Mike Gundy more relaxed these days
BY BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Friday, September 03, 2010
9/03/10 at 7:48 AM
Related story: OSU: Three Storylines.
STILLWATER - Following his Monday news conferences during football season, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy typically allows a couple of sports writers to walk with him as he returns to his office in the west end of the stadium.
In 2008 and again last year, as he juggled the responsibilities of overseeing the program and coordinating the offense, Gundy really wasn't engaged during the additional few minutes of questions and answers. He would fidget. He seemed rushed and disconnected.
Gundy was anxious to be elsewhere - specifically, seated at a video machine, studying the next opponent's defense, writing a game plan for the Cowboy offense. A 16-hour work day was his routine.
This year, Gundy grudgingly relinquished control of the offense to new coordinator Dana Holgorsen. At first, Gundy seemed unhappy about it. Today, he is a different guy. Infinitely more relaxed. He looks healthy instead of haggard.
"In the back of my mind, I knew eventually I had to get out of it (coaching the offense)," he says. "I couldn't keep up. Physically, I couldn't do it."
OSU's offense was dismal in the Bedlam and Cotton Bowl defeats, but Gundy says he was not instructed by Mike Holder, T. Boone Pickens or anyone else to hire an offensive coordinator.
"In the offseason, things kept crossing my mind," Gundy explained on Monday. "So I thought, 'I need to look at the availability of what's out there.' "
Holgorsen, a gunslinger coordinator whose 2009 Houston offense was the most prolific in college football, was out there. Gundy offered a deal that doubled Holgorsen's pay (three years at $360,000 annually), and Holgorsen moved to Stillwater.
"Obviously, when I decided to do this, I knew it would lighten my load by six hours a day," Gundy said. "It will add years to my life. I don't have to run in there at 5:45 (a.m.) and start figuring out what to do on third-and-5, and then come in here and do media, and then go practice, and then do some recruiting.
"I have more time now. I spend time recruiting on the phone. I very seldom had time to do that. I can double my letter-writing capabilities with recruits."
2010 opener
Vs. Washington State
6 p.m. Saturday
TV: FSOK-27
Radio: KFAQ am1170, KRVT am1270
Original Print Headline: Gundy more relaxed these days
Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Coach Mike Gundy smiles as he exits the field after practice last month. After many 16-hour workdays last season, Gundy has relinquished control of the offense to Dana Holgorsen. ZACH GRAY/Tulsa World
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