Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy apologizes after saying 'most people are weak' when talking about fan criticism

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy posted an apology to social media late Tuesday night for comments he made during his Monday news conference about Oklahoma State fans who have been critical of the way the season has unfolded.

“I apologize to those who my comments during Monday’s media call offended,” the longtime Oklahoma State coach said. “My intent was not to offend any of our fans who have supported us and this program through the years.”

Oklahoma State is 3-6 and 0-6 in the Big 12 a season after making it to the Big 12 championship game. After starting the season with three-straight non-conference wins, the Cowboys are in a tailspin. Four of the six losses have been by double digits.

The team’s performance amidst its losing streak was a prominent theme in Monday’s news conference. And after he was asked about fan criticism earlier in the availability, the topic came up again. Gundy said that “most people are weak” when things don’t go well and that those people then find someone to point the finger at.

He then went on from there.

"This place has had tremendous success for 18 and a half years, or 19, I can't do the math real good," Gundy said. "And so, unfortunately, in life, most people are weak and as soon as things start to not go as good as they thought, they fall apart and they panic. And then they want to point the finger and blame other people. You see it happening in every day life. People do it all the time. That's why I refuse to watch the TV and watch the news because I get tired of people complaining and bitching about this and that versus just doing something about it and trying to figure out a way and make it better.

"And that's what happens in college athletics, and as [a reporter who asked a question earlier in the news conference] said, she's exactly right. It's just on the bigger stage where people can voice their opinion. And in most cases, the people who are negative and voicing their opinion are the same ones that can't pay their own bills. They're not taking care of themselves. They're not taking care of their own family. They're not taking care of their own job but they have an obligation to speak out and complain about others because it makes them feel better. But then in the end when they go to bed at night, they're the same failure that they were before they said anything negative about anybody else."

The former Oklahoma State quarterback has been the Cowboys’ coach since 2005 and the team’s 18-year bowl streak will be snapped if Oklahoma State doesn’t win each of its final three games of the season.

That looks like a very tough task. Oklahoma State plays at TCU on Saturday before games against Texas Tech and No. 20 Colorado to finish the season. If Oklahoma State loses at least one more game, it will be the first time the school hasn’t won at least seven games in a single season since the Cowboys went 4-7 in Gundy’s first season.

Two big reasons for the team’s struggles are the lack of a run game and a porous defense. Ollie Gordon was an All-American in 2023 with 1,732 yards and finished seventh in the Heisman voting. This season, he has 146 carries for 593 yards and the team is averaging just 3.7 yards a carry. The defense, meanwhile, is allowing 6.9 yards per play and the 31.2 points per game OSU is allowing ranks 109th out of 134 teams at the top level of college football.