Tag: Mike Gundy

What’s next for the Oklahoma Sooners after Brent Venables’ first Big 12 win

After the Sooners picked up the first conference win of the Brent Venables era, what needs to happen for this season to be viewed as a success?

It took a bit longer than expected, but Brent Venables finally has his first win in the Big 12 as a head coach. The Oklahoma Sooners are now 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

So what does this mean for the rest of the season?

The hopes of contending for a Big 12 title in year one of the Brent Venables era have pretty much evaporated. Perhaps we all got a bit too excited during the Summer. There was never enough talent on this roster to win this version of the Big 12. So what’s left?

There are three things that need to happen for me to consider this season a success.

First, make it to a bowl game. I don’t care how bad it gets, there’s no excuse for not going bowling this year. The Sooners need two more wins with five games remaining on the schedule to be bowl-eligible. That’s not asking for much.

Second, keep this recruiting class together. Per 247Sports, OU has the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation. There are so many talented players in that class, and they absolutely have to be in Norman next year.

Third, they need to beat Oklahoma State. After all the talking Mike Gundy has done about OU and Texas moving to the SEC, losing to the Cowboys at home isn’t acceptable. With OSU losing to TCU, a loss to OU in November could very well knock them out of the Big 12 title race.

With Dillon Gabriel healthy, this Sooners team can beat every team left on their schedule. They may not have the talent to win the Big 12, but they can absolutely play spoiler for the next two months.

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What to make of Mike Gundy’s press conference ahead of Texas game

Spencer Sanders’ availability will play a huge role in the outcome of the game.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy had an interesting press conference on Monday. It wasn’t the instant classic that some past soundbites have been, but it was enlightening nevertheless.

Gundy has built the Oklahoma State Cowboys into a respected team nationally. The Cowboys made the Big 12 championship game last year, but their success didn’t begin there. Since 2007, the school has reached eight wins in all but two seasons. They have reached 10 wins in seven of those fifteen seasons.

The Cowboys’ head coach is elite at team building, talent evaluation and assistant coaching hires. As for his football acumen, he is adept at picking apart opponents’ weaknesses, even if the opponent is far more talented than his team.

Let’s examine what we can glean from his press conference on Monday.

Mike Gundy says he interviewed 3 times for Bucs’ head coach job in 2012

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers almost landed a different college head coach back in 2012

Before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Greg Schiano to be their head coach back in 2012, they had their sights set on another successful college coach.

Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy says the Bucs interviewed him three times for their head job during that offseason, but ultimately decided the NFL wasn’t for him (via Tulsa World’s Kelly Hines).

Gundy remained at OSU instead, and has continued to lead the Pokes to plenty of success in the Big 12.

Schiano lasted just two seasons in Tampa Bay, posting a record of 11-21 before being replaced by Lovie Smith, who also lasted just two seasons.

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Happy 15th anniversary, college football fans and Mike Gundy

What is your favorite football coach rant of all-time?

15 years ago today wasn’t a particularly memorable day if you’re a Notre Dame fan as the 2007 Fighting Irish squad was beat up by Michigan State 31-14 and fell to 0-4 for the first time in program history.  That team was bad, it got worse before it got better, and ultimately finished 3-9.

On that day however it wasn’t [autotag]Charlie Weis[/autotag] who went on a legendary postgame rant that still gets played on countless sports radio shows to this day.  It was instead a young head coach by the name of [autotag]Mike Gundy[/autotag] who met the media following a shootout victory over Big 12 rival Texas Tech.

The rest as they say is history.

I’m not sure how many of us thought Gundy, who improved to just 13-15 as Oklahoma State’s head coach on this day, would still be leading the Cowboys by the time he was 55, but having led Oklahoma State to 16-straight bowl games and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame a year ago, it certainly doesn’t appear that he’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

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Five Big 12 football coaches with the most to prove in 2022

These Big 12 coaches have an important season ahead of them.

Excitement is building as the 2022 College football season is less than a month away. Continue reading “Five Big 12 football coaches with the most to prove in 2022”

Brent Venables at No. 8 in CBS Sports Big 12 head coach rankings

Brent Venables comes in at No. 8, but how does CBS Sports rank the remaining Big 12 coaches heading into the 2022 season?

This past winter saw the Big 12 turn over more than 25% of its coaching ranks as Brent Venables, Sonny Dykes, and Joey McGuire took over at Oklahoma, TCU, and Texas Tech.

Dykes is the only one of the three that enters 2022 with any head coaching experience after stops at Louisiana Tech, Cal and SMU. While Venables doesn’t have any head coaching experience, he’s spent the better part of the last 30 years learning from hall of fame coaches Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops and Dabo Swinney. As arguably the best defensive coordinator of the last decade, Venables gets to try his hand at building and running his first football program.

There’s a great deal of optimism surrounding Oklahoma under Venables, and there’s little doubt that the Sooners will have success. However, the turnover the Sooners endured this offseason leaves many wondering if Oklahoma can reassert itself as the king of the Big 12 in 2022.

In a deep league full of quality coaches, Venables checks in at No. 8 in CBS Sports Big 12 coach rankings for 2022. And that’s simply because he hasn’t done it before.

Here’s a look at how the coaches stack up in the Big 12 conference.

Ranking the Big 12 head football coaches ahead of the 2022 season

The Big 12 could be one of the best coaching conferences.

Some of the top head coaches and strategists come from the Big 12 conference. Continue reading “Ranking the Big 12 head football coaches ahead of the 2022 season”

With realignment at the forefront again, Bedlam has a chance at a future

As USC, UCLA, and the Big 10 brought realignment back to the forefront, could this present an opportunity for the Bedlam to continue? But as an SEC rivalry?

USC and UCLA shook the college football on Thursday with the announcements that they’re joining the Big 10 conference. That’s nearly a year after the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns did the same thing last summer with their announced move to the SEC.

The Pac-12’s realignment hasn’t been met with the same angst that Oklahoma’s has, but that’s primarily because USC and UCLA are rivals moving together and happen to be in the biggest media market on the west coast.

Funny how that goes.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ departure to the SEC with their rival Texas was a pairing that had to happen. Preserving Red River was something that both OU, Texas, and the SEC wanted. Left out in the cold, though, was Oklahoma’s in-state rival Oklahoma State.

In the aftermath, Oklahoma State leadership didn’t mince words about their frustration and disappointment in reaction to Oklahoma leaving the conference and potentially leaving Bedlam behind. While the Sooners have remained open about Bedlam remaining part of their nonconference schedule, Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State President Kayse Shrum weren’t so optimistic.

But with conference realignment reshaping the college football landscape once again, there may be an opportunity for Bedlam to continue.

As the Big 10 expands its membership to 16 with the additions of USC and UCLA, there are hints that they could be looking to get even bigger by adding Oregon and Washington. If the Big 10 goes to 18 or works to get to 20 as has also been rumored, then the SEC could look to respond by adding members themselves. They could go to 18, or 20, or bigger.

While everyone looks at ACC powers Clemson, Florida State, and Miami (at least historically), Shrum and Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg have an opportunity to get back into Bed(lam) with Oklahoma. If they want to.

Picking up the phone and calling SEC commissioner Greg Sankey could get the ball rolling on further expansion of Oklahoma’s future home and reunite the in-state rivals in a game that’s been played since 1904.

Bedlam might not move the needle in terms of national recognition as a rivalry, but next to OU-Texas, it’s the biggest regional rivalry going since Texas A&M and Nebraska left for the SEC and Big 10 a decade ago.

Though Oklahoma has dominated the rivalry, the 2021 edition showed the magnitude of the game as Oklahoma State pulled off the 37-31 win in Stillwater. The environment was rocking and the game was electric.

Oklahoma’s move to the SEC wasn’t a personal decision, it was a business one. While it certainly created a lot of feelings, if there’s any desire to keep Bedlam going in the future, then Oklahoma State has to put those feelings aside and do business.

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CBS Sports ranked every Power Five coach; how did the Big 12 fare?

Tom Fornelli ranked each of the power five coaches 1-65, where did the Big 12’s coaches land on the list?

The Big 12 welcomes three new coaches to its ranks in 2022. Brent Venables at Oklahoma, Sonny Dykes at TCU, and Joey McGuire at Texas Tech. Each come in with different expectations and experiences.

Dykes has 12 years of head coaching experience, including four at the Power Five. Venables has been a defensive coordinator for more than 20 years at Oklahoma and Clemson, winning three national titles, and learning under some of the legends of the game. McGuire, a high school coaching legend, spent time on Dave Aranda’s staff but hasn’t been a coordinator at the college level.

There’s no right path to a head coaching gig and the Big 12’s coaches come from a vast array of experiences. Chris Klieman was dominant at FCS North Dakota State. Steve Sarkisian had stops at USC and Washington before resurrecting his career as the offensive coordinator for Alabama. Dave Aranda rode LSU’s 2019 national title success to his first head coaching job at Baylor. Lance Leipold took over at Kansas without much time to prep for the 2021 season. Mike Gundy and Matt Campbell have been mainstays of the conference. Campbell has been a head coach for 11 seasons, including the last six at Iowa State while Gundy has been the head coach at Oklahoma State for the last 17 seasons.

It’s an interesting cast of characters in the Big 12, but how do they stack up compared to the rest of the Power Five. Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports ranked all 65 head coaches ahead of the 2021 season.

You can take a look at the coaches ranked 26-65 and the top 25 from Tom Fornelli and CBS Sports.

Does Steve Sarkisian have what it takes to win a national championship?

Is Steve Sarkisian due for a national championship in the near future? Some think so.

It hasn’t happened for Texas since Vince Young wore the burnt orange, but Longhorn fans haven’t wavered from anxiously awaiting to experience another national championship. Continue reading “Does Steve Sarkisian have what it takes to win a national championship?”