Cale Gundy's First Shot as Oklahoma's Offensive Coordinator Will Be 'Smooth as Possible'
SAN ANTONIO — Cale Gundy freely admits he’s never called plays before, although there was this time, circa 1998, when he was at UAB working for Watson Brown, that he did “some practice stuff.”
That changes on Wednesday when Oklahoma faces Oregon in the Alamo Bowl.
Gundy — the former Sooner quarterback and career assistant — finally gets his chance as OU’s offensive coordinator.
For one game, anyway.
Cale Gundy
John E. Hoover / SI Sooners
“I’m not going to sit here and try to create a whole new offense,” Gundy said Monday during a press conference at the Alamodome. “We're just going to play to our strengths and make it as smooth as possible for us.”
Gundy said he’s “learned a lot” over the years from all of Oklahoma’s dynamic play-callers, from Mike Leach to Mark Mangino to Chuck Long to Kevin Wilson to Josh Heupel to Lincoln Riley.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be around a lot of great offensive minds here since I've been at Oklahoma,” Gundy said. “I’ve seen and studied a lot of coaches, how they've called plays and how they've ran their offense — and we've had a lot of success here — so I've learned a lot from those guys.”
Riley’s play-calling was clever, creative, timely. He tended to tighten up late in games, but he made a name as an ace offensive coordinator for being able to put his players into open spaces.
Coordinators moving on is a common element of bowl season, but the fact remains that Oregon’s defense isn’t sure exactly what OU’s new offense will look like.
Cale Gundy at Alamo Bowl practice
John E. Hoover / SI Sooners
“All we can show our guys is what’s on tape,” said Ducks defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter. “I can’t imagine they would install a brand new offense. But they could.”
In reality, there may be a tendency as an offensive coordinator to want to think outside the box, to take what the previous play-caller did and improve it — move players around, give playmakers the football in new situations, tweak blocking schemes or route concepts, add options against certain coverages.
It’s human nature.
Gundy will stay within his box, but he’ll also bring his own ideas to the job.
“Trust me, I feel a lot better going into this football game with these guys here next to me,” Gundy said of running back Kennedy Brooks, wideout Marvin Mims, fullback Jeremiah Hall and offensive lineman Tyrese Robinson. “The better players that you've got surrounding you and your offense … I just want to make it whatever is the most comfortable for me.”
Cale Gundy
John E. Hoover / SI Sooners
Gundy said he has talked to his brother — Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy — since being named interim offensive coordinator. But football didn’t come up, he said.
“We talked a little bit about family and Christmas and some stuff on his ranch,” Cale Gundy said. “That's about it.”
Mims, a sophomore, switched from outside receiver to inside receiver this season, so he’s gotten to spend more time with Gundy. Mims is confident Gundy will do great.
“If there's any coach on like the whole offensive staff that's just detail oriented, it's definitely him,” Mims said. “ … He really picks at the little small things.
“It's just different because when we go through meetings, when Coach Riley was here and throughout the season, we have two designated rooms (for receivers). You could definitely tell with him calling the plays and all that stuff, he knows everything, of course, but like, how detailed he is and some players aren't used to being coached by him the way that he's coaching them now, it's just changed for everybody.”
Gundy appreciates the sentiment, but he insists that so far, it’s been a group effort.
“Our coaches, all of us, have done a tremendous job putting this game plan together,” Gundy said. “We just want to allow our guys to play fast and play very, very physical. That's what we want to do.
“We're going to put them in the best position to be successful.”
