
In June, the regents unanimously approved a two-year extension for Gundy that was expected to go into effect July 1 and keep the coach under contract through 2021. At the time, lots of people said lots of nice things.
Hargis, the OSU president: “We wanted to be sure that everybody knew that he was our guy.”
Joe Hall, the regent chair: “Coach Gundy runs the program the right way.”
But then, neither the coach nor the school signed the extension, information that came to light only a few weeks ago.
Why was it unsigned?
The regents approve contracts and extensions while granting the administration the responsibility of working out the details. That means the details hadn't necessarily been worked out in advance.
Yet, all signs pointed to the deal being done. Gundy even indicated as much in an interview with the Tulsa World after Big 12 Media Days.
“The one thing we tried to do was get it over with and not turn it into a circus,” Gundy said. “We agreed to two years, which is fair.”
Or not.
Something changed somewhere along the way. Something with Gundy? Something with Holder? Something with Pickens? No one with OSU is willing to say.
“We will look forward to addressing the extension after the bowl,” Holder said in a text message Tuesday.
“We have had another good season, and Coach Gundy reached a milestone with his 100th win. This puts OSU and Coach Gundy in an elite group. Our success has been a team effort and a source of pride for our fans and alumni.”
Asked about residual this whole extension situation has left on OSU football, Holder said: “There are a lot of things that Coach Gundy and I agree on. Unfortunately, people tend to focus on possible points of contention.”
Well, such points have been more abundant than you'd expect from a program that has never been more successful.
On Dec. 15, OSU spokesperson Gary Shutt said both sides were expected to put ink to paper on the extension after the season.
That same day, Gundy said something quite different.
“In order for that to happen, both parties have to come to an agreement,” he said of signing an extension, “and that hasn't taken place.”
Perhaps Gundy wants more money, though he's already handsomely compensated. According to USA Today's annual database of head coaches' salaries, he'll make $3.775 million this season, ranking 22nd in the nation and fourth in the Big 12.
Perhaps he wants more for his program. Hard to imagine that would come in the form of facilities, of which OSU has continued to improve and upgrade. Same for amenities, equipment and the like.
The area where OSU most lags is pay for assistants and support staff. In another USA Today database, the Cowboys are paying assistants a total of $3,283,999 this season. That ranks 28th nationally.
That might not seem all that bad, but among the programs that are paying assistants more than OSU are Missouri ($3,801,800), Kentucky ($3,403,900) and Mississippi State ($3,295,000).
Those teams' combined record this season: 17-20.
Back in the Les Miles era, OSU opened the checkbook for assistants. It saw better pay as a way to not only lure good coaches but also retain them. It paid some of the highest salaries in the country much less the Big 12.
Gundy has managed to keep this staff intact for two seasons even as OSU's pay for assistants has slid back in the pack.
On Tuesday, Gundy declined an opportunity to comment on his contract situation, saying through a spokesman that he didn't want to distract from the Cowboys' preparation for the Alamo Bowl.
Pickens also declined to comment Tuesday, saying through his spokesman that the extension was a matter to be handled by Gundy, Holder, Hargis and others and that Pickens was sticking with an October statement that he was done commenting on his relationship with Gundy.
“For now,” the spokesman said.
Who knows what comes next. Maybe in a week or so, OSU will announce the extension is done and all is well. Maybe Gundy and Holder, Pickens and Hargis will have run with this an opportunity to change the narrative. Maybe a big cloud over the program will have lifted.
Wouldn't it be fitting if what happened off the field was as positive as what has been happening on it?
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at (405) 475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or view her personality page at newsok.com/jennicarlson.
http://newsok.com/gundys-unsigned-c...iest-of-days-for-osu-football/article/5532315
Which means Gundy and his OSU bosses will soon start their negotiations on a contract extension.
Gulp.
All signs point toward this time being testy at best, contentious at worst. After all, a contract extension approved by the OSU Board of Regents nearly six months ago has gone unsigned by the coach and the university. That has already put another cloud over the most successful era of Cowboy football.
And that's a shame.
OSU will play Colorado on Thursday night with a chance to notch its fifth double-digit-win season in seven years. In the program's first 96 seasons combined, it had a total of three double-digit-win seasons. These are clearly the glory days of Cowboy football, high times that only got better Tuesday when Mason Rudolph and James Washington officially announced their returns.
But the truth is that one day when people look back on this era, they will remember not only the success but also the strife.
Gundy flirting with other schools when he feels unloved.
Boone Pickens popping off about Gundy not winning Bedlam enough.
Mike Holder and Burns Hargis going silent when head coach and head booster knock heads, leaving legions of fans to wonder what in the world was going on with their football program.
This latest negotiation is a chance to change that narrative.
But will OSU leaders take the opportunity?
I'd like to be optimistic, but their track record isn't good. You need look no further than what's already happened with this extension.
In June, the regents unanimously approved a two-year extension for Gundy that was expected to go into effect July 1 and keep the coach under contract through 2021. At the time, lots of people said lots of nice things.
Hargis, the OSU president: “We wanted to be sure that everybody knew that he was our guy.”
Joe Hall, the regent chair: “Coach Gundy runs the program the right way.”
But then, neither the coach nor the school signed the extension, information that came to light only a few weeks ago.
Why was it unsigned?
The regents approve contracts and extensions while granting the administration the responsibility of working out the details. That means the details hadn't necessarily been worked out in advance.
Yet, all signs pointed to the deal being done. Gundy even indicated as much in an interview with the Tulsa World after Big 12 Media Days.
“The one thing we tried to do was get it over with and not turn it into a circus,” Gundy said. “We agreed to two years, which is fair.”
Or not.
Something changed somewhere along the way. Something with Gundy? Something with Holder? Something with Pickens? No one with OSU is willing to say.
“We will look forward to addressing the extension after the bowl,” Holder said in a text message Tuesday.
“We have had another good season, and Coach Gundy reached a milestone with his 100th win. This puts OSU and Coach Gundy in an elite group. Our success has been a team effort and a source of pride for our fans and alumni.”
Asked about residual this whole extension situation has left on OSU football, Holder said: “There are a lot of things that Coach Gundy and I agree on. Unfortunately, people tend to focus on possible points of contention.”
Well, such points have been more abundant than you'd expect from a program that has never been more successful.
On Dec. 15, OSU spokesperson Gary Shutt said both sides were expected to put ink to paper on the extension after the season.
That same day, Gundy said something quite different.
“In order for that to happen, both parties have to come to an agreement,” he said of signing an extension, “and that hasn't taken place.”
Perhaps Gundy wants more money, though he's already handsomely compensated. According to USA Today's annual database of head coaches' salaries, he'll make $3.775 million this season, ranking 22nd in the nation and fourth in the Big 12.
Perhaps he wants more for his program. Hard to imagine that would come in the form of facilities, of which OSU has continued to improve and upgrade. Same for amenities, equipment and the like.
The area where OSU most lags is pay for assistants and support staff. In another USA Today database, the Cowboys are paying assistants a total of $3,283,999 this season. That ranks 28th nationally.
That might not seem all that bad, but among the programs that are paying assistants more than OSU are Missouri ($3,801,800), Kentucky ($3,403,900) and Mississippi State ($3,295,000).
Those teams' combined record this season: 17-20.
Back in the Les Miles era, OSU opened the checkbook for assistants. It saw better pay as a way to not only lure good coaches but also retain them. It paid some of the highest salaries in the country much less the Big 12.
Gundy has managed to keep this staff intact for two seasons even as OSU's pay for assistants has slid back in the pack.
On Tuesday, Gundy declined an opportunity to comment on his contract situation, saying through a spokesman that he didn't want to distract from the Cowboys' preparation for the Alamo Bowl.
Pickens also declined to comment Tuesday, saying through his spokesman that the extension was a matter to be handled by Gundy, Holder, Hargis and others and that Pickens was sticking with an October statement that he was done commenting on his relationship with Gundy.
“For now,” the spokesman said.
Who knows what comes next. Maybe in a week or so, OSU will announce the extension is done and all is well. Maybe Gundy and Holder, Pickens and Hargis will have run with this an opportunity to change the narrative. Maybe a big cloud over the program will have lifted.
Wouldn't it be fitting if what happened off the field was as positive as what has been happening on it?
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at (405) 475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or view her personality page at newsok.com/jennicarlson.
http://newsok.com/gundys-unsigned-c...iest-of-days-for-osu-football/article/5532315
