Former Oklahoma standout Gabe Ikard adds more detail on Cale Gundy resignation
Late Sunday night, longtime Oklahoma Sooners staffer Cale Gundy resigned. In a statement that Gundy released, he admitted to using “one particular word,” which he was “horrified” about. This happened when he took a player’s iPad and read aloud what was on the screen.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables accepted his resignation. Gundy was the wide receivers coach for the Sooners. He had been on the Oklahoma staff since 1999 in a variety of offensive assistant roles. Previously, he had been the team’s quarterback in the early 1990s.
Now, former Oklahoma offensive lineman Gabe Ikard has responded to the news through Twitter, with new insight into the situation.
“Talked to a few current players about the situation earlier today. Seemed like the team had talked through it and the vast majority wanted Cale Gundy to stay. But ultimately…Cale did what he thought was best for the program,” Gabe Ikard tweeted.
“Sad night. Damn it.”
Gundy was the running backs coach while Ikard was at Oklahoma. There, Ikard was an All-American and three-time All-Big 12 talent.
Other former Oklahoma players have responded
Gabe Ikard isn’t the only former Oklahoma player to give their thoughts on the situation. Joe Mixon, who played running back for the Sooners, also gave his thoughts on what happened.
“Coach Gundy is everything OU and any institution would want in a coach, teacher, and mentor,” Mixon wrote. “He is caring, thoughtful, intelligent, smart, funny, experienced, philanthropic, humble, and selfless. If not for Coach Gundy I would not have attended OU, survived at OU, stayed at OU, and succeeded in life after OU. I owe my education and professional career to him and most importantly I owe who I am as a person to him,” Joe Mixon said in a statement.
“Most importantly Coach Gundy is not, and I repeat is not a racist in any way nor has a racist bone in his body, mind, or soul.”
Brent Venables’ statement
New Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables inherited Cale Gundy when he took the job. At one point, though, they had been coworkers when Venables was on Bob Stoops’ staff. He released a statement following Gundy’s resignation.
“He’s dedicated more than half of his life to Oklahoma Football and has served our program and university well. We’re thankful for that commitment. We also acknowledge that in stepping aside he’s placed the program and the welfare of our student-athletes first. In coaching and in life, we’re all accountable for our actions and the resulting outcomes.”
“The culture we’re building in our program is based on mutual respect. Our staff is here to develop successful student-athletes, but also young men of character. As the leaders of this program, it’s essential that we hold ourselves to the highest standards as we model for our players the type of men we want them to become.”
Venables went on to name L’Damian Washington the new Oklahoma wide receivers coach.