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October 20, 2007

The benefits of going batshit

As noted in the review of the Texas-Iowa State game earlier this week, big-time college football coaching is a wacky way to make a living.

Take, for example, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. When he went famously batshit during a post-game press conference earlier this season, I figured that it was just a matter of time before Boone Pickens and the university athletic director carted Coach Gundy off to a padded cell and replaced him with another coach. I mean, it's not as if Okie State (4-3, 2-1) is having all that great a season this year.

But now, according to this New York Times article, Coach Gundy's decision to go nuclear may have saved his job:

The incident was one of YouTube’s most-watched videos last month and has been spoofed by a Norman, Okla., car dealership in a television commercial.

It led to a Web site called mikegundyismadatyou.com, which features e-cards from his tirade, prompted an Australian magazine to call it “American football brain explosion” and inspired wildly popular “I’m a man! I’m 40!” T-shirts. [. . .]

Gundy has seemingly benefited on and off the field. Since the incident, Oklahoma State (4-3, 2-1 Big 12) is 2-1, including the Cowboys’ first victory at Nebraska since 1960.

Gundy . . . is now more recognizable nationally, according to marketing experts, and recruits say his defense of Reid makes them more interested in playing for him. Gundy said he was surprised at the attention that the incident sparked, but he insisted he had no regrets.

“Over a period of time, it should make an impact on our program in a positive way,” he said in an e-mail message sent through a university spokesman.

Jordan Bazant, a partner of The Agency Sports Management, said Gundy’s response was already paying off for him from a marketing perspective.

“It’s ultimately going to come down to performance on the field, but people that saw that saw an honest person,” Bazant said in a telephone interview.

He added: “It was really an honest outburst. That’s what people are attracted to. They want to be associated with someone that they view has the same values.”

Bazant said he could not estimate the value in advertising dollars that Gundy received.

“It’s millions upon millions of dollars,” he said. “It would be impossible to get that. You couldn’t even buy that much. You really couldn’t even from a practical standpoint.”

Cyrus Gray, a senior at DeSoto High School and the top uncommitted tailback in Texas, said Gundy’s response to Carlson made Oklahoma State more appealing. [. . .]

“I like that in a coach,” he said in a telephone interview. “He stood up for his players. He cares for them and not just himself.” [. . .]

Kevin Klintworth, the Oklahoma State director of athletic media relations, said that less than 5 percent of the 3,000 e-mail messages the athletic department received about Gundy were negative.

“It was just so overwhelming,” Klintworth said in a telephone interview. “I think some of the people weren’t so much supportive of Mike as they were in support of someone standing up to the media a little bit.”

Of course, after Gundy's outburst, it was just a matter of time before the following spoof Bud Light beer commercial turned up, but it's still pretty clever:

And the recent Saturday Night Live spoof NBC commercial for Notre Dame football isn't bad, either:

Hat tip to Jay Christensen for both of the above videos.

Posted by Tom at October 20, 2007 12:05 AM |

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