Mike Gundy explains what it'll take to make Oklahoma State a 'Blue-Blood' program

The Oklahoma State Cowboys head football coach Mike Gundy envisions seeing his program as one of the nation’s top schools: a blue-blood. After the Cowboys come from behind victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl, Gundy said he could see his program rise to the title of blue-blood. And recently, at the Big 12 football media day, he explained what it’ll take for Oklahoma State to achieve that goal and what progress they have made over the past six months.

“Well, we all know, conference realignment, it’s kind of almost the old Karen Carpenter “We’ve only just begun” concept,” said Gundy. “I think it’s just getting started, in my opinion… There’s a lot of talks and vision and plans for Oklahoma State athletics and Oklahoma State football to continue to grow, and I think that’s what we have to do. We’re all aware of the direction that college sports is going, particularly football, and we can’t sit around and watch other people grow. We have to grow it ourselves.”

The Cowboys just experienced one of their best seasons in recent memory. They finished the season with an 11-1 record. Gundy also led the Cowboys to wins over rivals in the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, and Baylor Bears. Unfortunately, they would fall to the Bears in a rematch during the Big 12 championship game after coming inches away from scoring a game-winning touchdown. However, Gundy found himself receiving a hansom contract extension after their Fiesta Bowl victory. Still, these are just the first few steps in the process, and Gundy knows he might not be a the helm when the goal is achieved.

“The blue-blood that I had mentioned was the direction that I would like it to be. Someday I’m not going to be the coach at Oklahoma State, I’ll just be going and watching game, and when that happens I want Oklahoma State to be in that position. It’s going to take a lot of continued hard work. It’s going to take commitment from administration at the top, Chad Weiberg, Coach Gundy and everybody else involved, donor support. There’s a lot of moving parts.

But I am very comfortable and I am 100 percent convinced that we have the right people in place to make it happen. It’s not an easy process, but it can happen, and I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

Under Gundy, the Cowboys football program has been a consistent contender in the Big 12. although they came up just shy and the championship game, last year was still a massive step in the right direction. Now all Oklahoma State must do is capitalized and build off of this momentum, and they will overthrow their neighbors in Norman as their state’s top school and capture that Blue-Blood status.