Oklahoma State and Mike Gundy have agreed to a restructured contract and he will remain coach of the Cowboys, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The two sides held talks Friday and Saturday about a new deal after Oklahoma A&M’s regents, which oversee Oklahoma State, held a special meeting Friday morning to discuss Gundy’s hiring and other football staff employment matters. The meeting ended Friday with no resolution, but board chairman Jimmy Harrel told local reporters, “We have a plan.”

As part of the restructuring of Gundy’s contract, his $7.75 million annual salary will be reduced to make zero payments to players and his buyout will also be reduced, sources told ESPN. Gundy would have owed $25.3 million if he had been fired without cause. Sources said Gundy had already agreed to give up some of his salary to help with NIL, but the two sides initially disagreed on the size of the pay cut – leading to two days of uncertainty over his future.

Sources told ESPN that Gundy had the support of school president Kayse Shrum and athletic director Chad Weiberg, but that at least one regent was in favor of leaving Gundy.

Gundy is Oklahoma State’s all-time winningest coach, leading his alma mater to a 169-88 record since his promotion in 2004. Gundy led the Cowboys to the Big 12 title in 2011, second in the league in 2021, and 18 consecutive bowl appearances prior to this season, when he posted his worst record at 3-9 and went winless in Big 12 play. Oklahoma State ended its season a week ago with a 52-0 loss at No. 23 Colorado.

Gundy’s previous contract was a five-year rolling contract, renewable on January 1 of each year he is employed at the school.

Gundy fired offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn and defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo on Wednesday, and Gundy had already begun looking for potential replacements when the board’s special meeting was called for Friday morning. Part of the conversation during that meeting revolved around Gundy’s hiring of assistant coaches and whether more control was needed regarding the contract structure, sources said.

In 2020, Gundy agreed to a $1 million pay cut, a shortened contract and a reduced buyout following scrutiny of the program after star running back Chuba Hubbard criticized the coach for giving a T on social media shirt from One America News. Mike Holder, then Oklahoma State’s athletic director, said Gundy offered all contract changes and praised the coach for them.

Gundy, a star quarterback at Oklahoma State who became the Big Eight’s all-time passing leader during his career, is the school’s three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. His teams earned 10 AP top-20 finishes and a third-place finish in 2011 when Oklahoma State won the Fiesta Bowl. Before this year’s decline, the Cowboys had won 10 or more games in eight of their last 14 seasons.

He also made several controversial statements during his tenure, including last month when he responded to criticism of the team: “In most cases, the people who are negative and express their opinions are the same people who can’t pay their own bills.” .” Gundy later apologized for his comments.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Jake Trotter, Max Olson and Pete Thamel contributed to this report.