A Look At How Impressive Gundy’s 100 Victories Really Are

This Saturday, head coach Mike Gundy achieved something no other Oklahoma State football coach has ever done before; win his 100th game. It’s a feat not to balked at. Right now there are only seven active coaches with 100 wins at their current schools:

Bob Stoops
Nick Saban
Bill Snyder
Gary Patterson
Kirk Ferentz
Kyle Whittingham
Mike Gundy

Really, could you have asked for a better game to claim win No. 100? At homecoming, the year after the tragedy, and with the third largest home crowd ever. Add in that it came against his former offensive coordinator and the 10th ranked team in the country, who was undefeated. Oh, and it was the 6th victory over a top 10 team in his career, and the 6th one in the last six years.

There have been a good number of coaches before Gundy that have reached the 100 win mark; 162 to be exact. There are some coaches with 200 wins, some with 300, even a few with 400 Ws. While Gundy is still far from that point what he has achieved is remarkable. It goes beyond just winning 100 games. It’s winning 100 games while coaching at only one school; his Alma Mater. Let’s break down just how impressive this is:

Total coaches who won 100 games at one D-1 school: 76

The average number of games it takes a coach to get to 100 wins is around 138. Think about that. 138 games. at 13 games a season (assuming you reach a bowl game every year) that’s over 10 years. That’s a long time to be at one school. Gundy did it in 11 ¹⁄₂ years, 149 games. At a school that is NOT a traditional power, that doesn’t get 5-star athletes. 76 have done it before Gundy. That’s less than half of the coaches who’ve reached the 100 win mark.

Total coaches who won 100 games coaching ONLY at one D-1 school: 49

Think about how many coaches bounce around schools these days. Heck, bounce around between college and the NFL. It’s hard enough to stick around one school long enough to win 100 games, but to never go anywhere else? That’s amazing. A lot of these coaches were around in the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. It’s even more rare for it to happen now. In the Big 12 there are four; Gundy, Stoops, Peterson, and Snyder (yes he left for a few years). Do we all believe Stoops will never leave OU? Or that Peterson couldn’t be talked into a job like Alabama or USC? Maybe that’s why only 49 coaches have ever done it. Now make it 50.

Total coaches who won 100 games at their alma mater: 14

There is something special about getting a successful head coach, who used to play for your school. OSU has a history of it. Right now we have Gundy (Football), Holliday (Baseball), Bratton (Men’s Golf), and of course Smith (Wrestling). We had Sutton. Heck, Mike Holder was a hell of a golf coach before becoming the Athletic Director. That’s an amazingly successful list of names. There’s just something special about welcoming back one of your school’s sons (or daughters) back, and watching them succeed as a coach. Only 14 coaches did it before Gundy. In more than 100 years of football, only 14. That’s something special.

Total coaches who won 100 games coaching ONLY at their alma mater: 10

(*coached other schools during career)

Look at that list of names. Those are historic coaches. Stadiums are named after some of those coaches. There is history in those names. 10 coached their Alma Maters to 100 victories (and more) and never left. Started and finished at the school where they played. 10, now 11. Hundreds of men have coached college football teams. Only 11 have coached their alma maters to 100 victories without ever coaching at another school.

I’m not saying Gundy is infallible. I’m not saying we always agree with his decisions. The point though, is he has done something only 10 other men in HISTORY have ever done. No matter your feelings on Gundy, he really has led OSU to it’s most successful period in history. A period we could feel the impact of for years after Gundy retires. All the schools on that list of 14 coaches, those are all schools that found success again, even after those legendary coaches left. I think Gundy has built that kind of program at Oklahoma State. The present is bright at OSU, and so is the future.