Oklahoma State football: Could the Cowboys' next offensive coordinator come from the NFL?

But Monken did not have a history with the Air Raid before he came back to Stillwater. He learned it.

That means a wide variety of coaches could be possible candidates.

What about Karl Dorrell, the former UCLA head coach who is now coaching Matt Schaub and the rest of the Houston Texans' quarterbacks?

Or Randy Fichtner, the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterbacks coach? He installed the spread, albeit the kind with a dual-threat quarterback, as the offensive coordinator at Memphis in the early 2000s and helped groom Carolina Panthers' running back DeAngelo Williams at the school.

Or Frank Cignetti, the St. Louis Rams' quarterbacks coach who has been an offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh, North Carolina, California, Rutgers and Fresno State?

Two years ago, it took Gundy until early February to hire Monken. The same could happen this season, especially if the Gundy is eyeballing a coach of an NFL team making a deep playoff run.

“I'm somewhat slow in that process,” Gundy said during that interview with Brando, “but excited about the future and the direction we're moving with Oklahoma State football.”