Not only is Mike Gundy a man (he’s 52 now not 40), but he’s willing to admit when he has made a mistake.

Gundy and Oklahoma State received national attention recently after the coach was spotted wearing an OAN (which stands for One American News Network), which resulted in star running back Chuba Hubbard calling for a brief boycott of the program.

It wasn’t long before Gundy met with his players to talk the issue out, which quelled any talk of a boycott in Stillwater. Now the Oklahoma State coach is speaking out publicly on his decision to wear the OAN shirt, which he is saying was ill-informed.

“Some of the stances (OAN) had taken, I didn’t know that, but then you look at it and say, ‘Okay, I was a dumbass.’ I put the shirt on not knowing enough about the shirt,” Gundy said in an interview with ESPN. “I understood exactly why the players got frustrated when they found that out, or whatever, however they found out what it was.

“I didn’t know, I didn’t know till the next day. Well, I knew that night but I didn’t confirm it until I did a little research, and I was like, What a dumb ass. So that was my fault.”

The way Gundy tells it, the most upsetting thing he could do is lose the respect of his players.

“The way the players feel about me, and I upset them and broke their heart, that bothered me more than losing games,” the coach added. “And that’s the truth. But that’s why now that, as humans, when we make mistakes, the only thing we can do is admit we’re wrong. Own up to it, be humble, accept critical people – criticism, and move forward.”

Here’s the clip of Gundy’s interview with ESPN.