Mike Gundy Breaks Silence About His Controversial NIL Comments

Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy made headlines this week when posed a question about Name, Image and Likeness negotiations ahead of the 2024 college football season.

The long-time Cowboys head coach is happy that the transfer portal cycle is over and NIL conversations with player agents are on hold.

"Tell your agent to quit calling us and asking for more money," Gundy said. "It’s non-negotiable now. It’ll start again in December."

Coaches usually keep things like this close to their chest, but Gundy isn't one to hold things back. He explained more of his thought process on the matter in an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Wednesday.

"We pay our players very well here," Gundy said. "They have certain functions that they have to take care of to be able to get their money through the NIL concepts. But the big challenge is to get players who are not used to making money to say, look, the negotiations are over..."

Like any paid position, college players are attempting to maximize their value. But Gundy believes those talks stop when the season comes around. As a result, Gundy sees a "big change" coming within the NIL space in the offseason.

"When the portal opens back up, whether we like it or not, I think you’re gonna see more players going in the portal to negotiate not necessarily to try and leave," Gundy continued. "That will be the big change."

This isn't an unknown concept in the world of professional sports. For example, NFL free agents routinely test the market while seeking a new contract. A market value is then determined and teams can make their pitch with numbers in mind. However, this is certainly a new concept within the world of college athletics, which is expected to move to a professional model by instituting player contracts sooner rather than later.

The first domino fell this spring when the NCAA and the Power Five agreed to allow schools to directly pay players, a historic settlement that will change the face of the collegiate space.

But that is on the back burner for college football programs with the season just around the corner. No. 17 Oklahoma State will open the season against back-to-back FCS champion South Dakota State on Aug. 31. Kickoff in Stillwater is slated for 2 p.m. ET (ESPN).

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