I’ve never seen a person spontaneously combust before, but Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy exploding during a press conference may be the closest I’ll ever get.

For those of you unfamiliar with this instant classic of a tirade, Gundy basically tore apart columnist Jenni Carlson during the conference last Saturday because she wrote a piece challenging the toughness of the team’s quarterback who was benched after Oklahoma State’s self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Offense” struggled to score.

It has everything you look for in a rant that makes it memorable. It has a red-faced coach who yells and screams as he stares down the writer and it has classic one-liners like “I’m a man! I’m 40!” that is reminiscent of Will Ferrell’s “I drive a Dodge Stratus!” skit on “Saturday Night Live.”

Players and coaches losing their cool in sports is nothing new. Public blowups are understandable, especially when expectations are so high for coaches and players who are making millions of dollars and feel they need to justify their contracts with strong performances. However, if there is a lesson to be learned from all the tirades, it’s that almost nothing good has come from them.

Perhaps one of the most well known of all press conference meltdowns came from then-Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Mora and his infamous “Playoffs!?” rant.

After the Colts – who had high expectations following a playoff season the year before – started the 2001 season 4-6, Mora was asked whether his team had a chance of returning to the playoffs. Instead of remaining calm and giving a typical glib answer, Mora uttered this high-pitched gem: “What’s that? Uh – Playoffs? Don’t talk about – playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!”

Mora wasn’t fired, fined, or suspended for the rant, but the Colts’ losing season only got worse from there as they finished with a final record of 6-10 that subsequently led to Mora’s dismissal and his NFL legacy being defined by this immortal tirade.

When Ryan Leaf was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1998 with the second overall pick, expectations were high for the college star to save the struggling Chargers franchise. After throwing two touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his first nine games, the booing began and Leaf was benched.

Leaf’s frustration carried over to his relationship with the media that led to a locker room confrontation with a reporter where Leaf began to yell, “Don’t (expletive) talk to me, all right! Knock it off!”

Leaf had to be restrained by teammates before the incident got physical. All of this was caught on video, and Leaf’s reputation with the media and fans fell faster than his quarterback rating. Two years later, Leaf was released by the Chargers and two years after that he retired from football as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.

There are some coaches and players who don’t wait until they get off the field to rant, but rather do it right there in front of everyone. In fact, they don’t even use words, their gestures say it all.

No one is better at this than Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight, who showed more than his fair share of emotion to referees and players while coach at Indiana University. His antics included throwing a chair onto the court during a 1985 game and choking a player during a 1997 practice. These outbursts eventually led to Knight’s placement on a zero-tolerance policy, which brought about his firing in 2000 after a player claimed that Knight had violated the policy.

Mike Gundy’s intentions weren’t wrong when he stood up for one of his players, but the manner in which he did it was. Sometimes people let their emotions get the best of them, but athletes and coaches need to know they are under the watchful eye of the media and the public.

Besides looking foolish and becoming a running joke, these tantrums often result in career-damaging effects for the player or coach and sometimes can set a franchise back for years.

Now I’m not saying Gundy has to fear for his job yet, but he should take some comfort knowing that it’s almost guaranteed his rant is going to be in a Coors Light commercial someday.

Kyle Betts is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].