Gundy gets raise after flirtation with Tennessee,
Tennessee puts AD on leave; Fulmer takes over search.
Mike Gundy, who affirmed his commitment to Oklahoma State this week after reported interest from Tennessee, is getting a raise.
The Oklahoma State football coach tweeted “Cowboy For Life” after he was linked to the Volunteers’ open job. And on Friday, the Oklahoma State / A&M Board of Regents approved an addendum to Gundy’s contract that includes a $675,000 pay increase, bumping his salary to $5 million per year.
The change also increases a buyout provision in the contract from $3 million to $5 million if Gundy leaves early.
Gundy, who had signed a five-year contract extension in June, is Oklahoma State’s longest-serving and most successful head football coach.
The No. 19 Cowboys are 9-3 this season and 6-3 in the Big 12.
Tennessee: The Vols named Phillip Fulmer athletic director and placed former AD John Currie on paid leave amid a tumultuous and embarrassing football coaching search.
Chancellor Beverly Davenport said at news conference Friday after the move was announced that Currie had been suspended. She added that Fulmer will be Tennessee’s athletic director “for the foreseeable future” and “take the reins of our search.”
The Hall of Famer coached the Volunteers to a 1998 national title.
Tennessee fired Butch Jones last month and was close to hiring Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano on Sunday as its next coach. That deal fell through amid public backlash. Currie met Thursday with Washington State coach Mike Leach.
Reports linked Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm to Tennessee’s vacancy, but both stayed with their teams. North Carolina State’s Dave Doeren agreed to a new contract with the Wolfpack on Thursday after speaking with Tennessee about its vacancy.
Mississippi: Ole Miss won’t participate in the postseason this year or in 2018 because of NCAA sanctions announced Friday for rule violations including lack of institutional control.
The NCAA decided the one-year self-imposed postseason ban was not enough for the Rebels, who finished the regular season with a 6-6 record.
Ole Miss had hoped to avoid a postseason ban in 2018 and plans to appeal the decision.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions said the case was similar to Ole Miss cases in 1986 and 1994 and that the school had an “unconstrained booster culture.” The NCAA said six football staff members and 12 boosters contributed to the current violations.
Ole Miss had self-imposed other punishments, including scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions. The NCAA largely accepted those penalties.
Former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze will be suspended for two conference games next season if he’s employed as a head coach at another school. The ruling said Freeze promoted an atmosphere of rules compliance, but that he failed to monitor his staff.
Several former assistants and staff members received show-cause restrictions, which will hinder their ability to work for NCAA schools. The stiffest was for former staff member David Saunders, who received an eightyear show cause for helping arrange fraudulent ACT scores.
The Rebels will be on probation through Nov. 30, 2020, and must pay a penalty of about $179,000. Ole Miss must vacate wins in which ineligible athletes participated, and that could take some time to sort out.