OSU only needs to look at Texas Tech to see how a good thing was messed up

The Red Raiders still reel from the loss of Leach, who was fired three years ago this month for not getting along with his bosses.

Under Leach, Tech football was mostly better and definitely more popular than ever before. And it all went splat.

That's not just a lesson for Leach, and the rest of us, to get along with our superiors. That's also a lesson for superiors. Don't mess up a good thing.

The Tech saga is incredibly instructive for OSU, which this month has sweated through Mike Gundy flirting with Arkansas and Tennessee, not because he wanted to head for either set of hills, but to make a point with his boss.

And while it's incumbent on Gundy to patch that relationship, it's also incumbent on athletic director Mike Holder to keep Gundy happy.

The truth about Tech is that Leach was itching to leave. The relationship had soured. If Leach had left voluntarily instead of being fired, Tech football would have been no better off.

Coached by Tommy Tuberville, the Red Raiders went 20-17 in three post-Leach seasons, quite a fall from the 84-43 record in Leach's 10 seasons. Unless the schism was patched, Tech was headed for this dip no matter what. Leach was going one way or the other.

No reason to allow such things to fester, when you've got a good thing going. Such as Tech had and OSU has.

Gundy on Friday certainly talked like he knew that.

“Oklahoma State has enough here to maintain football for a long time,” Gundy said. “Not like we had it 10 years ago. Because of what Boone (Pickens) did for this university, and with Mike Holder and some of the decisions he's made. He's made a lot of really good decisions.