Boone Pickens: OSU athletics director Mike Holder won't give Mike Gundy 10-year contract

Pickens also said the tone of the talks has improved. They had grown contentious in mid-December, after OSU offered an extension believed to be worth more than $3 million a year and Gundy's agent, Jimmy Sexton, asking for much more.

“If I told you I don't know what's going on, you know I'm lying to you,” OSU's mega-booster said before the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night. “I think that all got put on the shelf until we get through this game, and I think it should have .

“You can't focus on several things at one time. I can, but I'm not the negotiator, and I'm not the coach, either. I haven't focused on it, either, but I don't know why it wouldn't be done.”

One sticking point is the 10-year contract that OSU athletic director Mike Holder gave basketball coach Travis Ford in 2009.

“Y'all saw what Holder said,” Pickens said. “He made that mistake once. He's not going to make it again.”

Pickens reiterated that he is not involved in the negotiations. “I'm not calling shots in Stillwater, and that's a true story,” he said. “I don't have to do that.

“I've got a full-time job, so I'm not calling Stillwater, saying, ‘Get something done' or not done or something else. You can believe me or not, but that's a true story. I don't want to get in the way and I'm not in the way.

“We'll see. We're going to know soon enough.”