BIG 12 MEDIA DAYS

July 21, 2005

Mike Gundy

Charlie Johnson

Daniel McLemore

Lawrence Pinson

COACH GUNDY: Good morning. I have Charlie Johnson here on the left. He is an offensive tackle, he was a tight end for us three years prior to that. Charlie is from Sherman High School in Sherman, Texas. Daniel McLemore, Daniel is a cornerback, return specialist. He is from Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas. Lawrence Pinson, he is a linebacker. He is from Jenks, Oklahoma, Jenks High School. The reason these three young men are here is they are a great example of what we stand for at Oklahoma State. They have worked extremely hard the last three years and they are great leaders. They do well in the classroom. They understand the importance of team. They are going to go out beyond their days of playing football and be successful in society because they understand and they do what's right. We are very proud of them. All three of them have played as freshmen, sophomore, junior, not red-shirted. As any other college student or college football player had some up and downs throughout their career, they have learned to persevere. We are very proud of them. They will be great leaders for us this fall.

COACH GUNDY: Well, I think discipline is very important for student athletes in college level. We talk as a staff, and I talk to the players at times, these guys pay a great price in order to play football at this level. We forget at times that they are there to go to school and get a degree so they can have an opportunity to be successful someday. So I think discipline is very important because at times as Division One football coaches and players get catered to, and we all know what they get out there in the real world. Nobody is going to cater to them anymore, so we talk to them every day about doing what's right. They all know the difference between right and wrong. At times there will be mistakes that are made, but as a staff, we are in the business of bringing these guys together and nurturing them, continuing them through their college education, preparing them to perform and play well on Saturdays, go out there in the real world and be successful and come back and be a part of Oklahoma State for the a long time.

COACH GUNDY: Our football team has a great attitude right now. If I would give my opinion, I would say yes. I remember back as being a player and being a situation and at the age that these guys are, and I am a firm believer that they want to be treated fairly, they want to be pushed to the limit, and they want to be disciplined. They want to know what's going to happen tomorrow. They want to know that if they are paying the price on the field and they are doing everything they need to academically, that there is going to be a reward there, and that reward is an opportunity to graduate from college and play big-time football on Saturdays.

COACH GUNDY: Yes. I have been on the job now, I guess, six months or so. There is not a lot of preparation for this job, and I mentioned this earlier, that people say that once you become a head coach you kind of learn on the run, and I believe that. Obviously, what you have done in your past as assistant coach and the people you have been around have had an effect on what you do. We learn on the run, and every day has been a good day for me. We have had a couple situations in the last six months that are tough, but I am excited and look forward to coming to work every day, more than I ever have been in my life. The reason why is I played football at Oklahoma State and graduated from there, and I have a very, very sincere love for the University. The thing that was important to me when I got the head coaching job is that instead of worrying about getting first downs and scoring points, the first thing I was concerned with were the 115 players on our team, and to make sure they had every opportunity to be successful in the classroom and on the football field. As a staff, we worked together and we work with our players. We communicate with them, listen to them, let them give us information. By doing that, it gives us an opportunity to provide them with everything they need to be successful. So to answer your question, it's a good day for me every day.

COACH GUNDY: Coaches call me several times. He has not been big in the past in telephone conversations. He has called several times and I have enjoyed listening to him. My position coach in Miami, he is my position coach and we talk. I am fortunate to have friends in this situation, and they share knowledge, and at times most of the information they give me has eventually shown to be true, so we just work hard every day and look forward to the next one.

COACH GUNDY: No. I don't claim to be anywhere in that league.

COACH GUNDY: It's the one thing about being a head coach that I don't enjoy, is that it separates me from our staff and our team. I have to make the final decision at times. Ninety-five percent of the decisions made in our program are made by the players or by the assistant coaches. So, from that standpoint, being a head coach is not as important as what the people think it is and, obviously, the direction of the football program comes across my desk at some point, but I would just as soon be a guy that's out there in coaching clothes and coaching quarterbacks and being involved in the play calling and things like that, but I am not now. I do enjoy the change. I think that in the first six months of being on this job that the people in the state of Oklahoma have started to respect me for being a head coach and not just a player that had success at Oklahoma State.

COACH GUNDY: I have never thought about things not going well for me in anything I have ever done, so to answer your question, no. That may sound a little bit out of the ordinary. I would hate to get up here and not shoot you guys straight. What I have done at Oklahoma State as a player is gone. These guys sitting over here, they don't even know what I did as a player at Oklahoma State unless it was in the newspaper. There are players now that I am recruiting whose dads played when I played at Oklahoma State. So I think it has gone by. I have never thought about anything other than good things happening. We, as a staff, have a vision and a plan for Oklahoma State football for a long time and that's all I ever think about.

COACH GUNDY: We have hired Larry Fedora to be our offensive coordinator. Larry has had a history of a no-huddle offense and fast break. I was telling the television media that Larry, I heard him tell some people the other day at a function that his job was to be aggressive and it was Coach Gundy's job to hold him back. I don't know who is going to hold anybody back. Coach Gundy is going to be aggressive, too. We have new terminology, and we have a system that provides us with an opportunity to be more successful throwing the ball in pure passing situations. In the last few years at Oklahoma State, we had success scoring points and moving the ball effectively, but I did not think we were a good team throwing the ball in throwing situations, medium to third and long, and I think this offense gives us an opportunity to do that. We will still run the football, if there is two backs or one back, we will always run the football in Oklahoma State. I am very excited about Coach Fedora and the tremendous style he brings.

COACH GUNDY: I think we will play two quarters back in the first game. Obviously, the competition will go on from this point on. We are fortunate that we have two players in that position, and Al Pena is the third guy in that position that nobody talks about. I think we will play both of them in the first game. Donovan Woods is obviously the player that was with us the most last year, played in our games, has got -- he is more mature than Bobby is at this time. They are both very talented and done a great job this summer. I saw the results from some of the testing somebody put on my desk the other day, they are doing a good job in the weight room, so I would say we play both.

COACH GUNDY: No. I am still close to them now. I think there is a misconception out there that the old style football coach 20 years ago and the players were scared to come up to his office, but they respected him and they were disciplined. That's not my personality. I think the most important thing that we can do as coaches is be ourself. I joke with some of the people out there in the media, and they say that we always relied on you as an assistant coach to give us a good story and tell us the truth. I am going to give you a good story and tell you the truth as the head coach. There may be times I can't talk about something. I think that's the same with the player. I want our players to know they can come talk to me about anything. We can have that conversation and have a relationship, and then if they don't show up for class, then they don't get to play on Saturday. It doesn't matter if he and I have a relationship or not. We have a set of standards we go by, but I don't want to be a coach that the players don't feel comfortable talking to. I think that comes back to my personality. As I mentioned earlier, one of the most important things any coach can do is be himself.

COACH GUNDY: When we look back on it, I think we were fatigued as a team. I don't think that it's right to blame that on Coach Miles. Obviously, he is the head coach. Everybody says he is the guy that set up all the practices and all that, but we practiced that way for three years and we finished strong. So, for whatever reason, our personnel didn't match up with the people we played late in the year, and I think we ran out of gas. I don't know if anybody will ever really know that. As a staff we have discussed that, and most of the staff wasn't here last year. I have looked at some tape and tried to make decisions on my own and make adjustments to make sure it doesn't happen again, but it's interesting, we went to Texas and jumped out in the first half and played well on offense, and then we couldn't stop it and we couldn't move it. We went to Tech and played good on defense and couldn't play good on offense. I don't know if it was any one side of the ball or the other. The only thing I can contribute it to is maybe fatigue.