Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ROYC75
Oh boy, somebody fill me in on Mike Gundy, what happened ?
|
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/289179.html
Hot times for Big 12 coaches
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Anger was the prevailing emotion around the Big 12 over the weekend, and coaches were still being grilled about that rage on Monday.
From Lincoln to Lubbock, the ire rolled into Sunday and even Monday. But the cauldron especially has bubbled over at Oklahoma State after a game in which both teams’ postgame news conferences melted down.
On one side, there was Cowboys coach Mike Gundy’s tirade over a column published in TheOklahoman. His rant consumed his entire 3 1/2 -minute postgame meeting with reporters. The story, written by former Kansas City Star reporter Jenni Carlson, was critical of demoted junior quarterback Bobby Reid.
The news clip quickly made the Internet and cable outlets, showing Gundy holding up the sports section as he screamed at Carlson: “Three-fourths of this is inaccurate. It’s fiction. And this article embarrasses me to be involved in athletics.
“That article had to have been written by a person that doesn’t have a child. And has never had a child that had his heart broken …”
During the Big 12 coaches teleconference on Monday, Gundy said he did not regret his action.
“No, I wish I had said more,” Gundy said. “I’m tired of certain people downgrading other people. ... That’s a young man who is having a difficult time, who’s been moved to second-team and then for (Carlson) to take a cheap shot, to belittle him in the public eye.”
Gundy’s venting overshadowed the steam coming from his opponent, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, in his postgame setting.
Leach, furious that his team had put up 718 total yards and lost to the Cowboys 49-45, took it out on both sides of the ball.
“The entire first half we got hit in the mouth and acted like somebody took our lunch money,” Leach said. “All we wanted to do was have pouty expressions on our face until somebody daubed out little tears and made us (expletive) feel better. And then we’d go out there and try harder once our mommies told us we were OK.”
Sunday, Leach announced defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich was stepping down for “personal reasons” and would be replaced by assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill.
“Players reflect the mentality of the coach, and we needed to change the mentality,” Leach said Monday. “It’s a cop-out to say a team can be good on one side of the ball and not the other.”
The anger at Nebraska came from the fans, who poured boos on the defense during the Cornhuskers’ 41-40 victory over Ball State last Saturday.
The student section chanted “Fire Cosgrove,” a reference to defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, who oversees a unit that surrendered 610 yards, the second most by an opponent in Lincoln.
In a postgame radio interview, Cornhuskers linebacker Steve Octavien shot back at the fans.
“We’re not worried about the fans,” Octavien told the Husker Sports Network. “They’re not playing for us, they’re not on the field, they can’t play for us. We’re the ones putting in the hard work. They’re just cheering. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to come and watch the game.”
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said Monday that he expected Octavien to apologize to the fans.
“I told him there are other ways to (vent) and it wasn’t appropriate,” Callahan said.
Callahan understands why the team, which has given up 89 points in the previous two games, is getting an earful from the fans.
“There is criticism out there,” Callahan said. “I’m sure I’m at the heart of it. All I’m going to do is the best I can. There is a lot of season left.”
Callahan isn’t the only Big 12 coach feeling the heat. Texas A&M’s Dennis Franchione has come under fire after the Aggies fell to Miami 34-17 in a noncompetitive game on Thursday.
“It’s part of Division I athletics,” Franchione said of the criticism. “You have to stay focused on what’s important and what you have control of.”