Looking Back on Mike Gundy’s Storied Oklahoma State Tenure

After 21 seasons with the program, Mike Gundy has finally been relieved of his duties with Oklahoma State football.

The nail in the coffin was a 1-2 start this year, just one season removed from a 3-9 season that saw the Cowboys fail to win a conference game. This season was pacing that same trajectory, if not worse, with OSU having lost 69-3 to Oregon, and losing an inter-state bout to Tulsa.

All in all, it was likely past time for the two to split.

Despite the ending being murky, Gundy’s tenure with Oklahoma State was largely terrific for both sides. Having played QB for the school from 1986 through 1989, he was vital in putting Cowboy football on the map, essentially from the get-go.

He joined the coaching staff at just 23, coaching receivers, then quarterbacks and finally serving as the offensive coordinator. He made stops at Baylor and Maryland in various positions, before returning to Stillwater and nabbing the lead duties in 2005. From there, he wouldn’t look back.

Gundy’s Cowboys won just four games in their first season, but he quickly turned things around in winning seven games in his second and third. He quickly parlayed that success into two nine-win seasons in 2008 and 2009, before seeing his best-ever stretch with the program from 2010 to 2017.

In that span, he would see six 10-plus-win seasons, winning the Alamo Bowl, Fiesta Bowl — his best-ever season in which he won the Big 12 Championship — the Heart of Dallas Bowl, the Cactus Bowl and Camping World Bowl, while losing in the Cotton and Sugar Bowls.

In addition to simply winning more football games than expected, Gundy's personality shone through on more than one occasion:

September 22, 2007: “I’m a man! I’m 40!”
pic.twitter.com/LA0NFfUqxH
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) September 22, 2025

Gundy’s last decade wasn’t quite at the same level, though he did put together a 12-win season in 2021, featuring a Fiesta Bowl win, as well as a 10-win season and near-College Football Playoffs berth just two seasons ago.

With his exit, Gundy brings with him the most wins in OSU history and numerous other records, 42 Cowboys sent to the NFL, and a fairly illustrious coaching tree. When Gundy took over as leader of the program, the school had won just 49% of its total games, and in his time he won 66% of his games.

He spent more than half his life pouring into Cowboy football in some form or fashion, and will widely be remembered as the greatest coach in the history of the program, with any successors surely needing decades themself to near his success.