Cale Gundy Era Began at Oklahoma With a Bang

Cale Gundy’s journey

Cale Gundy Era Began at Oklahoma With a Bang and the ‘Cale Mary’ Gundy, the veteran OU assistant who abruptly quit Sunday night, had four memorable seasons as a Sooner QB, including a Bedlam moment that ignited his career. Gundy’s resignation comes after he had a Bedlam moment during his tenure as a Sooner.

The 32-year tenure of Cale Gundy as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football team included 27 college football seasons, 353 games, and numerous blue-chip recruits.

Sooners

It started with Gundy, who is considered to be one of the Sooners’ most lauded homegrown recruits in the history of the program.

When Gundy signed with the Sooners in 1990 after graduating from Midwest City High School as a receivers coach for the University of Oklahoma, he was a top-five national quarterback recruit and the most sought-after high school player in the state of Oklahoma. His resignation came in the wake of what appears to have been a racially charged incident that occurred during a team meeting the previous week.

Cale Gundy in the year 1990

Gundy was a two-sport standout for the Sooners, as he also played baseball for the team. In Norman, his coming-out party was a spectacular event that took place in the middle of his true freshman year.

Gundy could have followed his older brother Mike to Oklahoma State, but he chose not to go since the school was still suffering from the effects of NCAA suspension after Barry Switzer’s retirement following the 1988 season.

However, despite Mike’s success as a Cowboy in the Big Eight Conference, he had previously (and seriously) contemplated playing for the Sooners instead. When Gary Gibbs awarded Cale a scholarship, all it took was a fast trip down Sooner Road, and he was all smiles as he put on the Crimson and Cream.

At the beginning of his career, 6-foot-3 Gundy, who weighed 193 pounds, wasn’t quite ready to play college football, but it didn’t take him long to get there.

After serving as the backup quarterback for sophomore Steve Collins in easy non-conference victories over UCLA, Pitt, and Tulsa (he completed 7-of-18 passes for 66 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions), Gundy sat on the bench against Kansas. This was the only game in his career in which he was healthy and did not play.

The next week, the legend of Cale Gundy was created, as his older brother Mike watched from the sidelines as an OSU coach.

Gundy was summoned off the bench to handle the Sooners’ two-minute offense as the Cowboys were pulling away to a 14-7 lead as the halftime whistle drew near.

On fourth down and six, Gundy delivered a bomb to tight end Adrian Cooper, who made a diving grab and pushed his way over the goal line as time ran out.

Sooner to be Magic? No, just a “Mary Cale” cocktail.

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