legelegel
08-23-2007, 10:19 AM
OSU's History Lesson
Holder, Gundy vow to run clean program, not repeat past
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
8/23/2007
STILLWATER -- Mindful of NCAA penalties that devastated Oklahoma State during the 1990s, Cowboy athletic director Mike Holder and coach Mike Gundy vow that there will be no rules-breaking within the football program.
"We won't cut corners and try to cheat to win," Holder said. "The only thing that could derail us from eventual success in football is if we break the rules. We don't need to cheat, and we're not going to cheat.
"I'm really not worried about what anyone else is doing, and no one needs to worry about us. We're going to play by the rules."
Said Gundy: "Coach Holder is exactly right. If you (cheat) and bring a guy in here, he's going to hold you hostage until he leaves. Don't think he won't. First time something goes wrong, he'll hold you hostage. If a player or his parents want you to cheat, you don't want them in your program. That won't be the end of it."
Following a 4-7 season in 2005, the Cowboy coaching staff signed a recruiting class ranked No. 16 nationally by Scout.com. This year's class was ranked No. 24. In its 2008 recruiting campaign, OSU has a collection of 19 committed players. That group is ranked No. 21 nationally by Scout.com. Of the 19 committed recruits, 18 hail from Texas.
As assistant Joe DeForest established beneficial relationships in the Houston area, the Cowboys have sustained a high level of recruiting success in Texas. Gundy says there have been scattered rumors that OSU might have cheated in their effort to sign those Texans.
Gundy says there has been no cheating. He says he has an energetic, trustworthy, well-connected staff. He also says recruits are impressed by the Boone Pickens Stadium renovation.
"Whenever you have good recruiting classes and you're not a tradition-rich school, people question it," Gundy said. "You hear (rumors) when you're out on the road. There are no secrets in our profession."
Gundy would not identify the sources of rumors. Instead, he defends the virtue of his program.
"We've had success because we had a plan and because of hard work. Because of money and national publicity," Gundy said. "Twice, Boone Pickens' donations have been covered in USA Today. What's that worth? Boone was on the front page. It has had a huge impact.
"People say, 'How do you get Richetti Jones? How do you get Perrish Cox?' (Cowboy assistants) Curtis Luper and Doug Meacham worked extremely hard for a long time. They didn't listen when people said we wouldn't get those guys."
Jones (Dallas Lincoln High School) and Cox (Waco University) were nationally renowned Texas recruits. Wide receiver Dez Bryant, an elite recruit from Lufkin, Texas, was recruited hard by Texas A&M. He signed with Oklahoma State.
This week, Guthrie's Kye Staley, a national four-star prospect, announced his commitment to OSU. He says he also had been offered scholarships by Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan, Arkansas and Nebraska.
Some Big 12 schools have expressed disapproval with OSU's purchase of billboard advertising space in Texas (the most conspicuous OSU ads appear in airports in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston). Gundy says opposing coaches also are bothered by the satellite summer camps that OSU conducts in various Texas locales.
During the recent OSU Caravan stop in Tulsa, Gundy's address to fans included an explanation of the satellite camps.
"A lot of the student-athletes don't have the opportunity financially to get to our camp in Stillwater, so we go to Texas and run five camps," Gundy said. "We spend three hours running a camp. It gives us a chance to spend time with those coaches and players. We coach. We teach. It's been termed a 'recruiting camp,' but we coach and teach.
"There are schools that don't like us doing that. They feel like it gives us opportunities to (develop) relationships with coaches and players there -- giving us advantages that maybe we shouldn't have. I just look at it as free enterprise."
During the recruiting period of 2005-06, Richardson (Texas) Berkner defensive end Ugo Chinasa was recruited by Texas and OU and several other national powers. Berkner coach Jim Ledford says Chinasa wound up signing with OSU because of the "unbelievable recruiting job" done by Cowboy assistant Todd Bradford.
"Everybody wanted Ugo. He could have gone anywhere from the East Coast to the West Coast," Ledford said. "But Todd Bradford was relentless. He worked his tail off. If he wants you, he won't stop until he gets you. He's just a persuasive guy and has a great rapport with athletes.
"My experience with OSU was awesome. Bottom line -- OSU is outworking everybody, and everybody is mad about it. At our place, OSU has been clean and above-board on everything."
"Let me say this, too," Ledford added. "I was trying to get Ugo to stay in Texas. I want my guys to play college football in Texas. But when Todd Bradford got involved, he did a great job. I can't say anything but good things about the OSU coaches."
Last month, Ledford said, a Fort Worth convention attracted an estimated 18,000 Texas high school coaches.
Ledford said he noted the attendance of only one Division I-A college head coach -- Mike Gundy.
"He was front and center, wearing his big orange stuff. You couldn't miss him," Ledford said. "(OSU coaches) are so good at making connections and being visible. If I needed to speak to Mike Gundy, it wouldn't take me three minutes to get him on the phone. There aren't many head coaches who are that accessible."
From Oklahoma State, the Tulsa World obtained copies of written correspondence exchanged between the university and the NCAA since January 2005, when Gundy became the head coach. There were self-reported minor violations -- the kind, Gundy says, that are common at all Division I-A universities -- but nothing that would qualify as an attempt to illegally gain a recruiting advantage.
"If you look at the history of Oklahoma State football," Gundy said, "every little bit of success was followed by sanctions. It happened in the '70s and again in the '80s."
In 1978-81, Oklahoma State was mired in a probationary period that involved the losses of scholarships and television exposures.
In 1989, the Cowboy program was rocked by extremely punitive NCAA sanctions. The four-year probation included a three-year bowl ban, a two-year television ban and the loss of 15 scholarships over three years.
If NCAA sanctions are intended to hurt a guilty program, they worked in a profound way at OSU. In 1981-88, the Cowboys were 63-29-2 with six bowl appearances. After the NCAA cited 40 violations and the penalties took effect, the Cowboys over their next 13 seasons were 52-90-3 with one bowl appearance.
In 2003, OSU benefactor and alumnus Boone Pickens donated $20 million toward the stadium renovation. Last year he followed with a gift of $165 million -- the largest donation ever made specifically to the athletic department of an American university.
Before 2003, Pickens had not given a large amount of money to the football program. Holder says Pickens disapproved of the rules violations committed in the '70s and '80s.
"That's another reason you don't want to cheat," Holder said. "You don't want to lose the support of your No. 1 donor."
Gundy has experienced the very best and very worst of OSU football. During his 1986-89 playing career as a quarterback, he led the Cowboys to a pair of 10-win seasons.
As a Cowboy assistant in 1990-95, he saw the damage done by NCAA sanctions.
"It was miserable in recruiting," Gundy said. "The sanctions were so severe that you couldn't get anyone interested in Oklahoma State."
"There hasn't been a penalty like it since then," he added. "Oklahoma State got blown up on that deal. Oklahoma had a severe penalty also, but it wasn't like the one we got here. It set this place back 10 years."
Mike Holder makes statement
Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder says he will not tolerate any form of cheating. Speaking specifically of the Cowboy football program, this, in effect, is his Declaration of Compliance:
"I've been here a long time, and I've seen the consequences of breaking the rules. It's not pretty.
"This is the first time we've committed the resources necessary to win in football. We won't cut corners and try to cheat to win. The only thing that could derail us from eventual success in football is if we break the rules. We don't need to cheat, and we're not going to cheat.
"I'm really not worried about what anyone else is doing, and no one needs to worry about us. We're going to play by the rules. And in addition to that, there's a standard of behavior in the way you represent the institution. I think we should be good sports. It's very important for us to stand for academic excellence. We're not about just staying eligible. We want our athletes to achieve at a high level and earn college degrees. That's what they're here for. It just so happens that they get to play athletics along with it.
"We're about integrity off the field. When we read about our athletes, we want it to be on the sports page."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/art..._B1_hHold24770 (http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=070823_2_B1_hHold24770)
Holder, Gundy vow to run clean program, not repeat past
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
8/23/2007
STILLWATER -- Mindful of NCAA penalties that devastated Oklahoma State during the 1990s, Cowboy athletic director Mike Holder and coach Mike Gundy vow that there will be no rules-breaking within the football program.
"We won't cut corners and try to cheat to win," Holder said. "The only thing that could derail us from eventual success in football is if we break the rules. We don't need to cheat, and we're not going to cheat.
"I'm really not worried about what anyone else is doing, and no one needs to worry about us. We're going to play by the rules."
Said Gundy: "Coach Holder is exactly right. If you (cheat) and bring a guy in here, he's going to hold you hostage until he leaves. Don't think he won't. First time something goes wrong, he'll hold you hostage. If a player or his parents want you to cheat, you don't want them in your program. That won't be the end of it."
Following a 4-7 season in 2005, the Cowboy coaching staff signed a recruiting class ranked No. 16 nationally by Scout.com. This year's class was ranked No. 24. In its 2008 recruiting campaign, OSU has a collection of 19 committed players. That group is ranked No. 21 nationally by Scout.com. Of the 19 committed recruits, 18 hail from Texas.
As assistant Joe DeForest established beneficial relationships in the Houston area, the Cowboys have sustained a high level of recruiting success in Texas. Gundy says there have been scattered rumors that OSU might have cheated in their effort to sign those Texans.
Gundy says there has been no cheating. He says he has an energetic, trustworthy, well-connected staff. He also says recruits are impressed by the Boone Pickens Stadium renovation.
"Whenever you have good recruiting classes and you're not a tradition-rich school, people question it," Gundy said. "You hear (rumors) when you're out on the road. There are no secrets in our profession."
Gundy would not identify the sources of rumors. Instead, he defends the virtue of his program.
"We've had success because we had a plan and because of hard work. Because of money and national publicity," Gundy said. "Twice, Boone Pickens' donations have been covered in USA Today. What's that worth? Boone was on the front page. It has had a huge impact.
"People say, 'How do you get Richetti Jones? How do you get Perrish Cox?' (Cowboy assistants) Curtis Luper and Doug Meacham worked extremely hard for a long time. They didn't listen when people said we wouldn't get those guys."
Jones (Dallas Lincoln High School) and Cox (Waco University) were nationally renowned Texas recruits. Wide receiver Dez Bryant, an elite recruit from Lufkin, Texas, was recruited hard by Texas A&M. He signed with Oklahoma State.
This week, Guthrie's Kye Staley, a national four-star prospect, announced his commitment to OSU. He says he also had been offered scholarships by Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan, Arkansas and Nebraska.
Some Big 12 schools have expressed disapproval with OSU's purchase of billboard advertising space in Texas (the most conspicuous OSU ads appear in airports in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston). Gundy says opposing coaches also are bothered by the satellite summer camps that OSU conducts in various Texas locales.
During the recent OSU Caravan stop in Tulsa, Gundy's address to fans included an explanation of the satellite camps.
"A lot of the student-athletes don't have the opportunity financially to get to our camp in Stillwater, so we go to Texas and run five camps," Gundy said. "We spend three hours running a camp. It gives us a chance to spend time with those coaches and players. We coach. We teach. It's been termed a 'recruiting camp,' but we coach and teach.
"There are schools that don't like us doing that. They feel like it gives us opportunities to (develop) relationships with coaches and players there -- giving us advantages that maybe we shouldn't have. I just look at it as free enterprise."
During the recruiting period of 2005-06, Richardson (Texas) Berkner defensive end Ugo Chinasa was recruited by Texas and OU and several other national powers. Berkner coach Jim Ledford says Chinasa wound up signing with OSU because of the "unbelievable recruiting job" done by Cowboy assistant Todd Bradford.
"Everybody wanted Ugo. He could have gone anywhere from the East Coast to the West Coast," Ledford said. "But Todd Bradford was relentless. He worked his tail off. If he wants you, he won't stop until he gets you. He's just a persuasive guy and has a great rapport with athletes.
"My experience with OSU was awesome. Bottom line -- OSU is outworking everybody, and everybody is mad about it. At our place, OSU has been clean and above-board on everything."
"Let me say this, too," Ledford added. "I was trying to get Ugo to stay in Texas. I want my guys to play college football in Texas. But when Todd Bradford got involved, he did a great job. I can't say anything but good things about the OSU coaches."
Last month, Ledford said, a Fort Worth convention attracted an estimated 18,000 Texas high school coaches.
Ledford said he noted the attendance of only one Division I-A college head coach -- Mike Gundy.
"He was front and center, wearing his big orange stuff. You couldn't miss him," Ledford said. "(OSU coaches) are so good at making connections and being visible. If I needed to speak to Mike Gundy, it wouldn't take me three minutes to get him on the phone. There aren't many head coaches who are that accessible."
From Oklahoma State, the Tulsa World obtained copies of written correspondence exchanged between the university and the NCAA since January 2005, when Gundy became the head coach. There were self-reported minor violations -- the kind, Gundy says, that are common at all Division I-A universities -- but nothing that would qualify as an attempt to illegally gain a recruiting advantage.
"If you look at the history of Oklahoma State football," Gundy said, "every little bit of success was followed by sanctions. It happened in the '70s and again in the '80s."
In 1978-81, Oklahoma State was mired in a probationary period that involved the losses of scholarships and television exposures.
In 1989, the Cowboy program was rocked by extremely punitive NCAA sanctions. The four-year probation included a three-year bowl ban, a two-year television ban and the loss of 15 scholarships over three years.
If NCAA sanctions are intended to hurt a guilty program, they worked in a profound way at OSU. In 1981-88, the Cowboys were 63-29-2 with six bowl appearances. After the NCAA cited 40 violations and the penalties took effect, the Cowboys over their next 13 seasons were 52-90-3 with one bowl appearance.
In 2003, OSU benefactor and alumnus Boone Pickens donated $20 million toward the stadium renovation. Last year he followed with a gift of $165 million -- the largest donation ever made specifically to the athletic department of an American university.
Before 2003, Pickens had not given a large amount of money to the football program. Holder says Pickens disapproved of the rules violations committed in the '70s and '80s.
"That's another reason you don't want to cheat," Holder said. "You don't want to lose the support of your No. 1 donor."
Gundy has experienced the very best and very worst of OSU football. During his 1986-89 playing career as a quarterback, he led the Cowboys to a pair of 10-win seasons.
As a Cowboy assistant in 1990-95, he saw the damage done by NCAA sanctions.
"It was miserable in recruiting," Gundy said. "The sanctions were so severe that you couldn't get anyone interested in Oklahoma State."
"There hasn't been a penalty like it since then," he added. "Oklahoma State got blown up on that deal. Oklahoma had a severe penalty also, but it wasn't like the one we got here. It set this place back 10 years."
Mike Holder makes statement
Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder says he will not tolerate any form of cheating. Speaking specifically of the Cowboy football program, this, in effect, is his Declaration of Compliance:
"I've been here a long time, and I've seen the consequences of breaking the rules. It's not pretty.
"This is the first time we've committed the resources necessary to win in football. We won't cut corners and try to cheat to win. The only thing that could derail us from eventual success in football is if we break the rules. We don't need to cheat, and we're not going to cheat.
"I'm really not worried about what anyone else is doing, and no one needs to worry about us. We're going to play by the rules. And in addition to that, there's a standard of behavior in the way you represent the institution. I think we should be good sports. It's very important for us to stand for academic excellence. We're not about just staying eligible. We want our athletes to achieve at a high level and earn college degrees. That's what they're here for. It just so happens that they get to play athletics along with it.
"We're about integrity off the field. When we read about our athletes, we want it to be on the sports page."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/art..._B1_hHold24770 (http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=070823_2_B1_hHold24770)