Oklahoma State Must Embrace Rapid Change Amid Coaching Search
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Oklahoma State is set to hire a new coach this offseason, and it must remember how quickly things can turn.
Over the first 19 years of the Mike Gundy era, the Cowboys were a pillar of consistency. After Gundy’s first season at the helm featured only four wins, his next 18 saw at least six wins every time.
Throughout his tenure, bowl games and winning seasons went from something to celebrate to the standard in Stillwater. An abundance of 10-win seasons and years of Big 12 title contention consistently kept OSU fans coming back for more.
Of course, it didn’t take long for all of that to change. In 2024, OSU entered as a Big 12 title favorite with College Football Playoff aspirations. After a 3-0 start, OSU didn’t win another game and is still searching for its first FBS win since that point.
Meanwhile, Mike Gundy and OSU have gone separate ways, and 2026 will look unlike any season in recent OSU history. In 2023, OSU won a thrilling double-overtime matchup against BYU in the regular season finale to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game. Gundy lasted only 17 games after that, and the Cowboys haven’t beaten a Big 12 opponent since.
As OSU looks for its next coach, it needs to learn its lessons from these past few years. Perhaps the most notable lesson OSU can learn is how quickly things can change in college football.
Sure, that point should be a cautionary tale about not getting too carried away with expectations if the next coach starts well. However, it should also be viewed as the reality that fans won’t accept more years of losing in the name of building the program.
OSU went from 10 wins and a conference title game to three wins in one year. In this age of college football, it seems just as plausible to go from the one-win season OSU is destined for in 2025 to being a conference title threat in 2026.
Sure, that would be a lot of pressure on the next head coach, but the Cowboys should only be hiring someone ready to take that pressure on. The Cowboys expected to be one of the best teams in the new-look Big 12 and have only been in 16th place over the past two seasons.
OSU learned the hard way how quickly things can change in college football, but it can also use that to its advantage in 2026 and beyond.
Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.