Having to follow Mike Gundy is only the beginning of the massive challenge Doug Meacham faces as the interim head coach of Oklahoma State University’s football program.
Gundy, the face of the Cowboys for more than two decades and by far their most successful coach, was fired Tuesday after compiling a 170-90 career record in charge at his alma mater.
For all the talk about Oklahoma State’s past and the upcoming coaching search, though, the Cowboys still have at least nine games left to play. Meacham is getting thrown right into the fire, too, as Oklahoma State (1-2) starts the process of trying to salvage the season when it dives into Big 12 play by hosting Baylor (2-2, 0-1) on Saturday.
“You have an option,” Meacham said Wednesday. “You can dig in and bear down and fight through it and work, or you can complain and just let it roll you over. We’re not taking that approach. We’re going to fight.”
Meacham, 60, has quite the resumé.
This is his third stint on staff at Oklahoma State, counting his time as a graduate assistant, and he was a finalist for the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2014, when he was TCU’s offensive coordinator. During his second run as an assistant for the Horned Frogs, he helped them reach the national championship game for the 2022 season. He has also been the offensive coordinator at Houston and Kansas, among other stops, but all that might not be enough preparation for the task ahead.
Starting quarterback Hauss Hejny broke his left foot in the season-opening win over the University of Tennessee at Martin, and the offense has struggled ever since with Zane Flores behind center. The Cowboys rank 132nd of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in scoring offense with an average of just 14 points per game.
On the other side of the ball, a defense that is among the nation’s worst against the pass will now face Baylor and one of the nation’s most electric aerial attacks. Bears quarterback Sawyer Robertson ranks second in the nation in passing yards (1,070) and third in touchdown passes (10).
Then there is the mental aspect. The Cowboys were humiliated in a 69-3 loss at Oregon on Sept. 6, and last Friday’s loss to Tulsa was the final straw when it came to Gundy for Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg.
So far, Meacham said his team is handling the shake-up well and has moved past the recent games.
“Hats off to these kids; they came out with a good attitude, and they practiced hard today,” he said Wednesday. “As coaches, you can sense bad body language and people who are going off and holding court somewhere by themselves and that type of thing. I don’t feel any of that.”
Meacham has mental hurdles, too. He’s replacing a longtime friend and a former teammate at Oklahoma State in the 1980s, when Gundy was the quarterback for the Cowboys and Meacham was an offensive lineman.
“I owe a lot to Coach Gundy,” Meacham said. “He’s hired me twice, played with him. Legendary coach. Unfortunately, in this business, that’s kind of the things that happen. When you do it long enough, it’s going to happen. Unfortunately for us, it had to be at this time. I learned a lot from him and appreciate everything he’s done for me in my life and in my career.”
Still, Meacham appreciates the opportunity to be a head coach, and he’s thankful it came at his alma mater.
“I’m just thinking one game at a time and just appreciative that Weiberg thought enough of me to give me the opportunity,” he said. “And I’m just glad to be here with these guys, because they work so hard. I’m just so lucky.”
There have been a few signs that perhaps improvement is possible. Hejny is on the mend, and that could help. Meacham was an offensive coach at TCU last season, where Hejny was before transferring from one Big 12 program to another.
“He’ll probably be back here in the next few weeks,” Meacham said. “He’ll be on his feet next week, I believe, walking and doing some things and trying to get back. He wants to play.”
Flores improved in the second half against Tulsa and put the team in position to potentially steal the game late against the Golden Hurricane of the American Conference. Meacham hopes the fight the Cowboys showed late in that game carries over, and he wants the fans to come along.
“Just hang in there and join the fight with us,” he said. “More than anything, you’ve got kids that are fighting hard, and just support them, no matter how upset you are, how things are going on. Think about these kids. That’s my message to the fans.”