Oklahoma State Fires Football โCoach Mike Gundy Following Loss to Tulsa
STILLWATER, OK – Oklahoma โState University has reportedly fired head โฃfootball coach Mike Gundy, effective immediately, after a 34-27 loss to Tulsaโ dropped the Cowboys toโฃ a 1-2 record on the season. The move ends a 20-year tenure for Gundy, the most prosperousโค coach in program history and, until recently, the second-longest tenured โcoach in college football โคbehind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
The firing comes after a disastrous 2024 season where OSUโ finished 3-9, losing every conference game and suffering multiple-possession defeats in all but three of those losses. While Gundyโ built a consistent winner for much of his career, things began to unravel after a 10-4 season โand Big 12 โขtitle โgame appearance in 2023.
Gundy took over for Les Miles afterโ Miles departed for LSU following the 2004 season. His frist year resulted inโฃ aโ 4-7 record, but his teams later avoided a losing season until 2024. During his tenure, the Cowboys reached double-digit wins eight times and came withinโข a missed field goal ofโฃ playing for a national championship.
In 2011, OSU went 12-1, averaging 49 points โper game led by quarterback Brandonโค Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon. That season saw a โขheartbreakingโ double-overtime loss to Iowa State, where a 37-yard field goal โฃattempt by Quinn Sharp sailed wide, ultimately costing the Cowboys aโ potential national title run. The loss dropped Oklahoma State to No. 4 in the BCS rankings, where they remained behind LSU โคand Alabama.
Gundy returned for the 2025 season with a restructured contract and new coordinators Doug Meacham and Todd Grantham,following a season-ending 52-0 loss โคat Colorado. That loss occurred โweeks afterโ Gundy was forced to apologize for controversial remarks made about fans criticizingโข his struggling โprogram.
Prior to this season, Gundy operated under โคwhat was โฃessentially aโข lifetime contract. His previous rolling five-year contract included a buyout based on a percentage of his future โsalary. The new โคdeal, โฃsigned after the 2024 season, reduced his salary to $6.75 million in โ2025 โand was a four-year agreement through 2028 with a $15 million buyout.
Gundyโค leaves Oklahoma State with aโ career record of 170-90. No other OSU coach has โฃmore thanโค 62 career wins, and onlyโข Pappy Waldorf, who coached fromโ 1929-1933,โ boasts a better winning percentage.
He is the third coach toโฃ be fired within the first four weeks ofโฃ the 2025 โseason, signalingโค a possibly active โขcoaching carousel in college football. UCLA’s DeShaun Foster and virginia Tech’s Brent Pry were also dismissed afterโ their teams started the season 0-3.