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Mike Gundy's son, Gunnar, posts cryptic message after coach's firing at Oklahoma State

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison09/25/25dan_morrison96
Gunnar Gundy, Oklahoma State
© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

After more than two decades as the head coach at Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy was fired by the school on Tuesday. It was a bold move to move on from a program legend, and it happened at an interesting point in the season, still early on. Because of Gundy’s status as a legend within that program, it was also a move that would never have universal popularity.

One person who likely isn’t happy with the move is Gunnar Gundy, the son of Mike Gundy, who played quarterback for the Cowboys. He took to social media recently. There, he cryptically posted a quote from President Theodore Roosevelt, taking from his “The Man in the Arena” passage.

“It is not the critic who counts,” The Man in the Arena begins. “Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again.”

“Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The Man in the Arena is a passage that comes from Roosevelt’s Citizenship in a Republic speech. It’s become a popular phrase in the culture since then to refer to someone who goes out and does the thing, rather than watching from the sidelines. It’s still often used in American politics, as well as in sports, like the Tom Brady docuseries entitled “The Man in the Arena.”

Gunnar Gundy didn’t add much context, instead choosing to leave his post cryptic. However, given that his father was recently let go, it’s hard to imagine that the post is unrelated to that, and he his potentially referencing his father as the proverbial Man in the Arena.

If this indeed was a defense of Mike Gundy, it’s not the first time one of his sons has publicly defended him. Earlier this season, Gavin Gundy went after a reporter on social media who was critical of his father. That came following the blowout loss to Oregon.

“Imagine being this pathetic,” Gavin Gundy wrote. “You will never understand the size of balls it takes to do what he does… and how Oklahoma State would be completely irrelevant without him. So you can sit there and tweet all you want but you will never know what it takes to be successful in life.”

Regardless, Mike Gundy has seen his time at Oklahoma State come to an end. He played quarterback there from 1986 to 1989 before two different tenures as an assistant coach. In 2005, he became the head coach there, finishing with a 170-90 record and 10 AP Top 25 finishes.