Mike Gundy likes to incorporate his sons into his professional life. Remember, the reason he grew his famous mullet in the first place was to embarrass his three boys -- Gavin, a student at Arkansas; Gunnar, a Stillwater High School quarterback; and Gage, a middle school quarterback and select baseball player. At one point during the 2017 season, he told the local media he made a deal with one of the Gundy boys that he'd cut the mullet if the son scored a 92 on an upcoming test; he got an 89 and the mullet lived.
Speaking to thousands of coaches at the 2017 AFCA Convention, Gundy told this story:
Gundy told the story of watching the son play an 8 a.m. basketball game the Sunday before he left for Nashville, and his disgust at watching the 12-year-old’s lackadaisical effort. “He doesn’t like to get up, because he’s lazy. It’s his mom’s fault,” he deadpanned. As the 12-year-old ignored his father’s, uh, encouragement to play harder, a red-hot Gundy turned to his wife, asking, “Is this the best we’ve done raising him?” Unable to stomach his son’s performance, Gundy had to leave the gym to avoid saying something he’d later regret.
Fast forward to this past weekend. Oklahoma State rolled into Waco fresh off a 38-35 upset of then-No. 6 Texas at 4-3 on the season. A win over Baylor would put the Cowboys to 6-3 and 2-0 since their bye week heading into an all-important Bedlam game with No. 7 Oklahoma in Norman.
Instead, Oklahoma State turned around and lost to Baylor. Despite out-gaining the Bears by more than 100 yards and splitting the turnover battle 1-1, Oklahoma State watched a 31-21 lead evaporate over the game's final six minutes, as Charlie Brewer tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds left to hand Baylor a 35-31 win.
After the game, Gundy was hounded with questions about how a team could beat Texas and lose to Baylor within the span of eight days -- by the media, and by his own sons.
Gundy explained Oklahoma State's inconsistent performances to his sons in terms they could understand
I'm not sure that answer will comfort a downtrodden Oklahoma State fan, but it surely got his sons to stop pestering him.