College football recruits nowadays live in such a different world than the one Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy occupied all the way back in 2007.
At the time, he was focused on defending his players against tough clips in the newspapers. That led to his iconic rant and the phrase heard around college football: “I’m a man. I’m 40.”
Nowadays, players have to deal with so much more than just newspaper clippings, and social media has made criticism available to be consumed 24/7. Nowadays, Gundy’s rant is also a relic of the past because 17 years ago, most of the players he’s now interacting with were just kids.
That doesn’t mean the rant doesn’t come up on the recruiting trail, though, and Gundy recently revealed on “The Pat McAfee Show” (h/t On3) that it’s actually still a big hit with the grandparents of the players he’s recruiting.
“What’s interesting is I’ve signed a bunch of ’em [photos], but now when I go into homes and recruiting, the grandparents bring it up because they were around. The younger generation, they’re like, ‘What?’ They might have heard it on somebody’s ringtone but essentially the grandparents bring it up,” Gundy said.
Ultimately, the “memability” of the moment has still helped Gundy on the recruiting trail.