Oklahoma State Coach Sends Powerful Message to Mike Gundy as Family Confirms Future Coaching Plans

” The message showed how Gundy pushed his players to stay accountable and believe they belonged on the field.

Smith, who racked up 34 touchdowns in his career, represented a generation of Cowboys who thrived in Gundy’s system, and his respect highlighted the personal side of Gundy’s tenure. Smith’s connection runs through the golden era of Oklahoma State football. That 2011 squad, led by Brandon Weeden, Justin Blackmon, Joseph Randle, and yes, Jeremy Smith, was arguably the best in school history.

They went 12-1, secured the program’s first-ever Big 12 Championship, and capped it off with a Fiesta Bowl win over Stanford.  Smith’s 646 yards and nine touchdowns that year added a bruising balance to Randle’s finesse, showing how deep Gundy’s roster was. While the 2011 Bedlam blowout over Oklahoma (44-10) cemented the Cowboys’ place in the national conversation, it also showed what Gundy built a team capable of hanging with anybody. That’s the legacy former players like Smith remember, even as the program stumbles in the present.

Mike Gundy isn’t retiring

This isn’t the last time you’d be seeing Mike Gundy screaming on the sidelines. Hours after the news broke, college football insider Brett McMurphy shared a telling exchange on X. He asked Cale Gundy, Mike’s younger brother and longtime Oklahoma assistant, whether the veteran coach was done with football. Cale’s response was blunt: “Hell yes & I’m going with him.” That tweet confirmed two things. Mike still has that Mullet-era fire, and he won’t be looking for his next job alone. Cale himself plans to rejoin the grind after being out of coaching since 2022, and the brothers want their next chapter together.

It’s not often you see two Gundy brothers on the same sideline. Their football roots run deep, but they’ve always been on opposite ends of the Bedlam rivalry. Mike was a record-setting quarterback at Oklahoma State in the late ’80s, while Cale was a four-year starter at Oklahoma in the early ’90s and later spent more than 20 years on the Sooners’ staff. For decades, their careers mirrored each other as rivals, but this time feels different.

Now, for the first time, the idea of them working together is on the table. Mike brings 156 wins, 17 straight bowl appearances before things fell apart, and one of the most explosive offensive runs in Big 12 history. Cale brings years of offensive know-how from his time at OU. Put them together, and you’ve got a polarizing package deal that will catch the attention of plenty of programs.