clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Mike Gundy would be crazy to leave

With Oklahoma and Texas looking as weak as they have in some time, there's absolutely no reason for the Oklahoma State coach to leave, particularly for a difficult job like Arkansas.

Tom Pennington

The coaching rumor mill went crazy on Tuesday, as Twitter blew up with speculation surrounding Arkansas possibly luring Mike Gundy from Oklahoma State.

Here's the reality though: while the Razorbacks have far more tradition than the Cowboys, at this point, Oklahoma State is the much better job.

With Mack Brown's grasp on power in Austin starting to weaken and Bob Stoops growing complacent in Norman (check the Sooners recruiting rankings this year), Gundy is in a perfect position to move towards the top of the Big 12 at Stillwater.

Thanks to T. Boone Pickens, money isn't an issue. At the same time, with a high-powered offense and weekly TV exposure in North Texas, Oklahoma State is becoming a recruiting power in one of the most talent-rich parts of the country.

In contrast, Arkansas is a relatively talent-poor state surrounded on all sides by powerful programs intent on locking down their home turf. At the same time, they have to compete in the SEC West with Alabama and LSU as well as Texas A&M, which is looking like a rising power.

In 2011, Oklahoma State was a 2OT loss from playing in a national title game. Since joining the SEC in 1992, Arkansas has gone through 5 different head coaches without ever winning a conference title.

As a Texas alum, I would love nothing more than to see Gundy heading over to the Ozarks.

Realistically, I expect I'll see him roaming the sidelines for Oklahoma State at the Heart of Dallas bowl in a month's time.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.