Also one of them doubled his salary, and the other more than doubled it Plus they knew Gundy and had worked with him before. OSU pays their assistants like crazy.
Yes we pay our assistants well OSU names new offensive coordinator By John Helsley The Oklahoman STILLWATER - When announced Monday as Oklahoma State's new coach, Mike Gundy claimed he was finished calling plays. Perhaps he had an inkling he'd be turning those duties over to Larry Fedora, who has been secured as the Cowboys' offensive coordinator. Fedora and offensive line coach Joe Wickline are the latest additions to Gundy's first staff, joining tight ends coach Doug Meacham. Also, Jimmy Gonzales will be the director of football operations. Fedora and Wickline were part of Ron Zook's fired staff at Florida and planned to follow Zook to Illinois. Gonzales spent the past two seasons as director of player development at Notre Dame. Meacham, an offensive lineman at OSU when Gundy was quarterback, spent the past four seasons at Division I-AA Samford, the past two as offensive coordinator. Meanwhile, the focus for a defensive coordinator seems clearly set on Cleveland Browns assistant George Edwards. Gundy declined comment on the new hires until they are formally approved. But Zook confirmed losing the two assistants to OSU. "Of course, I am disappointed with the choice of Larry Fedora and Joe Wickline to leave Illinois," Zook said in a statement. "Larry has a relationship with Mike Gundy that dates back to their time at Baylor, and he felt he owed it to himself to check out what Oklahoma State had to offer." The Cowboys apparently offered plenty. Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that Fedora's contract is for $275,000, more than $100,000 more than his salary at Illinois. Wickline, who carries a reputation as a strong recruiter, is due to make about $200,000, doubling his salary, according to the newspaper report. Gundy earned $276,000 as OSU's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Former offensive line coach Chuck Moller made $135,000. It is not yet known if any of Gundy's new hires received long-term contracts, a feature the school has used to attract top- flight assistants. OSU athletic director Harry Birdwell said such contracts would be issued as warranted, on a "case-by-case basis." Fedora was Gundy's top offensive coordinator target from the outset. The two worked together at Baylor in 1996 and Fedora has been building a strong resumé since. At Florida this season, Fedora's offense ranked 14th nationally in passing offense (271.1 yards per game); 19th in scoring offense (31.8 points per game); and 22nd in total offense (427 yards per game). In the Southeastern Conference, the Gators led the league in passing offense and total offense and ranked No. 2 in scoring offense. Also appealing: Gators sophomore quarterback Chris Leak blossomed in Fedora's first season as coordinator at Florida, becoming one of the nation's most exciting young signal callers. Leak completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,197 yards and 29 touchdowns in a strong follow-up to a so-so 2003 debut. Leak's dual-threat style is similar to OSU quarterbacks Bobby Reid and Donovan Woods. Wickline spent the past three seasons at Florida, coaching the offensive line all three years, with the title of running game coordinator added in 2003. Gundy's offensive staff is coming together, with only two slots still available. Possible candidates to fill the offensive staff include Trooper Taylor, running backs coach at Tennessee; Rob Ambrose, quarterbacks coach at Connecticut; Mike Locksley, running backs coach at Florida; former OSU assistant Tommie Robinson, tight ends coach at Georgia Tech; Darrell Wyatt, wide receivers coach at Oklahoma; and Rich Wilson, another former Cowboys assistant who coaches wideouts at Minnesota. Gundy may also be looking to bring strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass from Florida. Glass was head strength coach at OSU from 1989-95 before joining the Gators. Gundy hopes to get some of his new coaches on the road recruiting before the start of the American Football Coaches Association Convention on Sunday in Louisville, Ky. Currently, associate head coach Joe DeForest and graduate assistants are visiting prospects. "My goal is to reach six guys on the road by the time the live period starts," Gundy said. "That's what I'm going to try to do." From Jan. 10-12, recruiting enters a dead period, when coaches can contact recruits by phone but not have any face-to-face contact. A quiet period begins Jan. 14-15, when coaches are allowed face-to-face contact with recruits on their college campuses only. Open recruiting, the contact period, resumes Jan. 16. The defensive side of Gundy's staff is slower to progress since he wants to give the coordinator power to hire who he wants. Edwards is still hung up in contract issues with the Browns but could become available any day. Edwards served as Browns linebackers coach this season, after spending the previous two years with the Washington Redskins, including 2003 as defensive coordinator. Dallas (1998-2001) was Edwards' other NFL coaching stop, after serving as defensive line coach at Georgia (1997) and in charge of linebackers at Duke (1996), where he worked with DeForest. Gundy said his days as coach have been filled with talk and more talk. "It's been a whirlwind of conversations on the telephone," Gundy said. "It's recruiting and pursuing the best coaches in the country. "But it's also been very exciting and very fun." http://www.newsok.com/article/13977...late=sports/osu (registration required)
