Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy gave -- and later clarified -- a controversial response to star running back Ollie Gordon III's recent DUI arrest during Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday (July 9).
Gundy, 56, revealed that Gordon, 20, wouldn't miss game time after blowing a 0.10 BrAC, which is above the 0.08 legal limit state of Oklahoma, during his June 30 arrest in Tulsa. The veteran coach then said looked up the metric of how many beers the running back would've consumed and claimed he personally could have been guilty of a similar offense 1,000 times, admitting to having "two or three beers" before driving in the past.
"One thing that I can say in Year 20 as a head coach that I probably wouldn't say in Year 2 is, everyone needs to look in the mirror and think, 'have I done that and not gotten caught?'" Gundy said via CBS Sports. "'Have I had two or three beers and drove a car?' Because two or three beers can put you over the legal limit. People need to put some thought into that and not throw stones through glass windows. Not that it's right, and I want him to understand the seriousness as a parent, and I think he did."
Gundy later clarified his intent after receiving backlash for the comments in a post shared on his X account.
"My intended point today at Big 12 media days was that we are all guilty of making bad decisions," Gundy wrote. "It was not a reference to something specific."
Gordon could still face additional consequences, but Gundy said he views the situation as being settled.
"I've been with Ollie a considerable number of times and listened to him," Gundy said via CBS Sports. "He was remorseful and knew how serious it could have been. That allowed me to make a decision. I have to make a decision and there's a lot of people involved in this decision, not just him. I wanted it to be over with today, other than what he has to deal with from a legal standpoint. But for our team and me, it's over today and we try to regroup heading forward."
Gordon won the 2023 Doak Walker Award, which honors college football's top running back, during The Home Depot College Football Awards in December. The Texas native led the FBS with 1,732 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns on 285 rushing attempts, while also recording 39 receptions for 330 yards and one touchdown.