Gundy Threatens to Pull Reporter’s Access Over Presser Question

‘Okay, well I might have to cut you out,’ the coach said after a question about staff changes.

Oklahoma State football fell to 7–6 to end the 2022 season, losing the Guaranteed Rate Bowl to Wisconsin on Tuesday night, 24–17.

The loss finishes off a relatively disappointing campaign for Mike Gundy’s Cowboys, which went 12–2 and won the Fiesta Bowl a year ago. Now, a tense back-and-forth between Gundy and a reporter is adding to the tough end to a middling season for the program.

“With the portal now, staff changes happen earlier and earlier in the year… do you anticipate making any changes to your staff between now and the end of the season?” Gundy was asked after the game.

“Do you think I’d tell you if I was making staff changes?” the coach replied. “Then why would you ask?” he continued, cutting off the reporter.

“Because I have to. It’s my job,” the reporter replied.

“Okay, well I might have to cut you out,” Gundy threatened. “I mean, don’t be an ass. Really? I mean, those people’s lives man, those people’s families. Don’t mess with people’s families… It’s not fair to people’s families, man. I’m not mad about the game, I just don’t like ignorance.”

The world of college football coaching is pretty cutthroat, especially after a team with high expectations like Oklahoma State falls off the way the Cowboys did from 2021 to ’22. Most programs can expect at least some level of staff changes on an annual basis. Gundy probably could have declined to comment. Instead, his response added a lot of heat to an already tough situation.