Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables said now-former assistant coach Cale Gundy resigned after reading a racially charged word multiple times during a recent film session with players.
Gundy shocked the college football world with his sudden resignation on Sunday, during which he apologized and explained what happened. It all began with a distracted player not taking notes during the session. Gundy picked up the athlete’s iPad and read the words on the screen aloud. He acknowledged that he said a word that he “should never — under any circumstance — have uttered,” and said he was “horrified” when he realized what he had done.
“What I said was not malicious; it wasn’t even intentional,” Gundy said. “Still, I am mature enough to know that the word I said was shameful and hurtful, no matter what my intentions.”
On Monday afternoon, Venables released an updated statement about Gundy’s resignation.
“As painful as it has been dealing with Coach Gundy resigning from the program, it doesn’t touch the experience of pain felt by a room full of young men I am charged to protect, lead and love. There are a few things I would like to address.
“Coach Gundy resigned from the program because he knows what he did was wrong. He chose to read aloud to his players, not once but multiple times, a racially charged word that is objectionable to everyone, and does not reflect the attitude and values of our university or our football program. This is not acceptable. Period. Coach Gundy did the right thing in resigning.
“He knows our goals for excellence and that coaches have special responsibilities to set an example. He also knows that, while he will always be a part of the OU family, that his words affected many of us and did not represent the principles of our university. Again, his resignation was the right thing to do, and we will move forward positively.”
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Later on, a Twitter account appearing to belong to Gundy’s daughter, Cat, seemingly called out the head coach for his actions.
“Interesting, you told your players to keep their mouths shut about what really happened and their heads down (thinking emoji) The truth will always come to fruition, it’s only a matter of time.”
Gundy was on staff for all 14 of the Sooners’ Big 12 titles and the national championship season in 2000. He spent the last seven seasons coaching wide receivers.
