"Mike Gundy is very much alive; he just is no longer employed at Oklahoma State, where over 21 seasons he became the program's all-time winningest coach. He and Swinney have much in common. Both are in their mid-to-late 50s (Swinney 55, Gundy 58). Both built up underperforming programs through their own force of will -- a combination of competitive drive, innovative schemes and personal charisma. During the 2010s, few were better."
""So how do you do that?" he continued. "You have to constantly reinvent, reinvest, reset, learn, grow. You change. You have to do that. You don't just change to change, but you have to always challenge yourself each and every year and make sure, 'OK, this may be how we've done it, but is it still the right way?'""
""You've got the birth. You've got the growth. You've got plateau. You've got decline. And you've got death,""
College football has changed substantially between 2015 and 2025, with direct revenue-sharing, NIL and the transfer portal reshaping roster building and coaching approaches. The sport now requires programs and coaches to constantly reinvent and reassess methods to avoid decline. Dabo Swinney framed program longevity as continual reinvention rather than plateauing. Longtime coaches who built successful programs, such as Mike Gundy, face new pressures and consequences; Gundy was fired after a 1-2 start despite 21 seasons as Oklahoma State's winningest coach. Clemson, a preseason contender, began 1-3 with surprising losses, illustrating the volatile new landscape.
Read at ESPN.com
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