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OSU Football: Where Mike Gundy ranks in winning categories heading into his 20th season

A coach doesn’t stay with the same program for twenty years without winning.

Mike Gundy enters his 20th season as the leader of Cowboy football after accepting the head coaching job prior to the 2005 season following Les Miles’ departure to LSU. He is ingrained in the OSU tradition not only for his long tenure as a coach, but also as the Cowboys’ quarterback who passed the ball to Barry and Thurman.

Gundy has delivered some great performances as he enters Season 20. a lot of of wins while making the Cowboys relevant on a national level. Let’s take a look at where Gundy currently stands in different categories of wins after 19 years of leading the same football program.

Most wins of all time among active coaches: 5th

This list is actually what prompted me to write this. Gundy is fifth in all-time wins among active coaches, having moved up one spot into the top five during the offseason following Nick Saban’s retirement. Coaches ahead of Gundy include Mack Brown, Kirk Ferentz, Brian Kelly, and Dabo Swinney. Another tough season for Swinney, and if the Cowboys can have another year like this, Gundy could surpass Swinney in his 21st season. Or, since Gundy said at Big 12 Media Days that he has no plans to retire anytime soon, he could outlast those ahead of him and one day top this list.

1. Mack Brown (276)
2. Kirk Ferentz (196)
3. Brian Kelly (186)
4. Dabo Swinney (170)
5. Mike Gundy (166)
6. Kyle Whittingham (162)
7.Troy Calhoun (130)
8. Rich Rodriguez (127)
9. Bret Bielema (115)
10. James Franklin (112)

Most wins at current school: 3rd

One thing that makes Gundy unusual compared to half the other coaches on that list is that he has achieved all of his victories in the same place. Ferentz, Swinney, Whittingham and Calhoun are the others who have done the same.

Gundy ranks third in wins at his current school, and those four make up the rest of the top five, with new Big 12 rival Kyle Whittingham close behind Gundy after the two were hired just weeks apart. Of the five on the list, Ferentz, fittingly at the top, has been at his school the longest, coaching Iowa for 25 years — six years longer than runners-up Gundy and Whittingham. Swinney, impressively, has been at Clemson the shortest — 16 years — despite being second on the list.

1. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (196)
2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (170)
3. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (166)
4. Kyle Whittingham, Utah (162)
5. Troy Calhoun, Air Force (130)

Most consecutive winning seasons at one FBS school: T-8th

And speaking of success in the same place, Gundy’s run at OSU has put him on a list with some coaching legends. He’s led the Cowboys to 18 straight winning seasons, coaching a winning team every season of his career except the first. That’s tied for the eighth-longest winning streak for the same FBS program. A winning season in 2024 would break the tie with Bob Stoops, who accomplished the feat at OU from 1999-2016, and Michigan’s Fielding Yost. A winning campaign would then put Gundy in a tie with BYU’s Lavell Edwards and Texas’ Darrell Royal. Another successful decade, and Gundy would move into second place on the list, behind only Bowden, as Gundy is the only player in the top 10 who is still coaching.

Others ahead of Gundy on the list are Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (No. 1) and Alabama’s Bear Bryant (No. 2). He’s ahead of guys like Nick Saban (17 seasons) and Barry Switzer (16 seasons) in that category.

1. Bobby Bowden, Florida State (33, 1977-2009)
T-2. Bear Bryant, Alabama (25, 1958-82)
T-2. Tom Osborne, Nebraska (25, 1973-97)
4. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech (23, 1993-2015)
5. Joe Paterno, Penn State (21, 1967-87)
T-6. Lavell Edwards, BYU (19, 1974-92)
T-6. Darrell Royal, Texas (19, 1957-75)
T-8. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (18, 2006–present)
T-8. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma (18, 1999-2016)
T-8. Fielder Yost, Michigan (18, 1901-18)

Most Bowl Wins: 6th

Gundy has a knack for getting teams to bowl (18 in a row) and he often wins those games when he gets there. His teams have won 12 of the 18 bowls he’s coached. Those 12 wins are tied for the sixth-most bowl wins by a coach. After this season, Gundy will likely be tied only with Dabo Swinney if they both lead their teams to bowl games and win them. I’m not sure how a potential first-round playoff game would change those bowl records, though.

1. Joe Paterno (24)
2.Bobby Bowden (22)
3. Nick Saban (19)
4. Beer Bryant (15)
5. Mack Brown (14)
T-6. Mike Gundy (12)
T-6. Lou Holtz (12)
T-6. Urban Meyer (12)
T-6. Tom Osborne (12)
T-6. Dabo Swinney (12)

Most Big 12 wins: 3rd

Now the granddaddy of the Big 12, of all the lists mentioned, this is the one Gundy will likely top before his career ends. Gundy ranks third in Big 12 wins with 102, trailing only Bob Stoops and Bill Snyder. He should move up to No. 2 fairly quickly this season, as he is only two wins behind Snyder. He is 19 behind Stoops, who has 121, but Gundy should eventually surpass that in this new Big 12, especially if he really isn’t retiring for a while. And Gundy shouldn’t be surpassed anytime soon, either, as the only coach in the top 10 who still coaches in the conference is Iowa State’s Matt Campbell with 38. That would also give Gundy the most Big 12 wins among active conference coaches.

1. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma (121)
2. Bill Snyder, Kansas State (104)
3. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (102)
4. Mack Brown, Texas (98)
T-5. Mike Leach, Texas Tech (47)
T-5. Gary Pinkel, Missouri (47)
7. Gary Patterson, TCU (45)
8. Art Briles, Baylor (39)
9. Matt Campbell, Iowa State (38)
10. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma (37)