Oklahoma State football camp notes: Mike Gundy talks about Zach Bryan concert, QB battle
STILLWATER — Mike Gundy has played and coached in some of college football’s biggest and best venues during his career.
But the Oklahoma State coach called his brief appearance on stage during the Zach Bryan concert at the BOK Center in Tulsa last week a monumental experience.
“I’ve been very lucky to do a lot of things in my life. That was the biggest rush I’ve ever had,” Gundy said after the Cowboys finished practice Thursday at the Sherman Smith Training Center.
“Being on a stage where 17,000 people are screaming at him, but you think they’re screaming for you. Nobody else is screaming at you and they’re upset. Like out here, most of the time, over half the people are mad at me and they’re screaming and it could be at me. … Honestly, I didn’t want to get off the stage. I kinda wanted to stay up there longer. I can see why those guys get addicted to that.”
Gundy and a few others were invited on stage by Bryan, an Oologah native, on what happened to be Gundy’s 56th birthday last Saturday.
“They had called me several times wanting me to do it,” Gundy said. “I didn’t know when I was gonna fit it into my schedule. It just ended up being that the next day was an off day for us, so it worked out.
“It is tough for me — old people. I didn’t get home til 2:30 in the morning. They don’t go on until, like, 10. Well at 10, I’m 30 minutes til sleep. So that was a tough deal, but I’d do it again, now. It was awesome.”
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No news on OSU quarterback competition
Like he said last weekend, Gundy believes his staff is no closer to choosing a starting quarterback.
Super-senior Alan Bowman, redshirt freshman Garret Rangel and redshirt sophomore Gunnar Gundy continue to compete for the job, each rotating with the first, second and third teams.
“They’re playing really well,” the coach said. “There’s no way we can name a starter right now. Just can’t. I’m a little surprised that it’s gotten to this point. Whenever we feel like it’s best for the team, based on what’s happening in practice, we will. But not right now.”
Gundy added that the division of practice snaps was not a concern.
“They’re getting a lot of reps,” he said. “We practice differently now than we used to because of COVID. It’s really, really good for our organization. They’re getting a lot of reps.”
Gundy said he would be comfortable playing multiple quarterbacks early in the season if necessary, adding that the playbook does not have to be altered much between the three players.
“There’s similarities in what they do,” he said. “Some of them throw certain routes better. Some of them run better. But for the most part, I’m gonna say 80% of it is gonna be consistent.”
Gundy will speak to the media one more time — next Thursday — prior to the Sept. 2 season opener against Central Arkansas.
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Speed key to new 3-3-5 defense
While the defenders continue to learn the 3-3-5 defense of new coordinator Bryan Nardo, one key factor has become clear about the players OSU has on that side of the ball.
They can run.
With a large collection of talented and athletic defenders, Nardo has a lot to work with in implementing his scheme, which Gundy has said will be kept simple in the early going.
“I think our defense can run,” Gundy said. “We’ve recruited speed when we’ve had that luxury. We didn’t want to make speed more important than being productive in high school, but if we had a comparison of two guys that were just as productive, we tried to go with the speed.
“We’ve been fast on defense and I feel like we’re gonna be fast on defense again this year.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU's Mike Gundy says Zach Bryan concert experience was 'biggest rush'
