Sunday Morning Coaches Week 4: Stranded in Iowa edition

[RxCowboy]

Dave Hunziker before the game: Bowman is the guy.

No he isn't.

I was asked about this on TwitterX before the game. My response was, "We're f**ked."

Just going to lay out some facts. Prior to the game:

Gundy: TDs 4, FG 1, Pts 31
Rangel: TDs 2, FG 1, Pts 17
Bowman: TDs 1, FG 2. Pts 13

Avg starting position
Bowman: OKST 34
Gundy: OKST 26
Rangel: OKST 30

Drives starting on Opp side of field:
Bowman: 3 (all 13 points on these drives) prior to yesterday, Bowman hadn't produced a scoring drive that didn't start on the opponents side of the field
Gundy: 2 (1 punt, 1 missed FG)
Rangel: 2 (10 of his 17 pts on these 2 drives)

NTs:
Bowman/Rangel: 1 ea
Gundy: 0

Gundy's scoring drives:
93 yds- 7 plays
78 yds- 7 plays
75 yds- 3 plays
60 yds- 7 plays
84 yds- 7 plays

Rangel scoring drives:
80 yds- 7 plays
57 yds- 3 plays
33 yds- 7 plays

Bowman scoring drives:
40 yds- 3 plays (gained 31 to the 9)
28 yds- 3 plays (no yds gained)
43 yds- 7 plays

I don't have the QB rating anymore from before yesterday's game, but Bowman's was the worst of the three, Rangel's was the best, but there was just a whisker's difference bettween Gundy and Rangel. Gundy has had more sustained scoring drives and put up more points than the other two combined. The defense has played better with Gundy on the field, mainly because the offense has been better at keeping the defense off the field. IMHO, Gundy is the better of the three.

Those of you who have been adamant that Bowman has the better arm, better decision making, etc. I ask you, what on earth have you been looking at, because I've been looking at it too and I'm just not seeing it. I'll say it right now, we won't win another game with Bowman on the field. We might not win another game with either Rangel or Gundy, but I'd take my chances with either of them. Bowman simply doesn't move the offense.

Now for grading yesterday's game.

Their uniforms: F-

I hate it when teams that don't have black as part of their color scheme wear black uniforms, and black without ANY of their own color scheme was especially awful. Black and white is generic. It was weak and pathetic.

Offense: D

5 of 17 on third down conversions isn't going to beat very many P5 teams. Here's Bowman in a nutshell, scramble out of the pocket and throw the ball away. The most-Bowman Bowman play was the 4th quarter 17 yard sack. Big, slow defensive lineman breaks through. Plenty of time to evade him. Instead of running away from him, which should be easy to do, turn a circle, stumble and give up more yardage. Most of the completions were for 2-3 yards. Take away the 61 yard completion, which was actually a good throw, and we get a mere 4.6 yds per attempt. Similarly, apart from the 70 yard run we only made 61 yards rushing on 23 attempts 2.6 yards per rush. Stribling and Presley had a combined 5 catches. Bowman has a frustrating inability to get the ball to our best receivers.

Defense: C

We've long had a frustrating tendency to make backup quarterbacks looking like Tom freaking Brady in his prime. How's this for Becht's statline: 27-38 348 yards 3 tds, no ints. QB rating 174.03. Remember that he was pressed into service when their #1 was caught in the gambling scandle. We held them to 74 yards rushing on 34 attempts, 2.2 ypc, but it hardly mattered because we couldn't cover anyone and they threw the ball on us pretty much at will. I was surprised to learn we only gave up 6 of 17 on third down, which should be good enough to win, but we failed to keep them out of the end zone, which matters the most.

Special teams: A

The 52 yard field goal was spectacular. We didn't give up anything to a dangerous punt returner. And when our deep snapper got roughed our guys stepped up for him, which I really liked.

Coaching: F

One of the things that has marked Gundy's teams over the past 10-15 years is that they've made better half-time adjustments than the other teams. We saw that in weeks 1 and 2. We did not in week 3 and did not yesterday. In fact, I had a hard time telling yesterday where we made any adjustments at all, especially on defense. It was disappointing.

One final thing... had this exchange with a goon friend of mine via SMS after the game... I'll call him GF for "gooner friend"...

GF: Rumor has it that a bunch of O-State players are entering the transfer portal in December because of lack of NIL opportunities

Rx: I have news for them, if they don't start playing better, their value on the portal isn't going to be worth what they think it is.

GF: Trace Ford left and is playing pretty well in Norman

Rx: Trace Ford is not "a bunch". Reminds me of a line from the movie "Little Big League": "Mac, what's a pitcher worth that can't remember scouting reports?"

If we have players that want more NIL then playing better NOW is in their best interests. In the immortal words of the legendary Georgia coach Erk Russell, it's time for them to get after their asses.

As always, Ride with Pride! Go Pokes! Loyal and True!

 

[CptnQuirk]

Dave Hunziker before the game: Bowman is the guy.

No he isn't.

I was asked about this on TwitterX before the game. My response was, "We're f**ked."

Just going to lay out some facts. Prior to the game:

Gundy: TDs 4, FG 1, Pts 31
Rangel: TDs 2, FG 1, Pts 17
Bowman: TDs 1, FG 2. Pts 13

Avg starting position
Bowman: OKST 34
Gundy: OKST 26
Rangel: OKST 30

Drives starting on Opp side of field:
Bowman: 3 (all 13 points on these drives) prior to yesterday, Bowman hadn't produced a scoring drive that didn't start on the opponents side of the field
Gundy: 2 (1 punt, 1 missed FG)
Rangel: 2 (10 of his 17 pts on these 2 drives)

NTs:
Bowman/Rangel: 1 ea
Gundy: 0

Gundy's scoring drives:
93 yds- 7 plays
78 yds- 7 plays
75 yds- 3 plays
60 yds- 7 plays
84 yds- 7 plays

Rangel scoring drives:
80 yds- 7 plays
57 yds- 3 plays
33 yds- 7 plays

Bowman scoring drives:
40 yds- 3 plays (gained 31 to the 9)
28 yds- 3 plays (no yds gained)
43 yds- 7 plays

I don't have the QB rating anymore from before yesterday's game, but Bowman's was the worst of the three, Rangel's was the best, but there was just a whisker's difference bettween Gundy and Rangel. Gundy has had more sustained scoring drives and put up more points than the other two combined. The defense has played better with Gundy on the field, mainly because the offense has been better at keeping the defense off the field. IMHO, Gundy is the better of the three.

Those of you who have been adamant that Bowman has the better arm, better decision making, etc. I ask you, what on earth have you been looking at, because I've been looking at it too and I'm just not seeing it. I'll say it right now, we won't win another game with Bowman on the field. We might not win another game with either Rangel or Gundy, but I'd take my chances with either of them. Bowman simply doesn't move the offense.

Now for grading yesterday's game.

Their uniforms: F-

I hate it when teams that don't have black as part of their color scheme wear black uniforms, and black without ANY of their own color scheme was especially awful. Black and white is generic. It was weak and pathetic.

Offense: D

5 of 17 on third down conversions isn't going to beat very many P5 teams. Here's Bowman in a nutshell, scramble out of the pocket and throw the ball away. The most-Bowman Bowman play was the 4th quarter 17 yard sack. Big, slow defensive lineman breaks through. Plenty of time to evade him. Instead of running away from him, which should be easy to do, turn a circle, stumble and give up more yardage. Most of the completions were for 2-3 yards. Take away the 61 yard completion, which was actually a good throw, and we get a mere 4.6 yds per attempt. Similarly, apart from the 70 yard run we only made 61 yards rushing on 23 attempts 2.6 yards per rush. Stribling and Presley had a combined 5 catches. Bowman has a frustrating inability to get the ball to our best receivers.

Defense: C

We've long had a frustrating tendency to make backup quarterbacks looking like Tom freaking Brady in his prime. How's this for Becht's statline: 27-38 348 yards 3 tds, no ints. QB rating 174.03. Remember that he was pressed into service when their #1 was caught in the gambling scandle. We held them to 74 yards rushing on 34 attempts, 2.2 ypc, but it hardly mattered because we couldn't cover anyone and they threw the ball on us pretty much at will. I was surprised to learn we only gave up 6 of 17 on third down, which should be good enough to win, but we failed to keep them out of the end zone, which matters the most.

Special teams: A

The 52 yard field goal was spectacular. We didn't give up anything to a dangerous punt returner. And when our deep snapper got roughed our guys stepped up for him, which I really liked.

Coaching: F

One of the things that has marked Gundy's teams over the past 10-15 years is that they've made better half-time adjustments than the other teams. We saw that in weeks 1 and 2. We did not in week 3 and did not yesterday. In fact, I had a hard time telling yesterday where we made any adjustments at all, especially on defense. It was disappointing.

One final thing... had this exchange with a goon friend of mine via SMS after the game... I'll call him GF for "gooner friend"...

GF: Rumor has it that a bunch of O-State players are entering the transfer portal in December because of lack of NIL opportunities

Rx: I have news for them, if they don't start playing better, their value on the portal isn't going to be worth what they think it is.

GF: Trace Ford left and is playing pretty well in Norman

Rx: Trace Ford is not "a bunch". Reminds me of a line from the movie "Little Big League": "Mac, what's a pitcher worth that can't remember scouting reports?"

If we have players that want more NIL then playing better NOW is in their best interests. In the immortal words of the legendary Georgia coach Erk Russell, it's time for them to get after their asses.

As always, Ride with Pride! Go Pokes! Loyal and True!

And I mean in the most sincere way. I may be done for the season. I’ll miss the next Home game but I’ll make the rest but I’m not really hoping for much now.

 

[Big8+4-2-2+2-2+4+4]

Our secondary was straight up mismatched and out of position for most of the game. Gundy flat out stated in a press conference last week they were going to sell out for the run. They did and ISU blew our doors off with passes. Our defense has not forced a turnover these past 2 games. We haven’t seen a good offense yet this year and got smoked by 2 bad teams. The defense will only decline even more as we face more proficient offenses going forward. We’ve got a D2 DC and it shows.

Allan Bowman is a backup QB at best. I feel bad for the kid, but there’s a reason why he needed to transfer from tech and Michigan to get playing time. He’s not that accurate of a passer, that shows with at 48% completion rate this game. He’s not athletic enough to make plays with his feet. If he’s the best QB we got then we should probably abandon passing unless we’re in an advantageous situation. Oline is pitiful. Last year the excuse was injuries. Now all I see is incompetence. The only play I’ve seen this year that was schematically impressive was the lone touchdown in the south Alabama game with a misdirection run. Our playbook is watered down due to lack of skills from our QB unit. That will make us easier to defend against. I’ve lost what little confidence I had with our OC.

This season is done. I don’t see a win left in front of us. We’ve finally got exposed in our recruiting deficiencies. The talent is simply not there. Outside of Ollie Gordon our homegrown offensive talent is simply not there. It seems we have talent on the defensive side, but I don’t think they are getting coached with discipline to keep up with their assignments. I hear a bit of rumbling about our players wanting more NIL money. I hate to say it, but outside of like 4 players I’m not seeing anything that inspires me to open the pocketbook. Gundy is tanking the program with his comments about the new reality of the game. If there’s not any changes next year will be even worse.

 

[Backin82]

Yesterday was the first time I've watched us play this season, and I feel validated in that decision after watching us play.

What I saw was basically *fart noises* personified. Gundy doesn't give af, and it shows from the sidelines to the scoreboard.

The coaching staff took almost no risks. Players and coaches just going through the motions at this point.

I don't recall a single attempt to return a kickoff or punt.

I don't recall a dynamic defense with exotic blitzing and coverages (something you need when running 3 down)

Our secondary would be better off just going to full man press coverage, and taking their lumps that way than leaving guys wide open in various switches and zones where nobody is in the zone.

Offense is still predictable af - constantly running slow developing runs from pistol on every 1st down regardless of defensive alignment.

Bowman sprints out of the pocket and diagonally backwards on like half our dropbacks (SS did the exact same thing), and threw off his back foot too often, which led to a massive amount of throw aways and wildly thrown passes nowhere near catchable.

Looking across the field, we have no dudes like we used to. I see maybe 2-3 solid guys on the defensive side and zero on the offensive side. This is a recruiting failure.

Longterm, we appear to be in major trouble due to Gundy's contract. He is in the driver's seat, and appears totally comfortable collecting his $$$ while caring as little as possible about football. Its actually been that way for the better part of 10 years, but NIL + Portal is making it more apparent.

OSU is not only going to lose current fans over this debacle. They're going to lose multiple generations of fans over this.

 

[RxCowboy]

Yesterday was the first time I've watched us play this season, and I feel validated in that decision after watching us play.

What I saw was basically *fart noises* personified. Gundy doesn't give af, and it shows from the sidelines to the scoreboard.

The coaching staff took almost no risks. Players and coaches just going through the motions at this point.

I don't recall a single attempt to return a kickoff or punt.

I don't recall a dynamic defense with exotic blitzing and coverages (something you need when running 3 down)

Our secondary would be better off just going to full man press coverage, and taking their lumps that way than leaving guys wide open in various switches and zones where nobody is in the zone.

Offense is still predictable af - constantly running slow developing runs from pistol on every 1st down regardless of defensive alignment.

Bowman sprints out of the pocket and diagonally backwards on like half our dropbacks (SS did the exact same thing), and threw off his back foot too often, which led to a massive amount of throw aways and wildly thrown passes nowhere near catchable.

Looking across the field, we have no dudes like we used to. I see maybe 2-3 solid guys on the defensive side and zero on the offensive side. This is a recruiting failure.

Longterm, we appear to be in major trouble due to Gundy's contract. He is in the driver's seat, and appears totally comfortable collecting his $$$ while caring as little as possible about football. Its actually been that way for the better part of 10 years, but NIL + Portal is making it more apparent.

OSU is not only going to lose current fans over this debacle. They're going to lose multiple generations of fans over this.

“…wildly thrown passes nowhere near catchable.”

This is what we’ve seen from him all season. And yet he was handed the ball yesterday and the team was put on his shoulders. I honestly don’t get it.


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[Poke Skywalker]

Gundy and his mouth pieces will point to the 27 points as improvement and why the offense is in good shape. This is the same line of thinking and complacency that got us where we are now. We hit on two chunk plays and had a really good kicking game to get the bulk of that. Other than that, the QB was running for his life, throwing the ball away, and we were rushing for 2.5 yards per carry. Couldn’t sustain drives. Same pitiful Oline play. Same predictable 3 runs between the tackle, or 3 low percentage pass plays, 3 and outs.

 

[Poke Skywalker]

GF: Trace Ford left and is playing pretty well in Norman

Rx: Trace Ford is not "a bunch". Reminds me of a line from the movie "Little Big League": "Mac, what's a pitcher worth that can't remember scouting reports?"

Yeah, Trace Ford didn’t even register a defensive stat yesterday. I watched their whole game and didn’t ever see him on the field. I think he’s been passed up by the younger guys. I know he made a play last week in garbage time up 50, but that’s been about it.

 

[Big8+4-2-2+2-2+4+4]

Yeah, Trace Ford didn’t even register a defensive stat yesterday. I watched their whole game and didn’t ever see him on the field. I think he’s been passed up by the younger guys. I know he made a play last week in garbage time up 50, but that’s been about it.

I don’t think any of our players who transferred last year made any significant contributions to their new teams so far this year. Goes to show how crappy our talent has been over the past few years.

 

[OrangeFan69]

I'm not a coach, but I did play 6A and had a scholly to a directional school - (I "retired" after 2/a days my freshman year and came to Stilly)

I think bringing in a new QB to an offense is challenging.
I think it becomes more challenging when you have an unqualified OC for a P5 school.
If the OC was to become available in the offseason, would your OC have other P5 offers? if not. he's unqualified.
I think offensive line blocking is important.
When you have low quality OL play, it makes it more difficult to run an offense.
I think Ollie Nixon and Brennan Pressley could play on Sundays
I think getting offensive players that can play on Sundays more touches makes an offense better.

I grew up on a farm in Owasso Oklahoma, and I'm unfamiliar with anything that smells as unique as our offense.
Gundy's a former OC and has been watching this for the last two plus years.
He made a choice to sign on to a third year of this.

 

[Okiemike31]

“…wildly thrown passes nowhere near catchable.”

This is what we’ve seen from him all season. And yet he was handed the ball yesterday and the team was put on his shoulders. I honestly don’t get it.


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This is as Gundy as it gets if you think about, when he can’t make a decision at QB he will always go with the one that has the most experience for road games, even if it’s the one who has looked the worst, it’s “safer”. Every single one of his coaching decisions have become the “safe” option even at the detriment to the team. Don’t be surprised to see Rangel starting for Kstate at home.

 

[Osucowboy79]

This is as Gundy as it gets if you think about, when he can’t make a decision at QB he will always go with the one that has the most experience for road games, even if it’s the one who has looked the worst, it’s “safer”. Every single one of his coaching decisions have become the “safe” option even at the detriment to the team. Don’t be surprised to see Rangel starting for Kstate at home.

Kinda have to start Rangel next week. Gundy proved lacking against South Bama and Bowman didn't do anything yesterday to win the job.

 

[JTOSU]

My thoughts:
QB: Glad they picked one QB, but surprised it was Bowman. He throws off his back-foot even when he doesn’t have to —- which causes inconsistency. With our problems at OL. I don’t think Bowman is the best choice. He doesn’t throw well while moving out of the pocket (although the TD pass to Owens was a dime)
RB: Love that we gave the rock more to Gordon. Amazing our starting RB is averaging over 6 yards per carry and we are 2-2.
Secondary: Ugh, hard to say something nice. We slipped way too often (cleats???)
Oliver: Stud. He is best as a edge rusher.
Daniels: Stud. He is best closer to the line of scrimmage.

 

[Herecomesbullet]

This program has been on this crash course for several years now. Jim Knowles, IMO, held the culture together and put together a defense that hid many of these problems, and, as we know, it doesn't take much for many of the OSU fans to defend Gundy. This thing needs & has needed to crash and burn enough to where everyone can see these things, and not just folks like myself, who take on tremendous fire from the inferiority complex portion of our fan base. Change has been needed for a long time now, but I do question whether we have the leadership in the Admin positions to pull those triggers. Go Pokes!

 

[orngblkzebra]

This program has been on this crash course for several years now. Jim Knowles, IMO, held the culture together and put together a defense that hid many of these problems, and, as we know, it doesn't take much for many of the OSU fans to defend Gundy. This thing needs & has needed to crash and burn enough to where everyone can see these things, and not just folks like myself, who take on tremendous fire from the inferiority complex portion of our fan base. Change has been needed for a long time now, but I do question whether we have the leadership in the Admin positions to pull those triggers. Go Pokes!

I dont agree...change is needed now...in the last couple of years. But, without saying he is the only coach we can have... he is the coach we have had that built the attitude it takes to want to move on to a new coach that can take the program further.
I believe the fanbase simply needs to ask itself: do we want to be in search of a new coach every3-5 years and have a shot at the playoffs maybe 1-2 of those years? That's what will happen...guaranteed. I dont know what the answer is to NIL or any of the recruiting questions...honestly, nobody does outside of the bluebloods.
At the end of the day, love it or hate it...we are Stillwater.

 

[Herecomesbullet]

I don't agree...change is needed now...in the last couple of years. But, without saying he is the only coach we can have... he is the coach we have had that built the attitude it takes to want to move on to a new coach that can take the program further.
I believe the fanbase simply needs to ask itself: do we want to be in search of a new coach every3-5 years and have a shot at the playoffs maybe 1-2 of those years? That's what will happen...guaranteed. I don't know what the answer is to NIL or any of the recruiting questions...honestly, nobody does outside of the bluebloods.
At the end of the day, love it or hate it...we are Stillwater.

I thing the prospects of losing our coach every 3-5 years is a thing of the past, and part of the inferiority complex that OSU fans need to move past. Would Matt Campbell, Chris Klieman etc....rather make 7 million at OSU, with a fan base that is much less demanding, or $8 million at a place like Florida that wants to fire you every time you lose a game.

For example:

Here are the Head coaches in the SEC and where they came from
Billy Napier-Louisiana
Kirby Smart-Promoted
Jimbo Fisher-Florida State
Josh Heupel-UCF when they were in the American
Brian Kelly-Notre Dame
Mark Stoops-First time as Head Coach
Hugh Freeze-Liberty
Sam Pittman- AHC and OLine at Georgia
Mark Richt-Position coach at OU
Lane Kiffin-Florida Atlantic
Eli Drinkwitz-App State
Clark Lea-DC
Zach Arnett-Promoted from within

None of these coaches came directly from a P5 school, except for Brian Kelly, who came from a Blue Blood, and Jimbo Fisher who came from Florida State, who could also be considered a borderline blue blood. The rest either came from a G5 or were promoted from within. Jobs like KState, OSU, Iowa State, have become lucrative enough, that when you weigh the job security balance, guys like Matt Campbell, Mike Gundy, Chris Klieman, etc...are staying.

 

[RxCowboy]

I thing the prospects of losing our coach every 3-5 years is a thing of the past, and part of the inferiority complex that OSU fans need to move past. Would Matt Campbell, Chris Klieman etc....rather make 7 million at OSU, with a fan base that is much less demanding, or $8 million at a place like Florida that wants to fire you every time you lose a game.

For example:

Here are the Head coaches in the SEC and where they came from
Billy Napier-Louisiana
Kirby Smart-Promoted
Jimbo Fisher-Florida State
Josh Heupel-UCF when they were in the American
Brian Kelly-Notre Dame
Mark Stoops-First time as Head Coach
Hugh Freeze-Liberty
Sam Pittman- AHC and OLine at Georgia
Mark Richt-Position coach at OU
Lane Kiffin-Florida Atlantic
Eli Drinkwitz-App State
Clark Lea-DC
Zach Arnett-Promoted from within

None of these coaches came directly from a P5 school, except for Brian Kelly, who came from a Blue Blood, and Jimbo Fisher who came from Florida State, who could also be considered a borderline blue blood. The rest either came from a G5 or were promoted from within. Jobs like KState, OSU, Iowa State, have become lucrative enough, that when you weigh the job security balance, guys like Matt Campbell, Mike Gundy, Chris Klieman, etc...are staying.

Kirby Smart was DC at Alabama, he was not promoted from within at UGA.


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[Herecomesbullet]

Kirby Smart was DC at Alabama, he was not promoted from within at UGA.


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It doesn't say from within like Zach Arnett says, it says promoted. Meaning, he wasn't making a Head to Head move. He was making a move that was a promotion from DC to Head. The bottom of my post does say this "The rest either came from a G5 or were promoted from within" so let that be corrected and the point not changed at all.

 

[orngblkzebra]

I thing the prospects of losing our coach every 3-5 years is a thing of the past, and part of the inferiority complex that OSU fans need to move past. Would Matt Campbell, Chris Klieman etc....rather make 7 million at OSU, with a fan base that is much less demanding, or $8 million at a place like Florida that wants to fire you every time you lose a game.

For example:

Here are the Head coaches in the SEC and where they came from
Billy Napier-Louisiana
Kirby Smart-Promoted
Jimbo Fisher-Florida State
Josh Heupel-UCF when they were in the American
Brian Kelly-Notre Dame
Mark Stoops-First time as Head Coach
Hugh Freeze-Liberty
Sam Pittman- AHC and OLine at Georgia
Mark Richt-Position coach at OU
Lane Kiffin-Florida Atlantic
Eli Drinkwitz-App State
Clark Lea-DC
Zach Arnett-Promoted from within

None of these coaches came directly from a P5 school, except for Brian Kelly, who came from a Blue Blood, and Jimbo Fisher who came from Florida State, who could also be considered a borderline blue blood. The rest either came from a G5 or were promoted from within. Jobs like KState, OSU, Iowa State, have become lucrative enough, that when you weigh the job security balance, guys like Matt Campbell, Mike Gundy, Chris Klieman, etc...are staying.

Really? Where is Monken, Holerson, Knowles, etc? I know they are assistants, but they move on to bigger better programs...There us irony in your post when you list final destination coaches that are great...we are not a final destination for anyone not a legacy.

 

[Herecomesbullet]

Really? Where is Monken, Holerson, Knowles, etc? I know they are assistants, but they move on to bigger better programs...There us irony in your post when you list final destination coaches that are great...we are not a final destination for anyone not a legacy.

Every University, Blue Bloods included, have a great chance at losing their assistants. The Blue Bloods lose them to the NFL, and/or those coaches become Head Coaches, like Kirby Smart. Being a Head Coach as opposed to a Coordinator is the destination of most coaches. So happens, places like OSU and KState are better destinations now than ever, and so much to the point that they are not losing their coaches to the bigger schools much at all anymore.

We lost Monken to the Head Coaching ranks, same as Holgorsen, not to bigger schools that were offering them the same positions. We lost Knowles because we slow played his salary bump, Ohio State took advantage of that and he left. I have been told by many people that he wanted to stay, and I have no doubt that, if that situation was handled properly, he would have.

Mason was always likely a short termer, and, ultimately, Gundy wanted to transition to the 3-3-5, because, if you've ever heard him talk about that defense, it's always been the hardest one for him to figure out as an offensive coach.

 

[orngblkzebra]

I thing the prospects of losing our coach every 3-5 years is a thing of the past, and part of the inferiority complex that OSU fans need to move past. Would Matt Campbell, Chris Klieman etc....rather make 7 million at OSU, with a fan base that is much less demanding, or $8 million at a place like Florida that wants to fire you every time you lose a game.

For example:

Here are the Head coaches in the SEC and where they came from
Billy Napier-Louisiana
Kirby Smart-Promoted
Jimbo Fisher-Florida State
Josh Heupel-UCF when they were in the American
Brian Kelly-Notre Dame
Mark Stoops-First time as Head Coach
Hugh Freeze-Liberty
Sam Pittman- AHC and OLine at Georgia
Mark Richt-Position coach at OU
Lane Kiffin-Florida Atlantic
Eli Drinkwitz-App State
Clark Lea-DC
Zach Arnett-Promoted from within

None of these coaches came directly from a P5 school, except for Brian Kelly, who came from a Blue Blood, and Jimbo Fisher who came from Florida State, who could also be considered a borderline blue blood. The rest either came from a G5 or were promoted from within. Jobs like KState, OSU, Iowa State, have become lucrative enough, that when you weigh the job security balance, guys like Matt Campbell, Mike Gundy, Chris Klieman, etc...are staying.

BTW, I was not advocating against diving into the coaching carousel...I was saying the fanbase needs to accept that is a reality to what will happen when the move from Gundy & friends occurs.