Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has a mullet, and while it’s now a bit smaller than it once was, it’s been pretty much the only national topic of offseason discussion about the Cowboys’ football team.
Gundy did an interview with fellow mullet-sporter Barry Melrose at ESPN, and the video went viral in the sports world, leading to even more obsession with Gundy’s hair.
Now, Gundy says his hair has paid off—to the tune of millions of dollars.
“I’m going to say that the dollar figure is somewhere in the millions for the amount of time that we’ve had on the air for that,” Gundy said Tuesday during his news conference at Big 12 media days.
“We need to get our brand out there at Oklahoma State,” Gundy said. “If you look back it, you say, ‘What did you get out of it?’ Well, OK, all of that happened at a time when nobody was talking about Oklahoma State football. Nobody was talking about college football, but our brand was out there all across the country.”
Apparently, Oklahoma State actually did do a full-fledged marketing strategy surrounding Gundy’s mullet.
Gundy credited the Oklahoma State employees for their ideas on how to promote him and his hair, which he recently trimmed.
“I get credit for it, because I’m the fool that stands up there and does it,” Gundy said. “But they’re the ones that think of it.”
Gundy’s estimate is in no way scientific, and it’s probably a bit on the high end. But regardless, far more people than usual were talking about Oklahoma State football this offseason, and in a conference that includes Texas and Oklahoma, any publicity is good publicity, as Gundy knows far too well.
[ESPN]
