Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. Despite being mildly successful with the Cowboys and sending multiple players to the NFL, Gundy is better known for coming to media days and saying some absolute bullshit.
On Tuesday, Gundy went from saying something comical to pretty dangerous and setting a bad example for people who listen to him surrounding the DUI and subsequent non-suspension for Doak Walker winning RB Ollie Gordon III. Gundy was asked why Gordon wasn’t suspended, and he offered up this explanation:
Here’s Mike Gundy’s entire answer on Ollie Gordon not getting suspended. Not sure “I’ve probably done that a thousand time in my life. And, and, you know which is fine. I got lucky, people get lucky” was the way to go pic.twitter.com/zVig6u7p7V
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 9, 2024
There’s so much wrong with this statement that I don’t even know where to start. I guess I’ll start here: there’s absolutely no explanation or excuse for driving drunk. If you’re drinking, please, please don’t drive after, even if it’s just one drink. Gundy is setting a dangerous precedent for his program and the university, one that allows drunk driving if you’re really good.
Gundy also doing his own research to explain away why he didn’t suspend Gordon is hilarious, considering that Gundy has put his foot in his mouth before while trying to explain his own research (see: COVID-19 response). The thing both the COVID response and the comments about Gordon’s DUI that are in common? Both of them seem like prepared statements. He knew this question was coming, and yet provided one of the worst possible answers you could’ve ever given regarding this situation.
Gordon is 20 years old, he was underage drinking on top of operating a motor vehicle, and Gundy’s response was “hey man we’ve all done it before right?” It’s incredibly stupid, but above that it sets a dangerous precedent at Oklahoma State. Gundy will allow DUIs if you’re good enough, you won’t even get suspended for it! By the way, the legal Blood Alcohol Content in Oklahoma is 0.08%, but that’s only if you’re over 21…BECAUSE UNDERAGE DRINKING AND DRIVING IS REALLY BAD! So yeah, the whole point Gundy makes to allow Gordon not to be suspended is incredibly wrong. He might as well have just said that Gordon is the reason Oklahoma State won a lot of games and they can’t suspend him.
If you think it wouldn’t get worse, it absolutely does:
“If there’s any punishment, it’s make him (Ollie) carry the ball fifty times the first game.”
– Mike Gundy on Ollie Gordon situation
— OKSTProbs (@OKSTProbs) July 9, 2024
Ooh, scary! Forcing a player who has already carried the ball almost 40 times a game last season to … do the same thing he was already doing? It’s asinine to believe that what Gundy is saying can be the only punishment Gordon faces. I can agree with sending Gordon to Big 12 Media Days to answer questions and face accountability. However, choosing not to suspend him because he’s a great back is a terrible thing to do. It puts Gordon above the team and the rules that a team has, just because he’s the best player on the team. It’s really a sad thing, but Gundy comes out looking worse in this than Gordon.
Even the follow up doesn’t make any sense!
Got a chance to follow up with Gundy about this for just a few seconds. He said he was referring to all the times people make “bad decisions,” not specifically drunk driving. https://t.co/vIIA9mS1pT
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 9, 2024
He’s talking about general decision making, but specifically mentions drunk driving when the question was also about a player who got a DUI? Seems pretty specific to me, coach.
Gordon will probably play a lot this season. He’ll probably play really well this season. But what Gundy is using as the explanation for allowing Gordon to play is incredibly dangerous, and sets a bad example for the leader of a football program.
