At some point you stop blaming bad luck, injuries and coordinators — and you start blaming the guy in charge. For Oklahoma State, that point came last December, when the only logical move was to fire Mike Gundy after an 0-9 Big 12 season.
The Cowboys had just staggered through one of the most embarrassing campaigns in program history: an 0-9 record in the Big 12 despite returning 20 of 22 starters from a team that had made the league title game the year prior. In 2023, OSU played for a conference championship against Texas. In 2024, with the same roster, they didn’t win a single conference game. If you’re the OSU Board of Regents, that should have been your “we can’t do this anymore” moment with Mike Gundy.
Instead, the Board gave him another life.
Rather than making a clean break after 2024, they let Gundy shuffle assistants like a blackjack dealer. He “cleaned house” by firing a few staff members then predictably struggled to hire quality replacements because the only viable coordinators were already locked into better jobs. The result? Doug Meacham and Todd Grantham ended up holding the keys to a car with no engine. Everyone in Stillwater could see it — except the people running the show.
Fast forward to Week 2 of the 2025 season. Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3.
A national embarrassment on CBS. A plane full of OSU donors sat in the stands at Autzen Stadium courtesy of athletic director Chad Weiberg’s junket. They didn’t see a team “competing,” as Gundy loves to say. They saw a flat-out execution, the Cowboys’ second straight nationally televised humiliation after a 52-0 loss at Colorado to close the 2024 season.
Now even the staunchest of Gundy supporters in the OSU fan base are calling for the coach's dismissal, as if it only now became clear that he's in over his head in modern college football.
My Question: If 0-9 didn’t get him fired, why would 69-3?
And the bigger one: What on earth did Gundy say in those boardrooms last winter that kept him around for another season?
Gundy’s Rope is Endless
The easy answer is politics. Mike Gundy is OSU’s winningest coach and a former Cowboy quarterback. He’s got equity in Stillwater that no outsider ever will. His longevity became his shield. Athletic Director Chad Weiberg and then-university president Kayse Shrum were reportedly the ones who stepped in to “save” him when the Board of Regents had their knives out after 0-9.
Both moves may end up costing them their jobs. Shrum’s already gone, her resignation landing like a coda to the failed Gundy save. Weiberg’s contract is up at the end of this year and even his strongest allies privately admit it’s unlikely he survives.
So yes, Gundy’s survival wasn’t about football. It was about politics and loyalty. And now the entire program is paying the price for not moving on when it was time to fire Mike Gundy.
What Did They Think Was Going to Happen?
This is where the Regents look not just cautious but reckless. After an 0-9 Big 12 season, the only real option was to fire Mike Gundy — yet they doubled down instead, then watch him patch together a staff with retreads and desperation hires — guys who weren’t on anyone’s radar as “program rebuilders?”
The Oklahoma State job, once one of the more attractive gigs in the Power 4, is now damaged goods. Any coach with options will look at what’s happening and ask two questions:
Why didn’t OSU move faster? If they’ll wait this long to fire a guy after 10 straight Power 4 losses, how decisive will they be when it comes time to support the next coach?
Where’s the money? Gundy himself admitted last week that OSU’s donors aren’t willing to spend what it takes in the NIL and transfer portal era. If he’s telling the truth then why would any coach who understands today’s game take this job?
That’s the biggest irony here: OSU didn’t just wait too long to make a change. They also waited long enough to let the program’s value slide all while telling the public they weren’t willing to spend like the big boys anyway.
The Oregon Massacre
The 69-3 loss wasn’t just another L in the standings. It was symbolic. OSU wasn’t competitive for a single snap. They were outclassed physically, mentally and schematically. Gundy told everyone his team was toast all week with the NIL back-and-forth he carried on with Ducks Head Coach Dan Lanning, ensuring Lanning would not only step on Gundy's throat, but twist until he was satisfied he'd helped the Pokes coach drive home the fact his program was no longer competitive with him at the helm.
Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World summed it up perfectly after trading texts with his network of OSU insiders:
“One: Shouldn’t Oklahoma State fire Mike Gundy now?
And two: Gundy’s teams have a history of showing up for big-game challenges like this one. What happened?”
That’s the thing. Gundy’s teams used to play up to their competition. They didn’t beat Oklahoma often — 4–15 tells that story clearly — but they made Bedlam interesting more times than not over the final decade before the Sooners bolted for the SEC, giving Gundy an excuse to cease playing them. Where he really made his mark was flipping the Texas series on its head. For a decade, OSU consistently sent the Longhorns home with bruised egos, proving they could stand toe-to-toe with the “big boys” even while OU always played the role of Big Brother.
Now the Cowboys don’t even look like they belong on the same field as Oklahoma, Texas or Oregon.
What Good Would Firing Him Midseason Do?
This is the question being asked all over Stillwater right now: fire Mike Gundy now or wait until December?
Here’s the reality: firing him today doesn’t magically fix the win-loss column. With 60 new players, this season’s already a lost cause. Promoting Grantham or Meacham as an interim won’t change the product they put on the field the past two weeks.
But firing him now does buy OSU something they’ve lacked for two years: time. Time to identify the right next head coach. Time to quietly work back channels. Time to be at the front of the line in December instead of standing in the back waiting for everyone else to finish their hires.
By waiting, OSU risks another whiff. By moving now, they at least position themselves to compete for the best available names.
Who’s Next?
That’s the conversation fans want to have. And while the Sporting News and others have thrown out names, the list is a mix of realistic and fantasy.
Zac Robinson (Falcons OC, former OSU QB): The cleanest succession plan. Reportedly willing to return as coordinator and coach-in-waiting last year before Gundy nixed the idea. If OSU had cut the cord in 2024, Robinson would already be in Stillwater.
Alex Golesh (USF): A former OSU GA who’s thriving at South Florida. Runs the kind of uptempo offense OSU fans love. But USF is hot right now, and after his Bulls beat Florida Saturday, he's more likely to end up on the sideline in the Swamp than the one in Stillwater. Truth be told, it's arguable that the gig he has now isn't preferable to OSU, especially if you enjoy upward mobility.
Jon Sumrall (Tulane): The hottest non-Power-4 name in America. But with Kentucky likely to open, not to mention Florida, Auburn and Arkansas, Oklahoma State's odds of getting him are – at best – a pipe dream.
Collin Klein (A&M OC): Feels destined for Kansas State more than Stillwater.
Andy Kotelnicki (Penn State OC): Everyone’s flavor of the month, but how real is his connection to OSU?
Jeff Traylor (UTSA): This is the coach I would be chasing in Stillwater, even before Robinson. He's a proven program-builder with Texas recruiting ties, and he’s already shown he can win with less (last week his Roadrunners gave Big Money Texas A&M all it could handle despite having about 10-percent of the resources the Aggies have at their disposal).
And then there are names that make less sense: Eric Bieniemy (always a candidate, never a hire), Todd Monken (ties to OSU but doing fine with the Ravens) and Jim Knowles (why would he even consider a return to Stillwater?).
If OSU is serious, they’ll need to open the wallets and get aggressive. Anything less and they’ll be shopping from the bargain bin again.
The Legacy Question
Mike Gundy has 170 wins and 89 losses. He’s OSU’s winningest coach. He gave Cowboy fans Bedlam drama, double-digit win seasons and a 2011 Big 12 title that will live forever in Stillwater lore.
But legacy doesn’t erase reality. The last two years have dragged OSU from “steady Big 12 contender” to “laughingstock of Power 4 football.” Ten straight losses to Power 4 opponents. The last two by a combined 121-3 to Colorado and Oregon.
It’s not just losing. It’s irrelevance. And that’s the death sentence for a program in a sport where being forgotten is worse than being bad.
Where Does OSU Go From Here?
Here’s the real question OSU fans should be asking: Do you trust this leadership group to get it right?
The Regents blinked after 0-9. Shrum is gone. Weiberg is a lame duck. Gundy is daring them to fire him — and knowing him, he’ll probably make them do it instead of taking the easy “retirement” route.
So what happens now? Does OSU get bold, clean house and start selling donors on a new vision? Or does it keep dragging its feet, waiting until December and risk starting a rebuild two years late with no momentum?
The answer will shape the program for the next decade.
Final Thought
Mike Gundy gave Oklahoma State its golden era in college football — as long as we're not counting the mythical 1945 National Championship OSU laid claim to a few years ago.
But college football changed — NIL, the transfer portal, fundraising, donor relations — and Gundy didn’t. He resisted. He complained. He dragged his feet.
And now he’s dragged OSU down with him.
The Board of Regents should have ended this story last year. By waiting, they made the job less attractive, the rebuild harder and the donors angrier. They chose loyalty over logic.
Now they’re reaping the results. And unless they act soon, they’ll be left watching another wave of coaches pass them by while OSU searches for answers in a sport that doesn’t wait for anyone.
Because the truth is simple: the Mike Gundy era is over. The only question is how long Oklahoma State is willing to pretend otherwise.
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Jason Watkins is the founder and managing editor of HOF Media Group and the HOF College Football YouTube channel. He can be reached at jw@hofmedia.us.
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The SEC transition has been harsher on Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners than anticipated, with a tough 1-4 start sparking fan concerns over Venables’ leadership.
Despite glimpses of offensive progress in their latest 26-14 loss at Ole Miss, Oklahoma’s 4-4 record has fueled doubts about Venables’ ability to steer the program through the SEC’s relentless competition. While injuries to key offensive players have created challenges, Venables’ hesitance to address coaching issues and poor communication within the offensive staff have only deepened the Sooners' struggles.
The failure of the offensive staff to communicate effectively and Venables’ hesitance to manage his coaching staff proactively have compounded the difficulties presented by mounting injuries.
Hesitancy on Display: The 4th-Down Decision
Venables' hesitation was encapsulated on Saturday, just six days after finally relieving Littrell of his duties as offensive coordinator: the 4th-and-4 timeout against Ole Miss late in the third quarter. Trailing by two scores, Oklahoma needed a jolt to stay in the game.
The situation was critical, but hardly complex. Coaches make these calls instinctively, often without a second thought. Instead, Venables used a timeout — only to ultimately bring out the punt team, a decision that deflated the offense and left fans scratching their heads.
If the choice was to punt, Venables could’ve delayed the game for a mere five yards instead of burning a precious timeout. If he intended to go for it, why not get his new play caller’s best play for the situation and make the call confidently?
Even if the Sooners fail to pick up the four yards, it would have signaled a willingness to take a chance — or give one — to an offense that has been less-than-inspiring all season.
In that one instance, Venables’ hesitation was as costly as a missed play. With the momentum squarely in favor of Lane Kiffin’s Rebels, burning that timeout only to punt sent the wrong signal to a young group on offense that is in serious need of someone who believes in them. Instead, he proved he didn’t trust them to get a measly four yards and extend a drive to get back into the game.
OU’s Identity Crisis on Offense
What we’re witnessing with OU’s offense is not merely a slump — it’s an identity crisis. Oklahoma fans are accustomed to high-powered, fast-paced offenses that can score almost at will. Littrell’s offense was anything but explosive for seven weeks, and Joe Jon Finley had a lackluster, scoreless latter half of Week 8, too.
To say the Sooners struggled to establish consistency would be an overwhelming understatement.
OU has struggled with untimely penalties and turnovers and suffered through a complete lack of innovation and creativity. The plays feel uninspired, lack direction and are devoid of explosive results.
As a unit, this offense is drawing comparisons to the infamous John Blake era, and has the numbers to back the comparison up. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
There’s no other way to say it but bluntly … OU has no clear identity with its offense on the field.
The offensive woes go beyond play-calling; they’re structural. Reports from inside the Switzer Center suggest that there have been significant communication breakdowns within the offensive staff. Coaches have reportedly been on different pages regarding even the most fundamental elements, like blocking schemes. If those rumors are reaching the public, it’s safe to say Venables has known about these issues for some time.
A head coach — even a defensive-minded one like Venables — cannot allow such dysfunction to persist. These aren’t minor misunderstandings; they’re symptoms of a team struggling to find cohesion. Venables needed to address these issues early, before they became embedded in the team’s culture, but his delay in doing so has turned what might have been small fires into an inferno.
Mailed-In Hire: The Problem with Littrell
When Venables hired Seth Littrell, it felt like a placeholder decision. It wasn’t the bold, visionary hire that programs like Oklahoma should be making. Littrell’s track record showed some promise, but he had yet to prove himself as the kind of offensive mind that could elevate a program to championship contention.
Looking back on the decision to elevate Littrell and Finley, the hire seems more like an afterthought, a half-measure rather than a commitment to offensive excellence.
The results have been glaringly obvious. The offense lacks explosive creativity that OU fans are used to seeing, and that lack of energy has translated into downright unacceptable performances on the field, as evidenced by the Sooners’ historically bad statistical rankings in FBS football.
In just ten months on the job, Littrell and his offensive staff failed to the tune of numbers nobody in their right minds would have predicted following the Sooners’ 2023 season that saw the offense rank in the Top 5 in both Total Offense and Scoring Offense, and alone at the top of the Big 12 Conference in Points, Yards and Yards Per Play.
This despite having two of the most electric quarterbacks from their respective recruiting classes in the fold:
2023 5-star and Elite 11-winning Jackson Arnold of Denton Guyer, the 2023 Gatorade National HS Player of the Year and twice a Class 6A State Finalist in Texas.
And former Allen and Frisco Emerson (Texas) superstar Michael Hawkins, Jr., a Sooner legacy trained by Kyler's father Kevin Murray, and who, as a senior, accounted for 55 touchdowns and just three turnovers, leading Emerson to within a game of playing for a Texas State Championship in Class 5A.
Neither were able to sustain success under Littrell's tutelage, and rumors have swirled this week about none of OU's QBs feeling as though been properly developed by the now-fired Littrell as the QBs coach.
Both started a games after being inserted for the other following ineffective play, and both came into their first appearances under Littrell with confidence and swagger that appeared missing by the time they were pulled from games after committing three turnovers and allowing the Sooners to fall behind teams they likely could have beaten were it not for the turnovers they committed.
In other words, Seth Littrell had to go.
Saturday’s loss leaves Oklahoma at 4-4, staring down a potential losing season -- the second for Venables since he arrived after the abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley to USC.
These are unacceptable at Oklahoma, a school with one of the richest football traditions in the country. What makes it even more alarming is that no longer can OU fans blame the losses on a ineffectice, suoddr defense — OU seems to have mostly turned the corner on that side of the ball — but to say the fan base is frustrated, would again be a massive understatement.
Oklahoma fans don’t want excuses; they want results. And for a head coach like Venables, the time for excuses is running out.
The Next OC Hire: BV’s Defining Moment
After Finally punting the Littrell experiment — once again needing more time than most believe he should have — Venables again finds himself in the market for a new offensive coordinator — for the third time in three seasons.
This time, though, the choice Venables makes will ultimately define his second tenure in Norman, possibly his entire future as a head coach in college football. Mailing it in would be tantamount to a dereliction of duty in the eyes of Sooner Nation.
Venables MUST get this one right. He has to bring in someone with a proven track record of offensive success, someone who can bring energy, innovation, and a clear identity to the offense. Anything less than a home-run hire will only deepen the cracks in Venables’ foundation as head coach.
If Venables fails to find the right offensive coordinator, his job security will slip through those cracks, and his tenure as the Head Ball Coach of the Sooners will die in a whimper. Even if he builds a defense that resembles the ’85 Bears, it won’t matter if OU’s offense can’t score points.
The OU fan base is patient to a degree, but they expect excellence. For Venables, this is a make-or-break moment.
Either he finds the right offensive coordinator and proves he can lead a balanced, championship-caliber team, or he risks being shown the door in a year or less.
The Venables Paradox: Championship Defense, JV Offense
The irony of Venables’ situation is that, in many ways, Oklahoma has become Lincoln Riley’s reverse image. Under Riley, the Sooners fielded prolific offenses but were plagued by a porous defense that could never quite get them over the championship hump.
With Venables, it’s the opposite: the defense has shown promise, but the offense is currently in full-on spiral.
The head coach role, especially at Blue Blood OU, requires more than defensive expertise or recruiting prowess. It demands a complete vision, a well-rounded team, and an unwavering commitment to excellence on both sides of the ball.
For Venables to truly establish himself as a championship-level head coach, he has to be willing to delegate offense to someone who can make people forget he’s a defensive guru and simply call him “Coach.” To reach the heights that Oklahoma fans demand, Venables needs to be remembered not as a defensive mind but as a leader who fields a complete team. That requires taking risks, making tough decisions, and, most importantly, holding his staff to the highest possible standard.
It requires a decisive, confident vision for a championship future. The clock is ticking on Brent Venables’ tenure in Oklahoma, and his window for turning things around is narrowing.
Being the head coach at Oklahoma is an honor, but it’s also a responsibility. Venables needs to rise to that responsibility, or he and Lincoln Riley might both be in the job market this time next year.
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Jason Watkins is the Publisher at HOF Media Group and the Host of the HOF College Football Podcast. Reach him at jw@hofmedia.us