Oklahoma State’s head coach reflects on how he would’ve handled college football’s new era
If Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) had existed in the late ’80s, Mike Gundy says there’s a good chance he never would’ve made it to the sideline—at least not as a coach.
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“I’d be like the guy that played at A&M, Johnny Manziel, probably,” Gundy told reporters. “I’d have blown all my money and no telling what would’ve happened.” The longtime Oklahoma State head coach didn’t flinch when he made the comparison. He meant it.
Before he became the face of Oklahoma State football, Gundy was the mulleted, mustached quarterback slinging passes in Stillwater from 1986–1989. But put that version of himself in today’s ecosystem—where athletes sign multi-million dollar endorsements before graduation—and Gundy admits he wouldn’t have survived it.
“There’s no way I would’ve made it,” Gundy said with a grin, referencing the path of former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel, whose fall from grace became a Netflix documentary. “I’m glad I didn’t have that much money.”
Gundy’s honesty is part of what’s made him a staple in college football—21 seasons, a 169–88 record, and a Big 12 title in 2011. It’s also what makes his view on NIL and the transfer portal particularly refreshing: he doesn’t pretend it’s easy to navigate.
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Despite his reservations about how he might’ve handled it as a player, Gundy has embraced the new landscape as a coach. Oklahoma State has managed to stay competitive in the Big 12, even as player movement and NIL reshaped the recruiting world.
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In 2023, Gundy led the Cowboys to a 10-win season and a Fiesta Bowl appearance—without landing a top-25 recruiting class. His secret? “You better adapt, or you’re out,” he’s said in the past. And adapt he has, striking a balance between building relationships and managing modern athlete expectations.
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Mike Gundy may joke about his younger self blowing a Nike deal on muscle cars and cowboy boots, but the truth is clear: in today’s wild west of college football, it’s coaches like Gundy—self-aware, authentic, and unafraid of change—who are best built to survive it.
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