Take Two: Should Mike Gundy be recruiting better at Okla. State?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

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Oklahoma State athletics director Mike Holder went on the Pistols Firing podcast last week and said while Mike Gundy has matured into a difference-maker as a coach, Cowboys’ recruiting is not up to par.

"I would approach recruiting a little differently than he does,” Holder said on the podcast. “I'd want to finish higher in those recruiting rankings than we consistently do. I think that ultimately puts a ceiling on what you're able to achieve."

Gundy, who is 114-53 since 2005 in Stillwater, has won one Big 12 championship at Oklahoma State in 2011. Other than that, the Cowboys have been shut out of conference titles as Oklahoma has won three straight.

As for recruiting, Oklahoma State has never had better than a top-3 class in the Big 12 since the start of Rivals.com in 2002 and has only two five-star pledges - both JUCO defensive linemen in 2002 and 2005.

In Oklahoma State’s 2019 class, there are no four-stars yet. In the two previous classes, the Cowboys signed three four-stars in each class. The year before that (2016), Oklahoma State signed one four-star. In 2015, it was two four-stars.

Not exactly tearing up the rankings but Oklahoma State also is focused more on players who fit Gundy’s system than just chasing star rankings.

Gundy has done a great job in Stillwater but the Big 12 is still a conference dominated by Oklahoma. Maybe Holder shouldn’t have made his comments publicly, but does he have a point?

“It's important to note that Mike Holder is a plain-spoken, to-the-point kind of guy. In the past, he hasn't been afraid to send a message through the media. In this case, I think it was definitely the former, with no real message intended. Does he make a valid point? I think a lot of OSU fans would like to see top-10 recruiting classes, while giving Mike Gundy all due credit for the outstanding results he's produced on the field.

“Gundy has his recruiting philosophy and it's worked quite well for him and OSU - not to mention unearthing gems like James Washington. Landing more four- and five-star talents that fit the OSU culture likely wouldn't be a bad thing, and I think that was kind of Holder's point. I would note that OSU has been a little more assertive in pursuing top talent in the 2019 and especially 2020 classes.”

“It’s tough. Oklahoma is the brand there. They get the majority of in-state kids and they can recruit Texas better than Oklahoma State. The AD probably should have kept his mouth shut.

“Gundy has done a really good job. There have been 10-win seasons there, there have been a couple seasons where they’ve been in contention not only in the Big 12 but national title contention as far as overall ranking at the end of the season.

“Gundy’s relationship with everybody at Oklahoma State is a little odd and I think that’s part of the reason why he’s sort of a maverick and he does his own thing but I don’t think Oklahoma State recruiting is the problem at all. They’re a successful program that can certainly find kids who fit their system.”