Mike Gundy will return for a 21st season as head football coach at Oklahoma State after agreeing on a restructured contract with school administrators, according to multiple reports.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Friday that Gundy and OSU were in a “standoff” over the coach’s future at the school, where he played quarterback in the late 1980s and has been head coach since 2005. The Cowboys went 3-9 in 2024 — including 0-9 in Big 12 Conference play — their first losing record since Gundy’s first season.

Gundy was offered the opportunity take a salary cut or be fired for cause, according to Thamel’s report. He earned $7.7 million in 2024 and was owed $25 million on a contract that ran through the 2028 season.

Famous for his “I’m a man, I’m 40″ rant in 2007, the now 57-year-old Gundy is 169-88 in 20 seasons at Oklahoma State. He is the third-longest-tenured FBS head coach, after Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (on the job since 1999) and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham (who was hired less than a month before Gundy).

Gundy’s teams have recorded double-digit victories eight times — including a 10-4 record in 2023, when he was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the third time — but have won just one conference championship. His 2011 team was in the thick of the national championship race until losing late in the season at Iowa State.

In addition to his mullet hairstyle, Gundy is also known for his often-abrasive persona and puzzling public comments. After star running back Ollie Gordon was arrested for driving under the influence this past summer, Gundy said in a televised interview at Big 12 Media Days that “I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life.”

Though his name has often come up for other jobs, Gundy’s personality was tolerable in Stillwater as long as he was winning. After this season’s collapse, he fired both offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn and defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo earlier this week.

Oklahoma State’s Board of Regents reportedly met for several hours in a closed session on Friday discussing Gundy’s future. As of Saturday, it appears he has lived to coach another day.