Cale Gundy, a former Sooners quarterback and assistant head football coach at the University of Oklahoma, resigned on Sunday after acknowledging using “shameful” language during a film session last week.

After using'shameful' language in a film session, Oklahoma assistant football coach Cale Gundy resigns from his position.
After using’shameful’ language in a film session, Oklahoma assistant football coach Cale Gundy resigns from his position.

In a social media statement, Mike Gundy’s brother Gundy announced his resignation and insisted that the offensive epithet “was not malicious; it wasn’t even deliberate.”

Despite this, Cale Gundy added in his statement, “I am grown enough to know that the word I spoke was disgusting and harmful, no matter what my intentions.”

 

Cale Gundy, a former Sooners quarterback and assistant head football coach at Oklahoma, resigned on Sunday after acknowledging using “shameful” language during a film session last week.

From 1990 to 1993, Gundy led the Sooners in throwing with more than 6,000 yards and 35 touchdowns. He has also served as a University of Alabama-Birmingham assistant coach. In a statement on Sunday, he announced his resignation as an assistant coach (right)

According to Cale Gundy’s statement, the event happened during a recent film session when the assistant coach discovered one player preoccupied on his iPad. He then took the phone in his hand and read something on the screen that, in his words today, “should never – under any circumstance – have been stated.”

When Gundy realized what he had said, he claimed to be “horrified.”

 

“Unfortunately, it is true that someone in my position has the potential to injure others without ever intending to do so.” A man of character accepts responsibility in that situation, Gundy stated. I accept full responsibility for my error. My apologies.

It is unknown what the word actually means or how it is used.

From 1990 to 1993, Gundy led the Sooners in throwing with more than 6,000 yards and 35 touchdowns. He has also served as a University of Alabama-Birmingham assistant coach.

In 1998, then-Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops hired Gundy to oversee the group’s running backs.

 

In a statement, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables added that everyone associated with the program is “accountable” for their deeds.

I accept coach Gundy’s resignation with sadness, Venables stated. He has devoted more than half of his life to Oklahoma football and has done great things for both the university and our program. We appreciate your commitment.

Before their game in Boone Pickens Stadium on November 27, 2021 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, offensive coordinator Cale Gundy of the Oklahoma Sooners welcomes his brother, head coach Mike Gundy of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Gundys are used to controversies.

 

Before taking over as Cowboys coach in 2005, Mike was the quarterback for rival Oklahoma State. In 1989, he was charged with using the n-word on a player from Colorado who was African-American.

Former Colorado standout linebacker and current NFL player Alfred Williams recounted the incident to The Oklahoman in 2020, noting that he would like an apology and hoped for Gundy to show “some maturity,” since he does not want him to be dismissed.

‘I remember that it was the first time that the University of Colorado beat Oklahoma State while I was there,’ Williams told The Oklahoman on Wednesday night. ‘It was a big win. It really was a big win.

‘And I remember Mike Gundy called me the N-word. That’s what I remember.’

As the complaints against Gundy reappeared, so did his denial from following the 41-17 defeat.

Former Colorado standout linebacker and current NFL player Alfred Williams repeated the incident to The Oklahoman, adding that Gundy should apologize and show “some progress” if he wants to avoid being fired.

Mike Gundy (right) and Hart Lee Dykes, an OSU teammate, are shown in a 1988 photo.

The allegation, which was initially made public after that game, was not addressed by Gundy, according to a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State sports department who talked to the Daily Mail.

Following Colorado’s 41-17 victory over the Cowboys at Stillwater, Oklahoma, on November 12, 1989, several teammates including Williams himself backed up his claims.

Linebacker Kanavis McGhee recalled hearing him say it to him and a few other players on the field at the moment. It made me really angry.

“This person is constantly in the spotlight; to say something like that is not at all cool.” All it did was get us fired up.

At the time, Williams, Bruce Young, and Okland Salavea were among those who also made the claim to the media.
After the game, Gundy denied it to reporters.

Gundy admitted, “I didn’t say it. Simply put, it’s untrue. Since I’ve been living here for four years, the majority of my pals are black.

I just did not say that; I would not have said something similar.

In a post-game St. Louis Dispatch piece, Gundy refuted the claims and informed reporters that the Buffaloes players were the ones who started the trash calling. He continued by directing the media to an article in Sports Illustrated regarding Colorado’s conduct issues with the football program.

Gundy reportedly refuted the claims and informed reporters that the Buffaloes players were the ones who started the trash talking, according to a St. Louis Dispatch article from the game (left). He continued by directing the media to an article in Sports Illustrated regarding Colorado’s conduct issues with the football program. Teammates for the Buffaloes Kanavis McGhee and Alfred Williams According to this 1989 article from The Oklahoman, Bruce Young and Okland Salavea informed the media of the claim (right)

In an interview with The Oklahoman in 2020, Williams claimed that until this week, he had not seen Gundy’s denial.

“I have at least 20 people who will attest to what occurred that day if he denies that he stated (that).”

He said, “I’m a little disappointed because after 31 years I finally saw the article written in your publications out in Oklahoma,” alluding to the 1989 game story in The Oklahoman. I initially noticed some of the responses to what I said at that point.

 

He stated, “Look at the University of Colorado and its players,” in the St. Louis Dispatch. They obtained rapists.

Williams, who spent nine seasons in the NFL, is not referenced in the SI story and was not charged with any offense as a student at Colorado.

In 2001, Gundy was appointed offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, and in 2005, he was elevated to the position of head coach at his alma mater. He was selected conference Coach of the Year in 2010 and holds one Big 12 championship.


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