ESPN's Pete Thamel pulls back curtain on Mike Gundy's job security at Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State is coming off of their worst season of the two-decade tenure of Mike Gundy. That is one of the main reasons as to why this year, if if isn’t improved, could be his last in Stillwater.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel shared the latest on Gundy’s future as head coach of the Cowboys on Friday afternoon on ‘College Football Live’. He thinks it doesn’t take much math to add up where the ‘Pokes are with Gundy considering the decisions they made about his contract at the start of their offseason.

“I really think Mike Gundy’s job will be in trouble,” said Thamel. “When wanting to know what institutions do, Woodward and Bernstein told us to follow the money. Well, Oklahoma State made it very clear, with Mike Gundy’s money, what their intentions are. They gave him a pay cut of a million dollars last year, after the winless Big 12 team, and they also cut the amount of his buyout to fire him. You don’t need to be an investigative reporter to see their actions, leading towards some type of action on Gundy if the results don’t get better in 2025.”

“They have run out of patience with Mike Gundy, and he’s certainly stepped in it publicly a few times. So now Oklahoma State wants some wins for their investment,” Thamel said.

Gundy has a career record of 169-88 (.658) at Oklahoma State, as the only head coaching job of his career being at his alma mater, since 2005. However, of the 20 years for him on their sideline, 2024 was by far the worst of them with the Cowboys, who entered the season among the conference’s favorites, finishing at 3-9 overall, including an 0-9 record against the Big 12 which turned a 3-0 start into the program’s worst mark since going winless in 1991.

This also comes amidst his place in the new era of college football. Gundy addressed those thoughts on what’s different about the sport he’s coaching in these days, including doing so with On3’s Andy Staples, this week at Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas.

With all that, Gundy was apparently almost done back in the first week after that season ended in December. He reached what was described as a standoff with the school with him now back on a restructured contract that will pay him one million dollars less per year and won’t include a rollover provision. It was at that time that he had to replace both of the team’s coordinators as well. That’s a telling matter with the school doing that to who is their most successful coach of all time.

With all of their new pieces, there is little to no telling, even from their head coach, of what Oklahoma State will be this fall. What they’ll need to be for Gundy’s sake, though, is better if his time there is going to continue for certain past this season in 2025.