Oklahoma State Just Fired Mike Gundy—And They Still Owe Him Millions Of Dollars

It's been a rough couple of years for the Oklahoma State Cowboys football program and longtime head coach Mike Gundy. The Cowboys finished 10-4 in 2023 and earned a victory in the Texas Bowl to finish the year at No. 16 in the Coaches and AP Polls. Then, the school opened up the 2024 season at 3-0, reaching as high as No. 13 in the AP Poll. That brief winning streak was followed by nine consecutive losses to end the season, capped off by a grand finale of a 52-0 home defeat to Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.

This season, the Cowboys started off 1-2, and the administration had seen enough. Oklahoma State fired Gundy after 21 years at the program. He had been the second-longest tenured FBS coach.

Gundy restructured his contract this offseason. And now, he's going to get a hefty buyout: He'll receive $15 million from the university.

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The new contract ran through 2028 and would have paid Gundy $6.75 million this season, with a $125,000 raise in each subsequent year. If the university could have waited until 2028, his buyout would have only been $10 million. With the current state of the program, waiting wasn't an option.

Even though things aren't great right now, Gundy succeeded in turning the program around. Before his arrival in 2005, the school had only achieved double-digit wins three times in its history. And Oklahoma State has played official games since 1901—that's three 10+ win seasons in 103 years!

Gundy hit the double-digit mark in eight different seasons, and he led the Cowboys to the school's first and only outright Big 12 title in 2011. He finishes his Oklahoma State career as the winningest coach in program history with a record of 170-90, a Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year award, and three Big 12 Coach of the Year awards.

In recent years, Gundy saw his recruiting efforts struggle. NIL deals and players switching schools more frequently disrupted the consistency he had worked to build. Eventually, the wheels completely fell off.

Throughout his head coaching career, Gundy had earned well over $60 million in salary and bonuses. He also had incentives with reaching bowl games and conference championships that added to his compensation. Including his buyout, he's now made north of $75 million as a head coach.

We may yet see the 58-year-old Gundy on the sidelines at another school. But there's no need to rush. After this buyout, he's certainly not hurting for money.