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Mike Gundy has elevated Oklahoma State's program to its highest point ever and he doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.
Gundy, who has led the Cowboys to the No. 2 ranking for the first time, said Monday that he hopes to coach at his alma mater until he retires.
''I would prefer to be here for a long, long time and hopefully the powers (that) be will make that decision for me,'' Gundy said. ''I really enjoy the people here, I enjoy the situation. We've obviously gotten to a level here that has not ever been accomplished. I don't know that anybody ... would have ever thought it could have happened.''
Even him?
''I think that the honest answer to that question is probably no because I never even thought about it. I just thought that, look, here's what we need to do, here's how we need to do it,'' Gundy said. ''We need commitment, we need this, this and this and then I don't think I ever thought about could we win the whole thing or could we get ranked that high?''
When Gundy was first rebuilding the program, his contract was reworked three times in a 21-month span but his last extension was prior to the start of the 2009 season. The Cowboys (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) have gone 29-6 since then, including the program's first 11-win season a year ago.
Gundy is making $2.1 million this season under a contract that runs through 2015, and he's the fifth-highest paid coach in the Big 12, just behind Missouri's Gary Pinkel and Texas A&M's Mike Sherman.
Gundy's deal includes annual raises that will bump his salary up to $2.65 million by 2015. Gundy also stands to get a $500,000 bonus if Oklahoma State - which is second in the BCS standings - wins the national championship.
The contract has a $3 million buyout if Gundy were to take a job elsewhere.
''It'd be hard to get me from here. It'd be really hard,'' Gundy said.
Gundy, a 44-year-old Oklahoma native who played quarterback for the Cowboys in the 1980s, has repeatedly said he doesn't ever plan to coach anywhere else. When he was hired in January 2005 to replace Les Miles, he called it his ''New York Yankees job.''
Even as he has become a hot commodity in the profession, he's sticking to his previous stance. He refused to say he thinks he's deserving of a raise, saying ''that's for somebody else to decide.''
''There's two things that have kind of gone against what most coaches at my level would call smart: One would be to say that this is your New York Yankees job and then two to say that you want to stay here forever and be committed to this program,'' Gundy said.
''Most coaches in my position at our level would say that those would be the two dumbest things a guy could ever say for your future as a coach. So, I'm obviously not very good at handling those situations.''
Gundy said he hasn't had in-depth discussions with athletic director Mike Holder or others about a new contract, but he has started laying groundwork to try and get extensions to keep his assistant coaches from leaving.
''You can't stop,'' Gundy said. ''If you like it, you've got to keep putting money in the jukebox. The music's not going to just keep playing forever.''
Gundy said he doesn't expect to be coaching in another 12 to 15 years and he hopes to spend the rest of that time in Stillwater. He believes part of his success has been conveying the message that he's sticking around.
''I think one of the key factors is from day one, my commitment to Oklahoma State has never wavered - not one inch,'' he said. ''And I think that is a huge factor in recruiting, I think it's a huge factor in the coaching staff and everybody involved.''
Gundy also would prefer to stay put for personal reasons. He and his wife have three sons and their extended family lives in the area.
''I don't think it's ever a good time to move. ... We think it's better for our boys to be in the situation that they're in but in this profession, that doesn't always mean that's going to happen,'' Gundy said. ''In fact, I would say that the majority of this profession doesn't have that choice.''
