Stillwater, Okla. ? Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy hopes that the fallout from his screaming defense of demoted quarterback Bobby Reid does not overshadow the Cowboys’ upcoming game against Sam Houston State the way it obscured their victory to start Big 12 play.
Gundy refused to take questions after Oklahoma State’s 49-45 victory against Texas Tech on Saturday, instead expressing his outrage at a newspaper column that suggested Reid’s demotion was a result of his attitude more than his ineffective play. The 31â2-minute speech has spread widely through the Internet video Web site YouTube, which had recorded more than 75,000 views of the video.
“It just happened because of my feelings for the team and the players and I just felt like it wasn’t the right thing, so I was the guy that had to say something about it,” Gundy said Monday. “But I certainly didn’t do it to receive recognition, and I certainly don’t want it to take away from this upcoming game like it unfortunately took away from the last game for the team.”
Gundy refused to identify what he felt was inaccurate about the column in Saturday’s editions of The Oklahoman “just because I think it’s just gone far enough.” The newspaper has stood behind the content of the piece and the columnist who wrote it.
The situation has drawn more attention than the result of the game, which included more than 1,300 yards of offense and Tech’s Graham Harrell throwing for the fourth-highest passing total in major college football history.
“I hate that for the players, but I think that it’s more important that a young man who’s having a difficult time going through a change where he’s been moved to second-team and another player’s been moved to first-team and then for a person to take a cheap shot at him and belittle him in the public eye,” Gundy said.
“I thought it was more important that somebody stand up for a player who couldn’t stand up for himself.”
Football Writers Association of America president Mike Griffith called Gundy’s behavior “completely inappropriate” and suggested the matter “could have been handled in a more private and appropriate matter.”
Gundy said his secretaries had informed him he was getting numerous e-mails and that “the phone won’t stop ringing,” but he hasn’t dealt with any of the reaction.
“My voice mail overflows on my phone, but I don’t check my messages usually until late in the week. I just hear a lot of things going on. And I try to stay away from it really because that’s not important to me, good or bad,” Gundy said.
“The only thing that matters to me is what I thought was right, and whatever I thought was right is what I said. Other than that, I just have to let it go. I don’t say things for people to disagree or agree with me. I say them if I think they’re right. And a lot of times, I may say something that I shouldn’t say. I’ve been a candidate to do that before.”
Gundy said the Cowboys (2-2, 1-0 Big 12), who lost two weeks ago at Troy, needed to focus on Sam Houston State (3-1) because “we’re not good enough to overlook anybody.”
