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Gundy resigns from OU

Oklahoma assistant coach Cale Gundy announced his resignation from the program Sunday night, effective immediately, following an incident that occurred during a position meeting last week.

“It's with sadness that I accept Coach Gundy's resignation,” said head coach Brent Venables in a statement Sunday evening. “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 placed 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 leaders of this program, it's essential that we hold ourselves to the highest standards as we model for our players the type of men we want them to become. L'Damian Washington, who has been serving as an offensive analyst for our program, will coach our wide receivers on an interim basis.”

Washington is in his first season with the Sooners. In his resignation letter sent out on social media, Gundy explained what happened.

"Today, with great anguish, I announce my resignation,” Gundy said. “I apologize to those who are disappointed by this news.

“I owe it to Sooner Nation to be transparent about what led to this decision. Last week, during a film session, I instructed my players to take notes. I noticed a player was distracted and picked up his iPad and read aloud the words that were written on his screen. 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.”

Gundy has been a staple at OU since basically 1990, as a player and coach. After a successful tenure at quarterback (1990-93), Gundy has been essential for OU through all coaching changes when he arrived in 1999. Whether it was as a running backs coach or recruiting coordinator or the last seven seasons as wide receivers coach, he’s been a huge cornerstone of the program.

He took responsibility for his actions and apologized in his resignation letter.

“The unfortunate reality is that someone in my position can cause harm without ever meaning to do so,” Gundy said. “In that circumstance, a man of character accepts accountability. I take responsibility for my mistake. I apologize.”

It’s been a period of transition for the OU program ever since Lincoln Riley left following the end of the regular season. Gundy was instrumental in keeping things together, especially on the recruiting side of things.

In resigning, he said he hopes to not be a distraction toward the goals and mission of the program under Venables.

“Nevertheless, I recognize this is a critical moment for Oklahoma football,” Gundy said. “This team – its coaches, players, administration, and fans – do not deserve to be distracted by off-the-field matters while working to continue the tradition of excellence that makes me proud to be a Sooner. I won’t do the program I love the disservice of distracting from the mission. Effective immediately, I am stepping down.”

*SoonerScoop.com will have more on this late-breaking development

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