“Change” is going to start at the top, says Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, and we can only hope he means this literally.
Please, God, let the first change of positive growth at OSU after its player revolt be Gundy cutting his loathsome mullet of a haircut. You’re laughing, but I’m serious.
A full Gundy image makeover might be the least of everyone’s concerns at the moment, and they would be right, but if he’s going to start changing things, as Gundy promised, then he might as well do all of America a favor and change everything.
It’s time. The party in the back is over.
Don’t get me wrong. Long hair is great. Mullets are not examples of long hair. Mullets are mud flaps for the head. Maybe they were celebrated fashion statements back in 1980s Midwest City, Oklahoma (Gundy’s hometown), but now it’s just a reminder of Gundy’s insensitive, unacceptable dereliction of duty to his players.
Save us the fake apologies for the OAN Network T-shirt, Gundy and Gundy sympathizers. Ignorance is no excuse. Oklahoma State’s players deserve a better coach and a better person.
If they’re stuck with Gundy, who says he had no idea OAN mocks the Black Lives Matter movement, they should at least get a new Gundy from head to toes.
The OAN Network T-shirt Gundy wore that sparked his reckoning this week was terrible, but what can anyone expect from a guy walking the earth groomed like the creepy summer lifeguard from “Stranger Things”? The haircut is so disturbingly trashy they wouldn’t allow it at a Skid Row reunion concert at a casino in Philadelphia, Miss., sponsored by Gundy’s beloved OAN.
GOODMAN: NASCAR can’t be allowed to whitewash history so easily
If one thing can begin to unite this fractured world, it’s Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, who was the first to call out his coach for the T-shirt, taking a pair of clippers to the back of Gundy’s empty dome on Pay-Per-View with the money going to a just cause.
We got our differences, this country, but can we all at least agree that Gundy’s hair should be arrested for hate crimes against humanity?
Gundy’s hair must go, but most importantly so must the totality of his belligerence if Oklahoma State can ever move past this and grow from the experience without him losing his job there. They need some healing in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and that’s what Gundy said was coming after rushing in front of a camera to douse the flames of pain started by his own stupid brand of arrogance.
He is a careless social arsonist, of course, but that hubris almost burned his football program to the ground over an offensive T-shirt. His players weren’t having it, but, to their great credit, they have decided to help their coach finally see the light rather than all entering the transfer portal at the same time.
Best of luck, gentlemen. As we’ve learned in recent weeks, the unmasked ignorance that Gundy represents cannot be reasoned with so easily.
GOODMAN: Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson should be celebrated for courage
Before we go any further here, let’s just recognize and acknowledge from the beginning that Gundy’s prominent role at a major university is a gross indictment of higher education in this country. He watches OAN. This is the “news network” that spits out political conspiracy theories to entertain the delusions of President Donald Trump.
You know, like the one about the 75-year-old man who was attacked by Buffalo, N.Y., police actually set the whole thing up.
Here’s where we are right now in this moment of our country. Young black men in college are coming of age, and seeing this world for what it truly is, and recognizing their power, and the white guy making millions off their hard work on the football field is advertising his total disregard for their intellectual growth.
Gundy is talking about change now, though, after his own players finally turned their backs on his deplorable behavior. Change comes in many ways, but there is only one way it should start at OSU. Gundy’s players can’t force him out over this latest affront to decency, but they can make an example out of him.
Last time we addressed Gundy’s oafishness in this column he was calling for football workouts to begin during the middle of a pandemic so his players could resume the process of creating economic wealth for the state of Oklahoma. As the second highest paid employee in the state at over $5 million per year, that means Gundy.
What did the rodeo clown do this time? More of the same, basically, which is to say Gundy offered another example of his blind lack of appreciation for his players’ civil rights.
GOODMAN: SEC coaches demonstrate power of moment
While on vacation, Gundy wore a T-shirt advertising OAN, which he has praised in the past. A photo of Gundy’s fishing trip surfaced on Twitter, and the sight of him wearing OAN Network swag offended Hubbard so deeply that he threatened to quit the team.
“I will not stand for this,” Hubbard tweeted. “This is completely insensitive to everything going on in society, and it’s unacceptable. I will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things CHANGE.”
His teammates rushed to support him, and it all exploded on Twitter. College football fans and reporters around the country called it the end of Gundy, and proof of player empowerment. Before player unrest on social media made the jump to an actual player boycott on campus, Gundy swallowed his pride and met with Hubbard the same day.
They worked through the moment, which is great news for Gundy and Oklahoma State, and then an awkward, hastily produced video was produced. Heavy breathing of the person behind the camera adds to the cringiness of it all. Gundy promised “changes.” Hubbard had the grace to apologize for the tweet.
Gundy apologized for nothing initially, and played dumb, and then later issued another non-apology claiming ignorance once again.
“In light of today’s tweet with the T-shirt I was wearing, I met with some players and realized it’s a very sensitive issue with what’s going on in today’s society,” Gundy said in the first video. “We had a great meeting and it made me aware of some things that players feel like can make our organization and our culture even better than what it is here at Oklahoma State.
I’m looking forward to making some changes and it starts at the top with me. We’ve got good days ahead.”
The changes should start at the top all right.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.
More from Joseph Goodman: Colin Kaepernick deserves credit for advancing country