OU’s Gundy to face man who led him to coaching

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Some good timing and a great friendship produced the perfect opportunity. Without those, Gundy might be providing color commentary on Saturday’s game between Oklahoma and Alabama-Birmingham instead of coaching in it.

Gundy, now the Sooners’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, is more than satisfied with his choice.

Saturday, he can look across Owen Field and see the man who not only kicked off his coaching career, but helped make it a success, as well - UAB head coach Watson Brown.

Gundy and Brown met in 1993, entering Gundy’s senior season as Oklahoma’s quarterback. Former OU head coach Gary Gibbs brought in Brown as the Sooners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

With Brown running the offense, Gundy blossomed into the quarterback people thought he could be coming out of Midwest City High School in 1990.

OU averaged 386 yards and nearly 29 points per game. The Sooners finished 9-3 and defeated Texas Tech 41-10 in the Sun Bowl.

A playing career that endured ups, downs and a touch of controversy - some fans might remember the 1992 player walkout - closed on the sweetest of notes.

Opportunities began to appear, and at that point, Gundy was considering a couple different career paths. Coaching wasn’t high on the list.

“I kind of had some other directions I was planning on going,” Gundy said. “I wanted to get into some sports broadcasting, maybe some TV stuff.”

But he still had a year of school left at OU. Gundy stayed on as a graduate assistant coach, dealing closely with Brown.

“I developed such a good relationship with coach Brown,” Gundy said.

“He had talked to me on different occasions that, ‘Hey, if you want to get into coaching, if I become a head coach again, I want to hire you. Would you be interested in that?’ From there, it grew and grew, but he was the guy that got me going in that direction.”

After the 1994 season, Brown was named head coach at UAB, then a Division I-AA school with a tight football budget.

“I knew he would be an outstanding coach if he wanted to be,” Brown said of Gundy. “And he was cheap. A young guy. Didn’t cost that much, and I didn’t have any money.”

Brown’s faith was based on Gundy’s leadership ability, which he had seen consistently over the previous two years with the Sooners.

“There’s some naturalness to being a leader,” Brown said. “Always, when the heat was on, he stepped up to the plate. And the players would look at him to step up to the plate.”

Gundy spent four seasons on Brown’s staff, handling, at different times, quarterbacks and running backs.

Then, in 1999, Bob Stoops took the Oklahoma job and gave Gundy the opportunity to return to his alma mater.

Now entering his eighth season at OU, Gundy still isn’t sure exactly where his career will take him.

“Someday (broadcasting) may still be there,” Gundy said.

But Brown sees a clearer picture for the 34-year-old.

“He’s real good with people. Handles himself well,” Brown said. “I thought he’d be a good recruiter. He turned out to be what I thought he’d be.

“He’s going to be a head coach. It won’t be long.”