Oklahoma State finally ripped off the band-aid. Mike Gundy, just two years removed from a 10-win season in 2023, appeared to be going nowhere fast with a 1-2 start after a 3-9 record in 2024. Another aging head coach enveloped by the NIL and transfer portal era, Gundy was fired by the university on Tuesday, a major shake-up after 21 years in Stillwater.
Now, Oklahoma State has to undergo its first coaching search since Les Miles left for LSU in 2005, and Gundy was hired as his replacement. It’s the third Power 4 opening just four weeks into the 2025 season, with Virginia Tech and UCLA already having moved on from their coaches, and it seems there could be a wide net cast in the search. Here are a few of the names that could be in the mix, but that the Cowboys should avoid for one reason or another.
In his second year at Tulane, Sumrall is currently 35-10 as an FBS head coach, with back-to-back double-digit win seasons at Troy before taking over the Green Wave. Despite losing star quarterback Darian Mensah to Duke with a major NIL package, he has notched two Power 4 victories already this season, beating both Northwestern and Duke.
Sumrall will be a hot candidate for every opening this offseason, but likely the job he has an eye on is in Lexington, Kentucky. The former Wildcat linebacker is the obvious replacement if Kentucky moves on from Mark Stoops. The program hasn’t shown signs that they’re ready to, but Stoops is outgunned in the SEC, so it’s inevitable, and if Sumrall sees that opening, he’d be a flight risk, potentially forcing Oklahoma State back into a coaching search after 20 seasons at the helm.
Gary Patterson isn’t completely uninterested in a return to college football. At 65 years old, he’s interviewed for a few positions since leaving TCU in 2021, but Oklahoma State shouldn’t necessarily be interested in him.
It always has been, but especially now, with the rigorous demands of the Transfer Portal on top of high school recruiting, leading a major college football program is a young man’s game. Nick Saban got out at the right time, but some of the other old-timers like Gundy, or even Dabo Swinney, who is considerably younger but distinctly from a pre-NIL and portal era, have struggled to adjust. It’s impossible to expect Patterson to be well-versed in the new order of the sport after so much time away.
The top candidate on the board is almost certainly current Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator and former Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson. Robinson is the fourth all-time leading passer in program history, one spot ahead of Gundy, and would drum up significant fan support. However, the offense he’s run in Atlanta should set off a few alarms.
The former Sean McVay disciple is in his second season calling plays for the Falcons, and he hasn’t quite taken to it like his former boss. Atlanta’s offense has been functional, and last year, he was limited by Kirk Cousins, who was coming off an Achilles injury and had to play primarily from the pistol instead of under center because of his limited mobility. Still, it’s an offense that fails to marry the run and pass concepts together, leaving it feeling disjointed and stale.
The Falcons are coming off a 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3, in which Michael Penix threw for just 172 yards on 36 attempts with two interceptions. If there are questions about an offensive-minded head coach’s offense, then you should probably stay away. Plus, Robinson has yet to be a head coach at any level, and there’s a lot more that comes with it than just calling plays on gameday.