Oklahoma Legends Gather to Honor The King
NORMAN — The tributes were flowing Thursday afternoon at Othello's on Campus Corner and Barry Switzer was on the receiving end of every one.
Switzer, who won three national championships and 12 conference titles in 16 years as Oklahoma's head coach, was honored as part of the upcoming 50th anniversary of his taking over the football program in 1973. The event was organized by WWLS The Sports Animal.
Switzer's head coaching debut was Sept. 15 for a game at Baylor.
Former OU players and coaches who spoke with All Sooners, including Marcus Dupree, Jamelle Holieway, Scott Hill, Steve Collins and Tinker Owens, described Switzer as an outstanding football coach and person.
"For me, he's a friend, a father and a coach," said Holieway, 56, who quarterbacked Switzer's 1985 team to a national championship as a true freshman."He's genuine. He's never lied to me, during recruiting, after recruiting, in life, period."
Holieway recalled the time he flew with Switzer from California to Oklahoma on a recruiting visit.
"He was quizzing me on how to run the option and I got all of 'em right," Holieway said. "And he told me, 'Son, if you can do what you said on paper, if you can do that on the field, you'll be starting pretty soon.'"
Dupree, 59, who played 1 1/2 memorable seasons for Switzer in 1982-83 and rushed for 1,144 yards, called him "a guy's guy and a player's coach.
"Coach Switzer is one of the reasons I came to OU," Dupree told All Sooners. "I really liked his swagger and the way he recruited and the way he talked. He could talk, and that's what I liked about him, and he was a player's coach, just like John Robinson or any of the coaches I've played for. He makes you want to play for him."
Former Sooners quarterbacks Thomas Lott, Jason White and Cale Gundy, running back Joe Washington and former head coach Bob Stoops were among those celebrating Switzer, who grinned from ear to ear as well-wishers surrounded his table to pay their respects.
Perhaps no one was more excited to see Switzer than Collins, a quarterback from Ennis, TX, who was part of the coach's last recruiting class in 1988.
"I'm here for one guy and one guy only, coach Barry Switzer, the guy that got me and a lot of other players to come to Norman and play football," he said.
Collins was clutching a picture he took with Switzer in Dallas before the OU-Texas game in 1992. By then, Collins, a starter in 1989 and 1990, was backing up Gundy under Switzer's replacement, Gary Gibbs.
"I was not the starter, but in this picture he's grabbing my neck like this and saying 'If I was still the coach you'd still be my quarterback and we'd still be winning championships,' " Collins said. "Being that last quarterback that actually played at OU that was recruited by him was very special."
Gundy happened to walk up as Collins was speaking and the two embraced.
Gundy, recruited by Gibbs in 1990, was a longtime OU assistant coach who now has business dealings with Switzer.
"The last year has been unbelievable, just being able to have the opportunity to be around him," Gundy said. "You know him and you know of him, but to be able to have a chance to go to a lot of events and be around a lot of places, go to different towns, different cities, different states and see how people react to him ... that's why they say he's 'The King' or a legend, you know? He's special."
Terry Peters, who played defensive back for Switzer from 1974-78, and Richard Turner, who played defensive tackle from '77 to '80, were also on hand along with former OU coaches Charley North and Merv Johnson.
North was coaching high school football in McAlester, OK, when Switzer offered him a job coaching the offensive line at Oklahoma.
"The gentleman has the kindest heart I've ever seen," North said. "He is a guy that would help anyone with anything as long as they were in need. I respected him so much because of the kind of person that he was, and I have been in a position where he helped me at times when I needed help.
"When we first made the transition here, I took a cut in pay to leave McAlester High School to come here to coach. And he saw to it through the years that I got my salary where it should be."
Owens, the younger brother of 1969 Heisman Trophy winner Steve Owens, was a two-time All-American ('74, '75) on Switzer teams that won back-to-back national championships.
"I came in 1972 and Chuck Fairbanks was the head coach, and so coach (Switzer) was the offensive coordinator and then, of course, he got promoted to head coach in 1973," Owens said. "Of course I loved Fairbanks, too, but Switzer was a totally different guy. Yeah, he had a little more fun than coach Fairbanks did.
"He was a player's coach. He was just one of those guys, he was almost like one of us. He was young and brash, cocky and all that good stuff, and it was just a pleasure to play for him. We had so many good teams. I mean looking back on that, we could have won four national championships."
Hill, who played quarterback and defensive back for Switzer and later coached for him, saw two different sides of the man, one as a player and another as a coach.
"From a player that played for him's perspective, he identified with everybody. He was the first head coach in the country to identify with black players, I can assure you. He laid the ground for that. And thank goodness it happened because it needed to happen at that point in time.
"From a coach's perspective, he let you do your job. He set the guidelines up, he set all of the premises up with what he expected out of you and then he said 'Go do it.' And if you did it, he kept you on."
Said Holieway, "We're all getting older, and so we don't know when the last time we'll be able to see each other, so this is a great opportunity."
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