Published: September 24, 2007 12:52 am            

Now we know what stirs Poke coach

Commentary

I feel like Al Pacino in Godfather III.

I thought I was done with Mike Gundy. I have nothing against the man. But I watched that game at Troy and I saw this coach seemingly so overmatched by the moment, so I wrote about it. That was supposed to be it.

But here comes Mike Gundy again, like I’m Michael Corleone, pulling me back in.

The Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson wrote this column Saturday morning questioning the heart, toughness and attitude of quarterback Bobby Reid. I wouldn’t call it an attack. It wasn’t a hatchet job. Nor did she pull a Dick Cheney, setting up some sort of indefensible straw man only to beat the displaced quarterback over the head with it. She questioned Reid’s intangibles.

She had some evidence and wrote her story. Maybe she could have done a few things differently and Gundy’s opening to come after her might have been a little narrower. Not that it matters.

Because where Gundy’s concerned, the story isn’t how he valiantly came to the defense of one of his athletes. Instead, it’s the simple fact that his team being dominated by the likes of Troy appeared to stir nothing in him, while a harsh but hardly out of bounds newspaper column set him off.



Behind the story

Now we know what riles the guy up, but could he have been any more petulant. I’ve heard diatribes from more accomplished coaches than Gundy. They might have been out of place and ill advised, but at least they made sense. Even Kelvin Sampson made sense. Most of the time, anyway.

Gundy told Carlson she never would have written such a thing if she had children.

A) That’s sexist. B) It’s irrational. C) Since when did we start classifying 21-year-old athletes on full scholarship who generate millions toward their university, who — when things are going well — will be cheerfully pushed by their very own sports information department for individual and national honors … as children.

Certainly, there were men in that room who at one time or another had written an equally harsh story or column and certainly some of those men are fathers. Is Carlson’s burden to be nice greater because she’s a woman? It shouldn’t be.

If Gundy takes issue with Reid’s maturity being questioned, isn’t he calling it into greater question by going ape? Does he really have to be Reid’s bridge over troubled water? Is Reid feeling that weary, that small?

“Come after me. I’m a man. I’m 40,” Gundy screamed.

Reid’s a man. He’s underachieved. He’s 21.

But if you insist …

In the week leading up to Zac Robinson starting at Troy, nobody knew if Reid or Robinson would start. Further, if it was Robinson, because Reid had been hurt the previous week, nobody would know why.

Then Robinson gets the start, the Cowboys get drilled and the coaches, Gundy and offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, say they liked their chances to win more with Robinson. Really? You just lost 41-23 at Troy.



Free advice

Playing coy never got a coach anywhere with the media.

Say you knew it would be Robinson on Wednesday before Troy. Let the cat out of the bag.

You don’t want to. You don’t want the questions. You don’t want a little media storm in the middle of the week. But had you, with a list of positive reasons to go with Robinson, the quarterback issue would have been finished by the weekend and there would be little reason to revisit it Saturday morning. But that’s not what happened.

On the other hand, if Gundy wanted to make himself the story, he succeeded.

Saturday morning there might have been some folks swayed by Carlson’s portrayal of Reid. They might have thought, you know, that doesn’t sound like the kind of guy who can lead a football team.

Now they know something else. They know they have a coach who gets worked up over the wrong stuff. Embarrassing road loss? Nothing. Offensive column? Screaming like a lunatic.

That doesn’t sound like the kind of guy who can lead a football team.

Clay Horning

366-3526

cfhorning@normantranscript.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.