What is in Mike Gundy's new contract as Oklahoma State football coach?

What is in Mike Gundy’s new contract as Oklahoma State football coach?

Posted by author January 31, 2025 Football

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STILLWATER — Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy’s new contract includes a provision for increased engagement in fundraising and donor activities, along with laying the groundwork for an eventual succession plan.

The new contract, which was approved by the Oklahoma A&M Colleges Board of Regents at their regular meeting Friday, also includes previously reported pay reduction of $1 million per year, a reduced buyout and the elimination of the annual rollover provision that had kept Gundy’s contract at a perpetual five-year deal.

With those changes, Gundy is essentially entering into the first year of a four-year contract that will pay him $6.875 million, with an annual raise of $125,000 per year going forward. The contract is set to expire after the 2028 season.

“It will act more like what you would probably refer to as a ‘normal’ contract,” OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg said Friday.

The $1 million reduction in salary is set to be applied toward revenue sharing when the NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement takes effect, likely July 1.

Gundy’s increased involvement in fundraising and donor engagement will be handled at Weiberg’s request, and can include anything from large gatherings to one-on-one events, Weiberg said.

“Obviously, his first obligation is being the head football coach,” Weiberg said. “Coach Gundy has always participated in those types of events. I think what this is doing is recognizing that our world is changing and it’s more important now than it ever has been that we are engaging with our donors to help us with revenue sharing and all those sorts of things in this new world.”

This comes in the aftermath of comments Gundy made last November about “weak” fans who “want to point the finger and blame other people” when times are tough, later saying they are “the same ones that can’t pay their bills.”

The comments angered many fans — including donors — at a time when college programs are on the doorstep of revenue sharing. Oklahoma State is working to figure out how it will add the allowed $20.5 million to its budget that can be shared with athletes beginning in July.

The succession plan is also at the request of Weiberg, and can include anything from identifying, evaluating and developing a potential successor to facilitating a smooth transition of the program to the new coach.

“That allows for Coach Gundy, as requested by me, to be a part of the succession planning for the next head football coach, whenever that occurs,” Weiberg said. “That’s just recognizing that he is the winningest coach in OSU football history and this will be important to him, us and everyone that whenever that time comes that we have a transition. He knows more about what it takes to win here than anybody else.

“Assuming how all this plays out, and the timing of it, if I’m the AD at that point, certainly, I would want that advice from him. We wanted to have that in there to start to spell out how that will occur whenever that does occur.”

The process of altering Gundy’s contract began with a public squabble initiated by the board, which called a special meeting on Dec. 6 to discuss Gundy’s employment status after a 3-9 season, the worst in his 20-year tenure.

While there was limited momentum in pursuit of dismissing Gundy last month, the result of the board meeting — which included input from Weiberg and OSU president Kayse Shrum — was a long renegotiation session between Gundy, Weiberg and Shrum that led to the new contract agreement on Dec. 7.

The buyout of the contract had previously been on a percentage scale, based on the remaining total of what was owed to Gundy, which would have been more than $25 million had OSU fired him in December. The new buyout is a flat total of $15 million for the next three years, dropping to $10 million in 2028.

Combined with the firing of his offensive and defensive coordinators, which led to a fully revamped staff of position coaches, the new contract is another piece in a broad reset for the OSU football program after a monumentally disappointing season.

“I think this is all geared toward the future, and how do we move forward in the best way we can move forward,” Weiberg said. “With all of those dynamics in play, there are so many things that are changing in college athletics.

“I think this is just trying to position Oklahoma State football the best we can.”