Mike Gundy addresses potential staff changes for Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy will wait until the end of the season to make a decision on any changes to his staff. The Cowboys are still searching for their first Big 12 win this year with only two games remaining and bowl eligibility already out of the question.

They failed miserably to live up to their preseason expectations after being picked third in the Big 12 and are instead heading toward the worst season in Gundy’s 20 years at the helm. Typically teams will hire at least one new coordinator after such a performance, and many believe OSU should.

However, Gundy isn’t ready to make that call at this point in the year with football still to be played.

“I haven’t thought about any of that,” he said in Monday’s press conference. “The thing that we as a staff are trying to get accomplished is we have a good class of high school players that we want to be the next group for 2025. There’s a lot of opinions going around that we think that that’s important to continue the core values.

“You have the uncertainty of what the portal will bring you or take away from you in December. So you can have some broad thought but to get into real detail now would be a little uncertain from the standpoint of we really don’t know. We just have to wait and see what happens. I’m guessing there’ll be a lot of clarity on Dec. 4-6.”

In the past, Gundy has not typically been a coach that is quick to fire his assistants. Still, he might not have a choice but to make at least a couple of changes after how bad the Cowboys have looked.

Defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo had a successful first season in 2023 as OSU ranked top 20 in turnovers forced. However, things have quickly gone south this year as the Cowboys currently rank 133rd out of 134 FBS teams in total defense.

OSU has been atrocious against the run, allowing more than 240 rushing yards per game. Injuries have played a part in the decline but it might also be worth a look in a different direction given the significant drop off from Nardo’s first to second season.

Kasey Dunn has been on Oklahoma State’s staff for the past 14 seasons and has held the role of offensive coordinator since 2020. The Cowboys saw their best season under him in 2023 thanks to the explosion of running back Ollie Gordon.

However, it appears Dunn has been unable to adjust to defenses keying in more on Gordon this year as OSU has taken a significant step back in its ground attack. It currently ranks 118th in the country with just 110.6 rushing yards per game.

Gundy values loyalty and Dunn has been a fixture of the staff for more than a decade, so it’s unclear if the Cowboys would make a change in that direction. We’ll simply have to wait for the end of the year to see what Gundy decides to do.