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True Grit was a Cowboy drama. So is the Oklahoma State saga.
Published: 12/6/2012 10:45 AM
Last Modified: 12/6/2012 2:53 PM

“True Grit” is a Cowboy drama. So, too, is what is occurring at Oklahoma State.

There’s a scene in the movie where bent-for-vengeance kid Mattie Ross defies adults who wanted to leave her behind.

She rides her horse across a body of water and, when she gets to the other side, she is told this: “You will learn as you get older that you cannot have your way in every little thing.”

For emphasis, let’s repeat the quote.

“You will learn as you get older that you cannot have your way in every little thing.”

If you were to take that quote and apply it to anyone in the OSU athletic department, who does it describe? I would say more than one person. And that’s why significant head-butting is occurring in Stillwater.

I feel bad and I don’t feel bad for Mike Holder.

He’s an alum who loves his school and wants to win at everything and now all of a sudden he is in a tough spot because the news has been “outed” that he has a Cold War relationship (fair description?) with football coach Mike Gundy. Holder now is perceived by some OSU fans as a villain because he hasn’t conceded more power to Gundy or found a way to be hugs and kisses with the football coach.

I feel bad and I don’t feel bad for Gundy.

He’s an alum who wants to take football to the highest level and, only months after receiving an eight-year contract extension worth more than $29 million, he flirted with other jobs. Why would he consider leaving his New York Yankees job? Check history. Manager of the New York Yankees hasn’t been the most stable position in the universe. Because Gundy flirted with other major league clubs, he is now perceived by some OSU fans as a villain.

Since no one is talking publicly about the elephant in the room, we’re left to speculate about the situation and, of course, speculation is way more colorful than the truth because imaginations are just froggy that way.

Is anyone forcing Gundy and Holder to communicate and co-exist? Can anyone force Gundy and Holder to communicate and co-exist? Has the relationship gone so sour that people are being forced to pick sides? There’s no doubt in my mind that if megabooster Boone Pickens was forced to pick sides that he’s going to side with the athletic director.

Probably, Pickens and Holder are of the opinion that Gundy was fortunate to get the OSU job when he got it. As an assistant coach at three schools, Gundy -- luck of the draw perhaps -- went more than a decade before tasting his first winning season. That changed once Gundy jumped on the Les Miles train. And OSU took a chance on a favorite son when Miles left for LSU.

Whether Gundy was ready for the job or not, he grew into it. He led OSU to a new high-water mark during a 12-1 Big 12 championship season in 2011 and (most would agree) he earned a pay raise. Gundy apparently wasn’t confident he would get the raise he thought he had merited without an agent, so he hired Jimmy Sexton to negotiate a new deal. It’s safe to assume Gundy simultaneously won more money and lost some support during negotiations-turned-thorny.

Here’s what I wonder: Do the powers-that-be at OSU, considering top-flight facilities that are in place, view this Cowboy job the same way Jerry Jones once viewed the Dallas Cowboys job? When Jimmy Johnson was in Dallas, Jones famously said any one of 500 coaches could coach the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson and Barry Switzer won Super Bowls in Dallas. The Cowboys have been ring-less with every coach since.

And I wonder this too: Does Gundy, who wants to play the easiest nonconference games possible, think that he is getting poked by administration every the athletic department schedules a nonleague game like Mississippi State in 2013 and possibly Florida State in 2014?

I disagree with Gundy that easy is the way to go in nonleague scheduling because, with a human committee choosing playoff participants in the future, those folks are going to be reluctant to give love to a team that didn’t at least attempt to play somebody legit in September. Don’t overdo it. But you need to at least pretend you played a big-boy opponent.

There are reports that Gundy wants more control over program issues like scheduling. How many bosses, particularly an athletic director who was absolutely a we’re-going-to-do-it-my-way guy as a golf coach, are willing to concede control to an employee? For that matter, does anyone think Pickens is someone who is going to give all that money and not get his way in regard to something that captures his interest?

I thought the “True Grit” remake was fantastic. I’m sure OSU fans don’t view the Cowboy drama in Stillwater as fantastic.

This is what I learned from the power struggle: Mattie Ross has kindred spirits.


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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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