Monday's Part 5 of Sports Illustrated's investigative report on Oklahoma State football examines the lives of former players after they are no longer in the program.
The article insinuates no one from OSU cared about the players beyond their football abilities, that Cowboy coaches didn't bother to look into the background of their recruits or find ways to help those with pre-existing problems and players no longer of value were more likely to be dismissed than stars.
Because head coach Mike Gundy is not able to respond to any of SI's allegations, here are some relevant comments he's made in the past.
May 2005, after dismissing three players (including William Bell, who was quoted in Monday’s SI piece):"Young people make mistakes. And I'm not in the business of trying to kick guys off or run guys off. That's not what I'm doing. If a guy makes a mistake, I want to be the first one to work with him. But at some point, everybody has to pull their weight in the classroom, in the offseason, during the season and out in society."
August 2005, after dismissing Thomas Wright (also quoted):"All of those (dismissed) players knew what was going on, and they all had multiple chances to do the right thing. I've had discussions with our team, and I reminded them that it's a privilege to be on this team. It's a privilege to get a scholarship. I reminded them that their reward is a free education, along with an opportunity to play on Saturdays and have fun. It's our coaching staff's responsibility to prepare our players for life after football -- not just for playing football."
April 2006, on recruiting players with character issues:"When they're in this program, I'm responsible for them. There are (recruits) that we've turned down here, because of certain situations. It's not like we're perfect. We can get tricked. But if a guy takes care of his business here, we'll fight for them forever. If they make a mistake here, we'll try to fix it. If they make another mistake, we'll probably try to fix it again. If they make another one, they're probably going to be out of here. If I'm wrong on a guy, he won't sit in here and simmer in this program for very long."
July 2007, to The Oklahoman on the legal situation of Chris Collins (referenced in Monday’s story; dismissed after pleading guilty to sexual assault of a child):"I don't think there's any doubt Chris would say he made a mistake, and I don't agree with what happened. But we gave a young man an opportunity to make up for something, because of the investigation we did over the phone. I'm a believer that he made a mistake and he deserves a second chance. I'm not siding with anybody or anything. He had an opportunity to come and do the right thing in Stillwater. If he did, he could be part of what we want. It's really pretty simple from that standpoint."
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