Mike Gundy believes he would have been like Johnny Manziel if he had today’s NIL money
Amid the pending House v. NCAA settlement agreement that is expected to usher in a new age of college athletics, one where schools will be allowed to share millions in revenue with student-athletes, there’s many a former college athlete imagining how they’d handle today’s landscape where NIL deals and the transfer portal reign supreme.
Except Mike Gundy. The longtime Oklahoma State head coach and alumnus knows exactly what would’ve happened to him if he had the ability to sign multi-million dollar deals when he was the Cowboys’ star quarterback in the late 1980s.
“No, because if I had that much money, I’d never have made it. I’d been history,” Gundy quipped Wednesday during a sit-down with local reporters. “I’d be like the guy that played at A&M, Johnny Manziel, probably. I’d have blown all my money and no telling what would’ve happened. So I’m glad I didn’t have that much money.”
Manziel, the infamous former Aggies quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, spoiled his once-promising football career after succumbing to substance abuse issues shortly after entering the NFL as a first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2014. Following a string of off-field incidents in 2015, including several run-ins with police, the Browns cut Manziel in mid-March 2016.
In a 2023 Netflix documentary, UNTOLD: Johnny Football, Manziel revealed his drug use was “a contant, daily thing” at the time, according to Yahoo!, including spending nearly $5 million on a bender after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Playing at Oklahoma State from 1986-1989, Gundy managed to avoid similar pitfalls before beginning his coaching career as as Cowboys assistant coach in 1990. Fifteen years later, Gundy would become his alma mater’s head football coach, where’s he’s been for the last two decades. In 2025, Gundy is set to enter Year 21 leading Oklahoma State, where he’s compiled a career record of 169-88 and 102-72 in the Big 12.
Suffice it to say, things clearly worked out pretty well for Gundy — even without NIL money burning a hole in his pocket.
Mike Gundy restructured contract details revealed after standoff
After a standoff with Oklahoma State this offseason, Mike Gundy came to terms on a new contract with the school. The deal then went for board approval, and the restructured details have been revealed.
Gundy is getting ready for Year 1 of a four-year deal worth $6.75 million per year, along with a $125,000 per year escalator. The contract will run through the 2028 season and no longer include a rollover provision. Gundy’s buyout will also go down as a result.
The deal also sets the table for an eventual succession plan, The Oklahoman’s Scott Wright detailed. Oklahoma State AD Chad Wieberg requested its inclusion and said that could include identifying and developing a new successor to pave the way for Gundy’s eventual departure, whenever that might be.
“That allows for Coach Gundy, as requested by me, to be a part of the succession planning for the next head football coach, whenever that occurs,” Weiberg said. “That’s just recognizing that he is the winningest coach in OSU football history and this will be important to him, us and everyone that whenever that time comes that we have a transition. He knows more about what it takes to win here than anybody else.
“Assuming how all this plays out, and the timing of it, if I’m the AD at that point, certainly, I would want that advice from him. We wanted to have that in there to start to spell out how that will occur whenever that does occur.”
Gundy’s previous deal rolled over, making it effectively a “lifetime” contract, and paid $7.75 million. That put him as the 17th-highest paid coach in the country and the top salary in the Big 12, according to the On3 Coach Salaries Index.
The $1 million pay cut will likely go toward revenue-sharing as Oklahoma State and schools across the country prepare for the House v. NCAA settlement’s impact. Friday was the deadline for objections in the case, which could be fully approved in April.
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