Colorado coach Deion Sanders questioned the recent firing of Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, noting how the game of college has changed and it takes more than good coaching to win.
Gundy took his team to 18 straight bowl games but fell on harder times the past two seasons after reaching the Big 12 Conference championship game as recently as December 2023. His team this year was 1-2 before his firing was announced Tuesday, Sept. 23. His record at Oklahoma State was 170-90.
“You do that to Mike Gundy, man?” Sanders said Thursday on the Colorado Football Coaches Show. “To Mike Gundy?”
Sanders said he got to know Gundy at Big 12 coaches’ meetings and said he sat at the head of the table because of his seniority and success. Sanders called him the “Grand Poobah.” Gundy, 58, was the second-longest tenured head coach in major college football after 21 seasons in Stillwater.
“You can’t expect the man to win out like he’s been winning when the game has changed and it takes finances now to win,” Sanders said. “It just don’t take good coaching now. It takes good coaching and finances.”
Deion Sanders says Mike Gundy is a hero to him
Sanders, 58, had a special message for Gundy on the show:
“Coach, I love you,” Sanders said. “I appreciate you. I respect you. You are a hero to me, and I love everything about you.”
That includes Gundy’s hair. Gundy was known for his mullet, leading the show’s host, Mark Johnson, to mention a rumor that other coaches would grow a mullet in solidarity with Gundy after his firing. Sanders, by contrast, is hair-challenged. Sanders said in the Black community a mullet is called a “shag.”
“I wish to God that rumor was true; that mean I’d be growing hair like yours,” Sanders said.
Gundy is owed $15 million from Oklahoma State to buy out his contract.
“I would love to just pick his brain and learn from him because he’s a winner,” Sanders said.
Sanders’ team is 2-2 this year and plays BYU on Saturday night at home. Last year, Colorado beat Oklahoma State in Boulder, 52-0.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com