Dan Lanning responds to Mike Gundy’s dig on budget: ‘We spend to win’
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Dan Lanning stuck up for his team and his program during Monday’s weekly news conference, when he responded to Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy’s criticism of how much Oregon spends.
The Ducks, who were ranked 7th before Tuesday’s new AP poll was released, and Gundy’s Cowboys are set to collide on Saturday afternoon in Eugene in a nationally televised contest between Big Ten and Big 12 teams. The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS, but early in the week there was already a game of words developing between the 2 head coaches.
During his radio show on Monday, Gundy commented that Oklahoma State has spent only “around $7 million” on its football team over the past 3 years. He then put that somewhat minuscule number up against how much Oregon has spent on its roster in recent seasons.
“I think Oregon spent close to $40 (million) last year alone. So, that was just one year. Now, I might be off a few million,” said Gundy.
Gundy didn’t stop there though, commenting on Oregon football’s wealth of resources. The often-outspoken Oklahoma State head coach said “it’ll cost a lot of money to keep” Oregon quarterback Dante Moore. Gundy also said he thinks that Oregon’s budget should determine the non-conference teams it schedules on a yearly basis.
“From a non-conference standpoint, there’s coaches saying they should (play teams with similar budgets),” said Gundy.
On Monday night during his session with reporters, it was Lanning’s turn to have his say.
“If you want to be a top-10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning. We spend to win. Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t. … I can’t speak on their situation; I have no idea what they got in their pockets over there,” said Lanning.
Lanning did say he has “a lot of respect” for Gundy and praised Gundy for consistently leading Oklahoma State to winning seasons during his 2 decades in Stillwater.
The Ducks and Cowboys come into Saturday’s clash having won their season openers. On Saturday, it’ll be time for the players to take aim at each other but for now it’s the coaches who are making the headlines early in the week.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
