College football’s top 25 highest-paid coaches for 2020 season
By Nick Villano
15. Mike Gundy – Oklahoma State
- 2020 Salary: $5.25 million
Mike Gundy got a raise from Oklahoma State at the end of the 2017 season when there were rumors that Tennessee was interested in the Cowboys head coach. Gundy missed out on a bowl game in his first season in Stillwater, but in the 14 seasons since, he’s made this a playoff team every single year.
There’s something about the Big 12 Conference that brings something special out of a fanbase, so they are more than willing to pay big for a head coach that wins. OSU fans hope they could take the next step one day, but going 7-2 in the conference constantly and making a bowl every season is well enough to get you more than $5 million per season in a contract.
Do they wish they did a little better than Oklahoma? Sure, but the university is 18-89-7 against the Sooners all time. So, Gundy getting two wins against their in-state rival in the past decade is good enough for now.
There’s something about Gundy that his players seem to want to run through a wall for him. Chuba Hubbard returned for his senior year despite leading the country in rushing with 2,094 yards. There’s no national championship to win, but just finishing off his career in orange is enough to come back. That’s happened multiple times for Oklahoma State, where NFL-ready players return to school for one more go around.
If anything, OSU might be hurt overall by how much Gundy gets out of his players because they don’t seem to perform as well on the next level. Since 2009, the Cowboys have had 20 players drafted. Dez Bryant and Russell Okung are the only stars, but there are a ton more busts. Justin Blackmon, Justin Gilbert, Brandon Pettigrew, and Mason Rudolph. There are some decent players (Emmanuel Ogbah and Chris Carson), but when you look at the star versus bust factor, it’s leaning well towards one side.
Either way, we know Mike Gundy is a really good head coach that is getting the most out of his talent. Losing Gundy would make OSU a much worse team, and that in of itself gives Gundy negotiating power to make him a top-15 head coach in the country. That’s why he’s getting paid like one.