In the last couple years of his tenure at Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy spoke candidly about how NIL impacted things in Stillwater. He made it clear he didn’t want to negotiate mid-season, though he helped lead the charge to put QR codes on players’ helmets to help with that support. Tuesday morning, the school moved […]
In the last couple years of his tenure at Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy spoke candidly about how NIL impacted things in Stillwater. He made it clear he didn’t want to negotiate mid-season, though he helped lead the charge to put QR codes on players’ helmets to help with that support.
Tuesday morning, the school moved on from Gundy in the midst of his 21st season at the helm. Speaking with reporters hours later, Oklahoma State AD Chad Weiberg was asked about where the school stands from an NIL perspective, particularly as the revenue-sharing era begins in college sports.
Weiberg spoke highly of the Cowboys’ support, noting the fact the roster is “not an inexpensive” one amid an 0-3 start. He added he “absolutely, 100%” expects the support to continue even after parting firing Gundy and cited the crowd at Friday’s loss to Tulsa to prove his point about the fans’ passion.
“The game has changed, for sure,” Weiberg said. “And I think there are a few programs out there that are highly resourced, especially in the era that we’ve come out of – the collective era and all of those things. As we move into the revenue-sharing, I think that has the potential to change a little bit, and we don’t need to get into all of that now.
“What I am extremely comfortable of is, we are resourced at the level that we need to be resourced at. This is not an inexpensive football team that we have on the field this season. I feel really good about the investment that we’ve made here. I feel great about the support we have here.”
‘This place has support’
Mike Gundy also acknowledged the packed house at Boone Pickens Stadium in his postgame press conference following the loss, which proved to be his final game as head coach. That passion, Chad Weiberg said, is why he’s so confident Oklahoma State can have the support it needs to compete in a jam-packed Big 12 following the coaching change.
“This place has support,” Weiberg said. “There are people who are committed to winning here. Our donors are committed to winning here and giving us the resources that we need to win here. Our administration is supportive. We have won football games here and we can win football games here. It’s not like I’m going to be talking to candidates about some kind of dream or something that’s never happened here before. I’m going to be talking about continuing the standard that has been established here, and we have the support for that.
“We need to continue to grow that support – I’m not saying that. This is, I think, a continued opportunity for the OSU family to come together and support this program.”
Chad Weiberg: Resources are necessary to stay competitive
Oklahoma State is the third power conference program to make an in-season coaching change this year, following Virginia Tech and UCLA. When the Hokies moved on from Brent Pry, the school unveiled a proposed athletics budget increase with a combination of institutional support, donor support, increased student fees and bridge funding.
While Chad Weiberg said Oklahoma State won’t necessarily follow suit in that regard, the school is looking for ways to find an uptick in donations and revenue as the search begins to replace Mike Gundy. However, when hiring a new coach in the current landscape, resources will be important to compete at a high level.
“It is important,” Weiberg said. “That’s going to be the message is, we can go out and hire a great, great football coach. But if he doesn’t have the resources that he needs to compete at this level of college football, it’s not going to matter. It’s not going to work. I anticipate that our fans will get on board with that, our donors will get on board with that, just like they have. We aren’t lacking for support. I know there’s people out there that think that we are. But this is not the 1980s OSU. We have come a long, long way from then.
“I would invite any of you to see how many other schools have 123 suites in their football stadium – something that was unfathomable back then. Now, not only do we have them, but they’re full. I say that to say, I feel really good about the support that we have here, but the competition is intense. We’re not the only school trying to win football games. We’re not the only donor base that is supporting their program in order to do so. It is just competition. We’ve got to continue to step up and compete at the highest level if we want to win at the highest level.”
Category: General Sports
