OU football assistant coach Cale Gundy resigns after saying 'hurtful' word in film session

NORMAN — Over the past 23 seasons, Cale Gundy was instrumental in bringing in some of OU football’s most recognizable names.

Adrian Peterson. DeMarco Murray. Joe Mixon. Ryan Broyles. Marquise Brown. Dede Westbrook. CeeDee Lamb.

All came to the Sooners thanks in part to Gundy’s influence.

But the wide receiver coach’s time at OU ended with his resignation Sunday night following an incident during a position group meeting last week.

Gundy said he noticed a player distracted during the meeting.

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“(I) picked up his iPad and read aloud the words that were written on the screen,” Gundy said in the statement posted on Twitter. “The words displayed had nothing to do with football. One particular word that I should never — under any circumstance — have uttered was displayed on that screen. In the moment, I did not even realize what I was reading and, as soon as I did, I was horrified.

“I want to be very clear: the words I read aloud from that screen were not my words. What I said was not malicious; it wasn’t even intentional. Still, I am mature enough to know that the word I said was shameful and hurtful, no matter my intentions. The unfortunate reality is that someone in my position can cause harm without ever meaning to do so. In that circumstance, a man of character accepts accountability. I take responsibility for my mistake. I apologize.”

Sooners coach Brent Venables, like Gundy a member of Bob Stoops’ initial OU staff in 1999, followed with a statement of his own.

“It is with sadness that I accept Coach Gundy’s resignation,” Venables said in a statement. “He’s dedicated more than half of his life to Oklahoma football and has served our program and university well. We’re thankful for that commitment. We also acknowledge that in stepping aside he’s place the program and the welfare of our student-athletes first. In coaching and in life, we’re all accountable for our actions and the resulting outcomes.

“The culture we’re building in our program is based on mutual respect. Our staff is here to develop successful student-athletes, but also young men of character. As the leader of this program, it’s essential that we hold ourselves to the highest standards as we model to our players the type of men we want them to become.”

Venables released another statement Monday.

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“As painful as it has been dealing with Coach Gundy resigning from the program, it doesn’t touch the experience of pain felt by a room full of young men I am charged to protect, lead and love,” Venables said.

Venables added that Gundy’s actions were wrong — noting he read the “racially charged” word multiple times, and that he believed Gundy did the right thing by resigning.

“He knows our goals for excellence and that coaches have special responsibilities to set an example,” Venables said. “He also knows that, while he will always be a part of the OU family, that his words affected many of us and did not represent the principles of our university.”

L’Damian Washington, an offensive analyst for the Sooners, will be the interim wide receivers coach, Venables said.

Washington is a former Missouri football player who spent time in the NFL. He was a middle school coach in 2019-20.

Monday, Washington was on the field for Sooners practice, leading the wide receivers through drills as they prepare for the Sept. 3 season opener against UTEP.

Gundy, 50, earned $600,000 last season and was under contract through Jan. 31, 2023. He was set to make $610,000 annually under a new agreement through Jan. 31, 2024, that was approved earlier this year by the OU Board of Regents.

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Gundy came to OU in 1990 from Midwest City, deciding to forge his own path after his brother, Mike, had starred as a quarterback at Oklahoma State.

Cale Gundy quarterbacked the Sooners from 1990-1993, throwing for more than 6,000 yards and 35 touchdowns.

His 1,914 passing yards in 1992 set an OU single-season record at the time. Gundy bettered it with 2,311 yards the next season.

Gundy’s 6,686 career passing yards were also an OU career record until Josh Heupel broke the mark in 1999-2000. Gundy is still sixth on OU’s career passing list.

After serving as a graduate assistant in 1994, Gundy left OU to coach quarterbacks and then running backs at Alabama-Birmingham.

When Stoops was hired to take over as the Sooners’ head coach after the 1998 season, Stoops hired Gundy to coach running backs.

Gundy developed a reputation as one of the nation’s strongest recruiters and played a big part in the position thriving under Stoops and then Lincoln Riley.

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In 2015, Gundy moved to coach inside receivers.

Under Venables, Gundy was in charge of all of the wide receivers.

Stoops was among those who stood up for Gundy on Twitter on Monday.

“I’ve worked along side (sic) Cale for 23 years and know him to be a man of character and a person that loves and cares for his players as well as OU,” Stoops posted. “Thank you Cale for all the hard work you poured into our program, it will be remembered!”

Gundy’s final game with the Sooners was December’s Alamo Bowl, in which Stoops served as the Sooners’ interim coach with Gundy calling offensive plays for the first time at OU.

Many of Gundy’s former players — most forcefully Mixon — came to his defense on social media.

“Most importantly Coach Gundy is not, and I repeat is not a racist in any way nor has a racist bone in his body, mind our soul,” Mixon posted in a long statement.

“I grew up in the Bay area and went to school obviously in Oklahoma. I know racists, I have witnessed both obvious and discreet forms of racism and have known and detested even more actual racist. Coach Gundy is the farthest thing from this type of person. I spent every day for the 1,000 days I was in Norman with him, and I never saw anything that would lead anyone to believe this or think this.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Longtime OU football assistant coach Cale Gundy resigns from Sooners