Oklahoma State fired head coach Mike Gundy Tuesday after parts of 21 seasons.
The Cowboys were contenders in the Big 12 as recently as 2023 and reached that year’s conference championship game before falling to the Texas Longhorns.
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Gundy’s firing was hardly a surprise, though. Oklahoma State went winless in conference play in 2024 and the Pokes were embarrassed 69-3 at Oregon earlier this season. They followed it up with an unforgivable home loss to Tulsa last Friday.
In the wake of that, one national college football writer and author believes Gundy’s fate in Stillwater should serve as a cautionary tale for Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney.
CBS Sports’ John Talty, author of the book “The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos,” joined Paul Finebaum on SEC Network Tuesday and said that both Gundy and Swinney were two coaches who refused to adapt to the sport’s changing landscape regarding NIL and the transfer portal.
Our friends at College Sports Wire recently posited the same about Swinney and Gundy.
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“I think you could say that the Mike Gundy situation is potentially Dabo’s future, if he doesn’t evolve,” Talty said Tuesday.
He added that Gundy is “another guy who was very stubborn and did not want to adapt and evolve with the changing nature of college football. They were way behind in NIL in a number of different ways.”
On “College GameDay” last Saturday, former Alabama coach Nick Saban made what almost sounded like a public plea with Swinney to adapt and evolve.
Saban said:
“When you’re in competition, you’ve got to look at the next challenge as an opportunity to continue to grow and develop. Dabo needs to look at what he needs to do in his program to make his program continually be successful. Do you have to change the portal (approach)? Do you have to change name, image and likeness (approach)?”
Gundy is out of a job, but Swinney doesn’t have to join him. And to be sure, the Clemson coach seems pretty secure with a $60 million buyout clause and a more recent run of success.
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The Tigers won the ACC for the eighth time in 10 seasons and reached the College Football Playoff last year. Swinney also has two national championships, something Gundy never sniffed.
But past achievements can only carry a coach so far, and Clemson has no excuse not to contend at a time when other college football powers in the 21st century still remain strong — nor when perennial also-rans like Indiana, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech are finding ways to win.
Clemson is idle this Saturday before facing North Carolina in Chapel Hill at noon ET on Oct. 4. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football, Dabo Swinney could learn from Mike Gundy firing
