Mike Gundy controversial comments on Ollie Gordon DUI 'met with collective cringe' by Big 12

Mike Gundy was the main headline of Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas. Comments made regarding Ollie Gordon‘s recent DUI raised a few eyebrows. And according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, conference officials did not like them either.

Thamel says people around the Big 12 “cringed” at Gundy’s remarks. Not just those inside the offices but fellow head coaches and athletic directors. While Gundy was truly just being himself, some of the hype surrounding the event was certainly taken out.

“I think those remarks were met with a collective cringe from conference officials, from other athletic directors, from other coaches,” Thamel said Wednesday on College Football Live. “Mike Gundy is not politically correct. He’s made a career or that. He’s been defiantly himself and these were true, organic comments on him and how he felt.

“He did issue a clarification later to say he was talking about poor decision-making actually than specifically to drinking and driving. I do think those comments eventually took over from the buzz of media day and sucked the air out of it.”

Gordon’s DUI was a popular topic for Oklahoma State when speaking to the press. Gundy admitted he wanted to bring the star running back to Media Day, letting him face questions about the mistake he made. For his part, Gundy received more than a fair share of questions about the situation as well, including explaining why he chose not to suspend Gordon for a regular season game.

Then, when speaking on an ESPN desk, Gundy potentially implied he has done what Gordon did as far as drinking and driving. Gordon blew a 0.1, just 0.02 over the legal limit.

“I thought, really, two or three beers, or four – I’m not justifying what Ollie did,” Gundy said on Tuesday. “I’m telling you what decision I made. I thought, I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life. Which is fine. So I got lucky. People get lucky. Ollie made a decision that he wished he could’ve done better. But when I talked to Ollie, I told him, you’re lucky. You got out light because you make a lot of money to play football.”

Gundy then later clarified on social media, saying he was not talking about drinking and driving. Instead, just about decision-making in general.

“My intended point today at Big 12 media days was that we are all guilty of making bad decisions,” Gundy said via X. “It was not a reference to something specific.”

No matter his intentions, Gundy certainly has become the biggest topic at Big 12 Media Days. Another wave of coaches came in on Wednesday to wrap the event up at Allegiant Stadium.