Mike Gundy on Ollie Gordon: ‘I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life’

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy said the quiet part out loud on Tuesday.

After telling ESPN earlier in the day that star running back Ollie Gordon wouldn’t miss playing time after being arrested early Sunday on suspicion of driving under the influence, Gundy doubled down in an unusual way at Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas. During a televised interview, Gundy revealed that he apparently did his own research into what might constitute unsafe driving.

“I looked it up on my phone, ‘what would be the legal limit?,’” Gundy said, via PokeNation. “In Oklahoma, it’s 0.08. And Ollie was 0.1. I looked it up, and it was based on body weight. Not to get into the legal side, but I thought ‘really, two or three beers, or four.’ I’m not justifying what Ollie did, I’m telling you what decision I made. And I thought ‘I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life, and it was just fine.’

“So I got lucky. People get lucky. Ollie made a decision that he wished he could have done better. But when I talked to Ollie, I told him, ‘you’re lucky, you got out light.’”

Here’s video:

Gundy later tried to walk back his comments, saying in a social media post that he was commenting only on making “bad decisions” in general, not drinking and driving.

Gordon, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas, earned the Doak Walker Award as the country’s top running back in 2023. He led the nation in rushing with 1,732 yards, finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting and was a first-team All-American.

Gordon issued a public apology Monday, and said he would abide by whatever punishment Gundy decided. Gundy said Tuesday that wouldn’t include being benched for the Cowboys’ Aug. 31 opener vs. South Dakota State (or any other game), but that he might add on to Gordon’s workload.

“He’s going to play,” Gundy told ESPN. “I’m going to do what we think is best for Oklahoma State football. And I think it’s best for Ollie to play. If there’s any punishment, it’s making him carry the ball 50 times in the first game.”