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Oklahoma State fired former football head coach Mike Gundy on Tuesday, one day after he spoke with reporters during a Monday press conference.

That talk happened three days after the Cowboys were handed an ugly 19-12 home loss to Tulsa, pushing Oklahoma State to 1-2 on the year.

Per ESPN’s Eli Lederman and Jake Trotter, who authored a deep dive into the end of the 21-year Gundy head coaching era at Oklahoma State, the timing of the firing announcement “angered many former OSU players, who found it disrespectful.”

“Total bulls–t,” one former player told ESPN.

Gundy is a legend at Oklahoma State. He was the Cowboys’ starting quarterback for four seasons. During that time, Oklahoma State posted a pair of 10-win seasons. He also threw for 49 touchdowns and 7,997 yards.

Gundy stayed in Stillwater after graduating to become the school’s wide receivers coach. He remained with the program in various capacities through 1995 before leaving for Baylor in 1996. However, Gundy returned to Oklahoma State in 2001 as the school’s associate head coach and offensive coordinator. Four years later, Gundy got promoted to head coach.

Gundy found far more success than struggles over his two decades in town, going 170-90 overall with a 12-6 bowl game record. Oklahoma State won the Big 12 in 2011, and Gundy also won the conference’s coach of the year award on three occasions.

That 2011 season ended with Oklahoma State going 12-1, winning the Fiesta Bowl and finishing third in the Associated Press poll.

Overall, Gundy’s teams finished top 20 in the final AP poll 10 times, including a seventh-place finish in 2021.

Unfortunately, Gundy’s program fell on hard times of late. A 10-win season in 2023 brought hope after the Cowboys went just 7-6 the year before. However, Oklahoma State went 3-9 with a winless 0-9 conference record in 2024. This year began with a 27-7 win over UT Martin before Oklahoma State was crushed 69-3 at Oregon.

Oklahoma State then fell to Tulsa, and that marks the final game of Gundy’s tenure.

Needless to say, Gundy has his fair share of supporters and players who have loved him over the years.

It’s also understandable why former players are upset about the timing of the firing, since Gundy was essentially a lame duck at his press conference in hindsight. If Oklahoma State had inklings of letting Gundy go after the Tulsa loss, it probably should have been done before a presser.

ESPN provided insight on what went down the day of Gundy’s meeting with athletic director Chad Weiberg.

“On Tuesday morning, Gundy held a staff meeting. He told his assistants to simplify the schemes so the players could think less and play faster. He suggested playing more music in practice to bolster enthusiasm. He wanted the players to celebrate more. He even tasked coaches to encourage specific transfer newcomers.

“An hour or so later, Weiberg visited Gundy’s office to tell him he’d been fired. The concept of Gundy leading the Cowboys for the remainder of the season was never discussed.”

As far as what’s next, that seems to be a big question mark.

“Everybody is just lost around here,” a Cowboys athletics source told ESPN on the day Gundy was fired, “trying to figure out what’s about to happen next.”

In the meantime, Doug Meacham, the team’s offensive coordinator and an Oklahoma State alum, is now the interim head coach. He came over to Oklahoma State after spending five years on TCU’s coaching staff.

Meacham’s first game will be Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at home against Baylor.

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