Inside the Gundy-Oklahoma State divorce

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Earlier this month, Oklahoma State diversion officials, regents and donors took a chartered formation to Oregon for the Cowboys' Week 2 crippled against the Ducks.

The trip's intent went beyond watching the game. The radical of astir 50 visited Nike's office and toured a winery founded by an Oklahoma State alum successful Oregon's Willamette Valley. But OSU's powerfulness brokers besides wanted to spot for themselves what it would instrumentality to vie against the precise champion successful assemblage football's revenue-sharing era.

The crippled itself would uncover conscionable however acold the Cowboys had fallen successful a small implicit a twelvemonth nether their legendary caput coach. In a 69-3 beatdown, the Ducks handed OSU its worst nonaccomplishment since Nov. 8, 1907 -- days earlier Oklahoma gained statehood.

The charter formation backmost to Stillwater was somber. Nobody, astatine slightest loudly oregon openly, called for the caput manager to go. But to some, that sentiment felt palpable.

"I deliberation determination was a faction of radical that conscionable wanted to spot change," said 1 OSU source. "Oregon helped that for immoderate of them. Tulsa helped them adjacent more."

Two weeks aboriginal came the biggest gut punch. The Golden Hurricane bushed the Cowboys successful Stillwater for the first clip since 1951, controlling the crippled connected six days' remainder portion OSU came disconnected a bye.

On Tuesday, the schoolhouse yet made a determination that would've been unthinkable lone 2 years agone -- erstwhile the Cowboys played successful the Big 12 rubric crippled -- but lately had seemed inevitable pursuing 11 consecutive losses to FBS opponents.

Three games into his 21st season, OSU fired Mike Gundy.

"We each person precocious expectations for OSU shot due to the fact that of Mike Gundy," diversion manager Chad Weiberg said. "Unfortunately, the results of the past twelvemonth person not met the standard."

Gundy had spent 35 years astatine OSU. Four arsenic a quarterback. Ten arsenic an assistant. Twenty arsenic caput coach, with conscionable 2 losing seasons -- his archetypal and his last. In between, Gundy delivered 18 consecutive winning seasons, tying Oklahoma's Bob Stoops for fifth-most among FBS coaches since 1978, down lone Bobby Bowden, Frank Beamer, Mack Brown and Tom Osborne.

When OU and Texas bolted for the SEC up of the 2024 season, OSU seemed poised to regularisation a weaker Big 12. Instead, the Cowboys went 0-9 successful league play past fall, culminating with a 52-0 nonaccomplishment astatine Colorado.

By the extremity of it, then-board seat Jimmy Harrel led an unsuccessful propulsion to person Gundy fired past December, according to aggregate OSU sources. The winningest manager successful schoolhouse past inactive had capable enactment to upwind 1 atrocious season.

But that backing rapidly dried up during the Oregon and Tulsa debacles. As 1 schoolhouse root enactment it, if the Cowboys were going to get ...