How does Mike Gundy’s bonus compare to bonuses other coaches will receive? It’s a big one. Read Sports Editor Mike Strain’s blog.
tulsaworld.com/sportsextra

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy will receive a bonus of $400,000. A clause in his contract indicates that Gundy is to receive $400,000 if the Cowboys make three bowl appearances in any five-year period.

OSU, 9-3 overall and ranked 13th in the Associated Press poll, faces 15th-ranked Oregon in Tuesday's Holiday Bowl at San Diego.

Nearing completion of his fourth season as the head coach, Gundy is taking OSU to its third consecutive bowl game. There are 34 bowls this season that involve 68 teams. More than half of the 119 Division I-A programs are bowl participants.

An OSU official confirmed on Wednesday that Gundy will receive the $400,000 bonus. OSU athletic director Mike Holder would not comment on the bonus. It was approved by the university administration when Gundy became head coach in January 2005 — prior to Holder becoming athletic director.

Gundy was paid $1.05 million this year. His current contract will be voided on Jan. 1, at which point he will be employed under the terms of a new, seven-year deal.

On Dec. 5, it was announced that Gundy had accepted the terms of a $15.7 million contract. Over the life of the contract, his average annual compensation will be more than $2.2 million.

Within the new contract, Holder said, there is no $400,000, three-bowls-in-five-years bonus. There are bonuses for Big 12 championships and Bowl Championship Series national titles, Holder said.

The amount of those bonuses — and the specific amount of Gundy's 2009 compensation — will not be released by the university until the new contract has taken effect.

For only the third time in school history, OSU is making three consecutive bowl appearances. Following the 1983, 1984 and 1985 seasons, Pat Jones-coached Cowboy teams were in bowl games. The 2002, 2003 and 2004 OSU teams, coached by Les Miles, were bowl participants.

Gundy's Cowboys defeated Alabama in the 2006 Independence Bowl and Indiana in the 2007 Insight Bowl.