PHOTO/Oklahoma State University
During every home game OSU honors a military family with a ceremony on the field and during most every one of those Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy has gone over to the group to shake their hands and express his appreciation for their service to our country.
During Saturday's game with Kansas the entire Cowboy football team will be outfitted with special uniforms provided by Nike and then auctioned off to raise money for the Folds Of Honor Foundation.
“Nike gave us the choice to be one of the schools to represent Folds of Honor and our military, which certainly is a no-brainer for me," Gundy told reporters during his regular Monday media luncheon. "You guys know how I feel about people who are willing to put their life on the line and fight on a daily basis for the freedom in this country. I think it's pretty cool for us to represent them and show them our support. Doesn't make a difference to me if you come from the city or the country, if you're white or black, Democratic or Republican; I think everybody has an obligation to support the people who are willing to fight for our freedom every day. I'm a big proponent and strong supporter of our military. It's an honor for us to be able to wear these uniforms, represent the organizations and the people who are willing to do whatever it takes for the greatest country on earth. We're excited about that.”
Gundy wore one of the new sweatshirts featuring the military design while he spoke from the podium.
While breaking out the new hoodie Gundy also broke some news with the hiring of former OSU assistant coach Todd Bradford as team's new director of recruiting.
"He's on the job as of today. Todd had been here before and left here when Larry Fedora left to be the defensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi. He bounced around a few places; he was out one year with some private business. We brought him back in recruiting and he's on board with us.”
And with former head coach Les Miles bringing his Kansas Jayhawks to Stillwater on Saturday it was time for a little reminiscing too.
"Les and I have had lots of hours in offensive meeting rooms, particularly when he was the offensive coordinator and I was the quarterbacks coach. I have really good memories of offensive football with him. He and I butted heads a lot, but in the end we agreed and ended up on the same page. We supported each other and we were good at moving the football together. We had a good relationship. It was unique and a little bit unusual seeing him in Phoenix in May for the Big 12 meetings, but it was fun. It was good to see him and spend time with him.”
The Cowboys and Jayhawks are set for an 11am kickoff Saturday and you can see all of the Mike Gundy news conference in the block below and also a full video of the special uniforms the Cowboys will be wearing.