What Does Mike Gundy’s Firing Mean for Oklahoma State Football?

Mike Gundy's tenure at OSU has ended.

Oklahoma State Head coach Mike Gundy walks on the field before an NCAA football game between Oklahoma State (OSU) and UT Martin in Stillwater, Okla., on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s official: for the first time in over two decades, Oklahoma State football won’t be led by Mike Gundy.

Following various reports it seems the program will move on from their greatest head coach of all time after 21 seasons.

While Gundy has a long history of putting the Cowboys in favorable position, this season wasn't the case.

Oklahoma State’s season started off strikingly similar to the last, when they went winless in conference play in the worst of Gundy’s OSU tenure. This season may have started off even worse, as they suffered the largest loss in Gundy’s career in a 69-3 bout with No. 6 Oregon, and embarrassingly lost to inter-state rival Tulsa. From here, they’ll undoubtedly be underdogs in Big 12 matchups moving forward. 

While the relieving of Gundy may have been needed, that doesn’t necessarily mean greener pastures are on the horizon for OSU, at least in the near-future.

The school reportedly kicked the can around on making this move last offseason, but instead opted to restructure Gundy’s deal in hopes of one last go-round. With the season starting off the way it did, it made sense for both sides to simply end it now.

The timing though puts the Cowboys in a precarious position. Now 1-2 on the season, they’re staring down the barrel of a fairly loaded Big 12 slate, and will now be relying on an interim head coach to get it done — and with a fairly pedestrian roster. For all intents and purposes, this season of Oklahoma State football has been scratched before even beginning conference play.

The good news will be that OSU has ample time to search for Gundy’s replacement. Few schools across the country have relieved coach's this early into the season, but that means Oklahoma State will seemingly do their due diligence on the next leader of the program. And it's of the utmost important considering this will be just the second coaching change this century.

For now, Gundy's firing means added questions marks to the team's already-questionable season. But it also means hope for the future in that the school will start the search for its next long-term head coach — one that will hopefully usher the Cowboys into the new era of college football.

Oklahoma State next takes on Baylor on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 2:30 p.m. CT.