COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Gundy's rant finally makes sense

Winning a national championship might not be enough to help Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy ever live down the, “I’m a man! I’m 40!” post-game rant he famously delivered a little more than one year ago.

But after watching his now 8th-ranked Cowboys travel to Missouri and knock off the then No. 3 Tigers last weekend, it all makes sense. What Gundy knew then, and college football fans across the country are learning this season, is OSU has a super-talented quarterback in Zac Robinson.

Personnel decisions are always tough, and the Cowboys had a quarterback controversy last season. The talented but erratic upperclassman was Bobby Reid. The young, unproven, potential superstar was Robinson.

Gundy made his choice, and today it’s obvious he made the right call. What made it so difficult, though, was that Reid was by all accounts, and in his coach’s opinion, the epitome of a student athlete. He was role model to his teammates in the classroom, graduating in less than four years. He never once found himself on the wrong side of the law. He was polite and well spoken.

Reid was also a good quarterback, but Robinson was better.

Imagine how difficult it must have been for Gundy to take the ball away from a young man he considered the most prized, high-profile recruit of his tenure in Stillwater. The decision had nothing to do with Reid, and everything to do with Robinson. It all finally made sense to me Saturday night after watching Robinson pass for 215 yards and rush for another 34, leading the Cowboys to a 28-23 victory over Mizzou.

Consider all of the above factors, and put yourself in Gundy’s shoes one year ago when he learned that a local newspaper columnist wrote a story insinuating that Reid was bench for being a sissy momma’s boy.

Reid was benched because Robinson was better and that’s all there was to it. It wasn’t an easy decision, but in hindsight, it was the right one.

During his tirade, Gundy described Reid as a kid who had “done everything right,” but that point, and almost everything else of substance he said, was overlooked because of how he said it. I’m sure, or at least I hope, that if Gundy had it to do all over again, his post-game reaction would have been handled in a more professional manner.

If Gundy and the Cowboys can continue winning, football fans will have plenty of good memories to replace a one-minute sound bite. And hopefully Gundy will become known as a good, 41-year-old coach.