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Posted
13 minutes ago, Longboard Horn said:

Rhett Bomar 2.0

The thing is- Adrian Peterson was also getting benefits from Big Red Auto. OU cut loose Bomar (disappointing in development as QB), a backup OL, and kept the star RB. 
 
If Mateer were a disappointment, and this exact story popped up, the AD would cut him loose immediately 

Posted

I had started a series of posts about the misdeeds of Sooner football a few months ago, but stalled out in1982, with Switzer evading jail for DWI and penalties for Insider Trading. How do you describe the malfeasance, shenanigans and felonies (or, as Switzer described it, “the doping, raping and shooting”) of Sooner football in the 1980s? How can it be done justice? You just have to dive in. 
 
First, let’s talk about coaching. Texas had figured out how to use assignment defense to shut down the Sooners wishbone (required comparable athletes, and the Horns had them in the early ‘80s). Switzer made a coaching decision- he was switching to the pro set “I”. He recruited a QB, Aikman, and a RB, Marcus Dupree (he won a bidding war for DuPree’s services). Dupree was an immediate star, but Switzer only got a couple of years out of him (he describes in his book how it was all DuPree’s fault, and also blames the “advisor” from back home- the same guy the Sooners were giving money to to secure DuPree’s commitment. Imagine that- a bought player doesn’t stay bought). 
 
The pro set wasn’t working, mainly because Switzer had no clue how to coach it nor how to find assistants to coach it. They abandoned the “I”, returned to the Wishbone they knew, got Aikman injured running it, and he transferred to UCLA so he could begin his HoF career. 
 
Bosworth, the Boz, was another of Switzer’s stars. Switzer enjoyed all the attention gained from his brashness, until that same brashness attracted too much attention from regulatory bodies, curious about payments and PEDs, at which point the Boz was let go. 
 
But, OU was winning. Texas was down, they really only had to beat Nebraska in the Big 8, and if they didn’t have Miami (coached by Jimmy Johnson, who knew the Sooners all too well), there were few teams that could beat them. They won the MNC in 1985. 
 
They had a lot of talent, enabled by their total no -concern with character. The crimes piled up- an ugly gang rape in the dorm (later, Aikman, who had no respect for Switzer, said he would not let his girlfriend around his teammates), drug dealing by starting QB Charles Thompson, and a shooting of one player by another. 
 
It all came to a head and Switzer resigned. In his book, Switzer says none of that was his fault and he shouldn’t have been pressured to resign. What he doesn’t say- a key assistant coach and running buddy of Switzer, Scott Hill, was arrested and sent to jail for selling cocaine. The university was under pressure to investigate whether Switzer was also dealing in cocaine. By resigning, Switzer avoided having to answer those questions. 
 
How good of a coach was Barry Switzer? I’d say, probably as good as Bobby Collins, another guy with an amazing winning percentage that no other program wanted to hire to coach a rules abiding program. His success was almost entirely a creation based on his willingness to cheat. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted

Crap! I forgot to mention- the feds were zeroing in on Thompson for dealing drugs, and interviewed Switzer about him. Switzer got in the phone to Thompson and told him to get rid or hide all the evidence. I’m not a lawyer, but I think this is obstruction? No charges on Switzer, though. 

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