Count your blessings…AKA…accept mediocrity. The typical cry of the Oklahoma State Fan base.
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Totally agree…, we have an egomaniac, mullet head clown making $5.0M+ per year…, enough said…
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Not only is Gundy an inept moron when it comes to Social Media…, he shows his ignorance by saying he doesn’t give a rat’s a_s about Social Media and making fart sounds…, not a class act…, just an egomaniac, mullet head ignorant clown!!!
But as long as Holder pays his $5.0M+ per year salary & tolerates his BS…, the alumni, students, & fans will continue getting what we got last night!!!
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This is why it is close to impossible to have a discussion, because people start using dramatic language like “content with mediocrity”. Gundy had gotten us to the point that before the Big 12 added the championship game, Bedlam was the de facto championship. That is not mediocrity. I’ll give you last year but that doesn’t mean the program is mediocre. Certainly there is the possibility of slipping down to that but we are not there at his point. So when you throw out such dramatic generalizations, you alienate a lot of people who would be happy to have a discussion about it. I will also say that after the Tech loss, I had concerns that we had seen Gundy’s pinnacle and we now on the downslope. At this point I have mixed emotions about it. But I sure do not want to see the program slip anymore and do not want to see Baylor rise up above us. I guess that means I have no issue with Gundy being on a “hot seat” and if that means he doesn’t get his annual raise or roll over, so be it.
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Top 10 in wins this decade and top 15 in wins in his entire tenure is not mediocrity.
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But the ultimate question is, how meaningful are those wins? How much of an impact do they have in the national picture?
Remember that part of those wins are the McNeese’s and SE Louisiana’s of the world.
OU, on the other hand, can say they beat Ohio State in Columbus…Auburn in the Sugar Bowl…and while they haven’t won playoff games, they’re getting there. We can’t say that.
We can have all the wins we want, but if they aren’t measurably moving the needle, what’s the point? We need to win the games that matter. This is why I’ve always hated Ole Miss, because we have lost to them every time we’ve played them. Those games are important for our national image.
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Gundy has serious issues with ou that seem to paralyze him. We all know it’s coming every single year yet we still get our hopes up.
That being said Gundy is doing the best I think anyone can do in Stillwater. With any other coach it would just be a stepping stone job and we’d have to start all over again in a few years.
More P5 coaches were unemployed prior to getting their current job than we’re at a P5 school. With 10 million buyouts for coaches to leave schools these days, it’s going to become more rare.
I have been avoiding this topic mostly because I think it’s ridiculous… But I’ll respond here once and that will be that. I’m not going to change any minds, so…
A) the “meaningful vs meaningless wins” is a goalpost move of the highest order. All wins are meaningful. All of them. I don’t care who it’s against. If the end is near for every loss, no matter who it’s against, then the opposite needs to be true for wins. Somewhere else somebody argued that the win at Missouri in 2008 wasn’t a meaningful win. Give me a break. All of the wins make me just as happy as a loss makes me sad.
B) measuring our program to OU is foolish. It just is. It’s like Chili’s saying they’re going to be bigger and better than Ruth’s Cris. Both are good, and both are technically in the same industry… But Ruth’s Cris is always going to cook a better steak. We need to compare OSU to Michigan State, Wisconsin, Auburn, Texas, and Oregon. That is the tier we are on, and to get to the OU, Clemson, Alabama tier it would require changes in our program that are basically impossible because it would mean an illegal change in the “nutrition” program, and for the city of Stillwater to inflate cost of living predictions so that we could give out a better stipend.
C) You kinda ignore that OU plays South Dakota State and San Jose State and Bowling Green and the like every season too… Ok, yeah, Gundy schedules McNeese and Western Illinois. I don’t like that either. But OU has those games on the same schedule as Ohio State too… It also doesn’t take into account that Ohio State won’t come to Stillwater. Full stop. Clemson cancelled the series with us. Those schools don’t see the value in coming to Stillwater and OSU has made a commitment to the city to have more home games. So we can’t give neutral site or 1-2 deals out to those programs. I think the Boise State, Oregon State, and Arkansas series are great for us. I also wish we would play Michigan State, Iowa, etc. to supplement those. I also think the Tulsa series is big… And that goes way deeper than just doing TU a favor. A lot of that is to further strengthen OSU’s campus presence in Tulsa and is a big politics play. So… Yeah…
D) people on this board last night and today have said “I would rather go 1-11 with a win over OU than continue to be mediocre like we are.” I can’t believe I read that. Who’s the bigger loser, me, who thinks a CFP appearance is unattainable because college football is about brands, so I’ll settle with 10+ wins every season… Or the person that only wants to win Bedlam? OSU is better now than it has ever been. Just like when Eddie and Sean were run off… No good coach will touch the job if we fire our greatest coach in school history after what might end up being a 9 win season. Seth Littrell, your boy Mike Norvell… They might take an interview but they won’t take the job. You simply don’t fire your best coach who basically built your program. You let that guy walk on his own terms. Period.
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The OU obsession from some quarters is sad. Utah lost to the conference Blueblood, USC, but they’re the ones playing Friday night for a shot at the playoffs. Some on here think it would be better to beat USC but not play in the CCG. It’s so strange. Beating OU is important because you have to to win the conference. If we start winning the conference and they start going 5-7, they can have bedlam wins for as long as we’re conference champs.
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I think that, starting next year, we will play them twice for at least three years.
And, yeah, I agree… If they were down. Unfortunately, they are at a historic high on the same level as Ohio State, and have been for about 6 years.
When OU takes that step back… I guess… If OU takes that step back, I truly think OSU will be there. Unfortunately, at our peaks, they’ve also been peaking. It sucks. But it is.
Where’s Richard Kennedy to regale us about the 90s when we were equally terrible?
I mean 1997 must have been cool because there are several on here that would love to go back to that.
I’ll take 10+ wins every year. Thanks.
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I’d be curious to know what possible rationale you have for us competing for the Big 12 title for the next three years. We will have an improved SS, yes, but we will almost certainly be losing Chuba (with no readily apparent back capable of replacing him) and Tylan (same story) and have the same playcalling but with fewer playmakers. Our offense will likely take a big step back, and our defense, while another year probably older and stronger, will also be essentially the same D that got worked by OU nearly at will yesterday. Add on to that the fact that our recruiting is not great (Illingworth will be a stud and Eli Russ could be a staple on the line…but I don’t see any other gamebreakers coming in) and I’d imagine that we take yet another step back, not forward. Yes, OU and OSU were peaking at the same time, but as they have been maintaining that peak, we have been declining. That doesn’t bode well for competing for a title, sorry. 10 wins per year WAS our ceiling. Now? 8 or 9 seems more appropriate.
I just have a feeling that our team is going to improve. There’s plenty of talent on offense that should step in. There are, I think, three four star receivers and a four star running back in the stable. There’s also a potential James Washington out there in that receiver from Bixby that will be a true freshman. The OL will be better. Sanders is going to be a star. Gleeson will be given more responsibility.
I also think that both Wallace and Hubbard will be back next season… In spite of it being insane for them to do it.
As for defense… Knowles is getting his guys in place and the ones he has are young. Everybody is back. The recruits are hand picked. They got worked by OU like everybody does and held them to a pretty respectable output given the turnovers and ineptitude from the offense.
I think we are in a great spot. I reserve the right to be optimistic… Because I think this was a good season all in all. Tech was bad… The other losses are semi acceptable given circumstances.
I think we have 6 more years of Gundy and I think they’re going to be great ones. Culminating with a Heisman for Illingsworth.
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I think improved QB and OL play are more than enough to make up for the loss of Chuba and TW (who I don’t even think will leave). Sanders is only going to get better and the OL in year two will likely continue to make strides. Defensively, as has been stated, we return pretty much everyone from a group that was really solid against everyone but OU and Baylor. I think 9 or 10 is super realistic next year.
You’re entitled to your opinion and to be optimistic. I can see your perspective here for sure and do acknowledge you have some decent points here.
However, I disagree almost entirely. I can’t see Chuba burning another year of the notoriously-short lifespan a running back has to stick around after this year and Tylan can probably see the writing on the wall with the ACL tear, especially given his brother’s history. I think they both leave with a ‘thank you, goodbye’. You mentioned the weapons we have. I know that Moore and Anderson have potential, but neither did almost anything this year. Glass, as the RB in waiting, showed up overweight and I don’t know that he got rid of that. They COULD contribute, yes, but it’s going to be another full year or more before they get there. Same with Presley. And if you think Gleeson is going to have any more freedom in playcalling, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you - it’s going to be Gundyball all the way, now until he leaves, for better or worse.
The D has a shot to improve, but they have to be consistent about things. I will grant that they are returning most people, which definitely does help. I just see a lot of cracks there that aren’t effort-based, but talent-based and that can’t be fixed.
This was not a good year, in my mind. We made a push over the last four games (before Bedlam) to avoid it being a complete disaster, but 34-27 (2x), 20-13 (WVU), and 31-13 (Kansas) are not strong wins. They are wins and all wins are good, but they didn’t scream ‘this team is going to be special’ by any means. It was a B- year at best, I think. Not terrible, but certainly not anything to be excited about.
I can’t get behind your last couple sentences though. Six more years of Gundy is going to strip all the joy out of the program and ‘great ones’ isn’t going to happen with him at the helm. Will we win 10 games in some of those seasons? Possibly - but it won’t be every year and it certainly won’t lead to competing for the Big 12 for the next few years. And I’d love a Heisman for Illingworth, don’t get me wrong, but you are so insistent that the CFP is only about brands (which may be accurate)…and the Heisman is much, much worse.
In short, you can be optimistic if you like. I personally can’t whip up the energy to reach that point with Gundy at the helm anymore. I will unequivocally say that he should not be FIRED (which is a terrible idea) and that ‘1-12 and a Bedlam win’ is a ridiculous take. I just think that he is doing more to hurt the team than improve it now and I won’t be sorry to see him ride off into the sunset when he chooses to do so.
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The Chili’s/Ruth Chris comparison is a horrendous one.
One markets itself as a “premium chain” (like Morton’s or Season’s 52 or The Capital Grille), while the other is a low-cost family restaurant chain that serves crap.
Conversely, OU and OSU are both universities with major sports programs, in the same conference (Chili’s and Ruth Chris aren’t in the same “conference”).
… that was the point.
I’m 99% with you on the pro-Gundy perspective with an optimistic outlook (it’s way more enjoyable to live with some optimism). But I’m with @TheHeadChimp in that I don’t like your Chili’s vs. Ruth Chris comparison. Maybe we’re Popeye’s and they’re Chi… wait, we’ve already covered that LOL.
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