Michael Ray Gundy​ (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former

player. He is currently the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at
Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. He became Oklahoma State's coach on January 3,
2005. In 2007, he received national media attention for his heated criticism of a newspaper article on one of his
players.Biography.

Playing career
At Midwest City High School, Gundy played quarterback, and was voted Oklahoma Player of the Year in 1986. His high
school football coach was Dick Evans.Gundy was heavily recruited by the Oklahoma Sooners but in the end signed with
the Oklahoma State University Cowboys. He became the starting quarterback midway through his freshman year.
Gundy would become the all-time leading passer in Oklahoma State and Big 8 Conference history.​[1]​ In four seasons
Gundy threw 49 touchdowns and 7,997 yards, including 2,106 yards in 1987 and 2,163 in 1988.​[1]​ He led the Cowboys
to bowl wins in the 1987 Sun Bowl and 1988 Holiday Bowl aided by two Hall of Fame running backs: Thurman Thomas
and Barry Sanders.He also led OSU to two 10-win seasons.
Mike Gundy held the record for most consecutive passes attempted without an interception at the start of a career by a
freshman in Division 1 history with 138, until Baylor freshman Robert Griffin III broke it in 2008. Coincidentally, Baylor
was playing against Gundy's Oklahoma State team when Griffin surpassed the mark. After the game, Gundy was able
to personally congratulate Griffin on the accomplishment.

Coaching career

Early positions
When Gundy graduated, he joined Pat Jones' staff as an assistant coach. He was wide receiver coach in 1990,
quarterback coach from 1991–1993 and offensive coordinator from 1994–1995.
Gundy was quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator for Baylor during the 1996 season. He was on staff with
Larry Fedora at Baylor and would rekindle that relationship when he became head coach at Oklahoma State, bringing
Fedora on as his offensive coordinator. After the 1996 season, Gundy moved again, this time to Maryland where he
was wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator from 1997–2000 for the Terps.

Oklahoma State
In 2001, the Oklahoma State University head football coach job became vacant when Bob Simmons resigned and a
search produced Les Miles and Mike Gundy as the finalists. Miles was hired as head coach and Gundy was brought
aboard as offensive coordinator. The team would go on to three straight bowl games in Miles' last three years as head
coach. When Miles left in 2004 to take the LSU job, Gundy was named immediately as Miles' successor and the 22nd
head coach at Oklahoma State. Gundy is one of three head football coaches at Oklahoma State to have played for
Oklahoma State, along with Jim Lookabaugh and Floyd Gass.
Gundy's first season saw the expulsion of eleven players from the team and the Cowboys struggled to a 4–7 record
winning only one Big 12 conference game.
In his second season, the Cowboy offense began to click and the Cowboys would finish 7–6 including a victory over the
Alabama Crimson Tide in the Independence Bowl.
In 2007, the Cowboys again posted a 6–6 regular season record and a bowl win over the Indiana Hoosiers in the Insight
Bowl. After their second straight bowl appearance, Gundy was rewarded with a contract extension through the 2013
season. Since 2008, Gundy has led the Cowboys to 59 wins, almost 10 wins per season on average. Many people
would consider this to be the most successful period in Oklahoma State football history. He has also led the Pokes to
twelve-straight bowl seasons, another Cowboy record.​[4]

2007 dispute with the media

On September 22, 2007, Gundy made comments that became the subject of a nationwide media controversy and
generated a viral video. During a press conference following his team's victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders,
Gundy criticized an article by Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman.The article contained guesses as to why quarterback
Bobby Reid, who had been publicly supported by the coaching staff earlier in the year, was demoted to second-string.
Gundy condemned the article as a personal attack on a young player and offered himself as a better target for criticism
when he shouted "Come after me! I'm a man! I'm forty!" Gundy has stated that he does not mind criticizing college
athletes' on-field performance but does not appreciate critiquing college athletes otherwise.The Oklahoman sports
editor, Mike Sherman, stood by the story. Mike Griffith, president of the Football Writers Association of America, called
Gundy's behavior "completely inappropriate."CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd went further saying, "Mike Gundy needs to
be reprimanded, definitely suspended, probably fined and maybe fired."OSU athletic director Mike Holder stood behind
Gundy, saying that "nothing is more important to us than our student-athletes."Gundy would later state that the incident
was a blessing in disguise, as the image of his strident defense of one of his players had a lasting positive effect on
recruiting.

2008 season
In 2008, Gundy led the Oklahoma State Cowboys to their best season in 20 years. They were ranked in the top 15 for
most of the season. The season ended with an appearance in the Holiday Bowl, where they lost to Oregon. Gundy was
rewarded with a new seven-year contract worth $15.7 million. The contract, which extended through the 2015 season,
went into effect on January 1, 2009.

2011 season
Thus far the high-water mark for Gundy, the Cowboys won the Big 12 championship, the program's first conference
championship since 1976 (when they tied as co-champions) and first outright conference championship since 1948. The
team featured two-time Biletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden, both first-round
draft picks in the 2012 NFL Draft​]​ as well as a defense that led the FBS in turnover margin
The team also appeared in the program's only BCS game, defeating Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal 41–38 in
overtime at the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.

2011–present
On September 24, Gundy's Cowboys survived a fourth-quarter rally by Texas A&M to win 30–29. It was Gundy's 63rd
win as head coach of the Cowboys, vaulting him past Jones to become the winningest coach in school history.
He has since led Oklahoma State to 10 wins in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, including an appearance in the 2016
Sugar Bowl–the third major-bowl appearance in school history. Gundy has had a hand in eight of Oklahoma State's nine
10-win seasons–two as a player, six as head coach.
After the 2017 season, the Cowboys are 2–11 vs. the Oklahoma Sooners under Gundy as head coach. Gundy has
been associated with the series 28 times as a player or a coach.

Allegations of misconduct
In September 2013, Sports Illustrated published a series of articles​ ​as part of an investigation beginning with Les Miles'
tenure as head coach at Oklahoma State from 2001 and continuing through Gundy's tenure as head coach in 2011.
The allegations concerning Gundy included involvement in a bonus system for players along with direct payments and
no-show or sham jobs involving boosters, continuing diminished academic standards including players playing who
were otherwise academically ineligible such as having players' school work done by so-called tutors and other school
personnel, tolerating widespread drug abuse among the players by continuing a sham drug counseling program and
selective drug enforcement, and also purportedly like Miles, personally interviewing hostess candidates for the Orange
Pride hostess program and facilitating some hostesses having sex with prospective recruits. In response to the
allegations, Gundy stated: "I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished here, both on and off the field. Our goal has
always been to take young people from where their parents have gotten them and to make them better over a four- or
five-year period. We’re very proud of that in many ways. So, until further time—and obviously the university will make
that decision—there’s not any comment that we would have on the Sports Illustrated article."​ ​Les Miles generally denied
any wrongdoing during his time as head coach at OSU. Following the SI series Oklahoma State conducted an intensive
review of practices policies led by Charles Smrt. There were no findings of misconduct of any significance found. One of
the authors of the report, Thayer Evans made news for getting caught in a sting Operation at Hobie Point where
numerous cases of outraging public decency had occurred. Many current and former players, professors, and
supporters have made statements refuting the SI articles.

Personal life
Gundy and his wife, Kristen, have three children, Gavin, Gunnar and Gage. His brother, Cale Gundy, was a starting
quarterback at Oklahoma in the 1990s and is currently OU's Assistant Head Coach, Director of Recruiting and Inside
Receivers Coach. Gundy has also accrued fame for his "​million-dollar mullet​”.

Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Gundy and removed external links for the use of this digital escape room.