Oklahoma State football: Mike Gundy moving up tenure list

Mike Gundy is moving up the list fast. Gundy now is tied for 15th among the 120 major-college football coaches on job longevity. Hard to believe.

Seems like Gundy’s been on the job for just a little while, but 2012 marks his eighth season as head coach. And since Gundy is coming off two historic seasons – OSU’s first 11-win season, followed by OSU’s first conference championship – and just signed a huge contract extension, it seems likely that Gundy will move up this list in the next few years.

Georgia’s Mark Richt. Cal’s Jeff Tedford. Oregon State’s Mike Riley. All kinds of coaches are under a certain pressure to win soon.

And others are getting on the old side. Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer will be 66 in October, Troy’s Larry Blakeney will be 65 in September, Central Florida’s George O’Leary will be 66 in August, UTEP’s Mike Price is 66 and Nevada’s Chris Ault will be 66 in November.

Meanwhile, Gundy turns 45 in August looking like he will be a long-timer with the Cowboys

Here are the 21 longest-tenured coaches in college football, with the season in which they started their current job:

1. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech, 1987

2. Larry Blakeney, Troy, 1991

3. Mack Brown, Texas, 1998

4. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, 1999

4. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, 1999

6. Gary Patterson, TCU, 2000

7. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest, 2001

7. Gary Pinkel, Missouri, 2001

7. Mark Richt, Georgia, 2001

10. Jeff Tedford, California, 2002

11. Mike Riley, Oregon State, 2003

12. George O’Leary, Central Florida, 2004

12. Mike Price, Texas-El Paso, 2004

12. Chris Ault, Nevada, 2004

15. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State, 2005

15. Bronco Mendenhall, Brigham Young, 2005

15. Frank Solich, Ohio U., 2005

15. Bill Cubit, Western Michigan, 2005

15. Kyle Whittingham, Utah, 2005