Sports
Switzer speaks to local first grade football team
OKLAHOMA CITY — Former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys football coach Barry Switzer made an appearance at a Crossings Community Church on Tuesday night as he talked to members of the Crossings Colts, a first grade football team.
After telling the young boys to try hard in everything they do, the legend opened himself up to questions from the parents. The Super Bowl Champion coach spoke on everything from fur coats, Urban Meyer, the wishbone, to OU vs. Texas, to the game that slipped away.
Switzer may not have invented the wishbone, but he perfected it. And yes, the legendary coach believes it would still work today.
“Florida runs the option, Georgia Tech runs it and they hung half a hundred on Florida State the other night. Get me a quarterback with the speed of Jamelle Hollieway, a running back with the speed of Patrick Collins, someone like Lydell Carr, and Anthony Stafford, and I guarantee you we would hang half a hundred on a lot of people,” Switzer said. “It’s all about speed and getting to the corner.”
As for Florida head coach Urban Meyer, he had nothing but the highest praise.
“The offense he runs today, I believe would be highly successful at the NFL level. They’ve never seen that stuff. And you take NFL corners, they’re not very big, but they get the big checks and what he does is he sends blockers after them. These are guys that don’t like to get hit, and they are taking on big blockers for an entire game. Really, all Tim Tebow is, is a 6-3, 240-pound running back,” Switzer said.
“He would have a lot of success at the next level.”
One of the members of the football team then asked the legendary head coach the most exciting game he ever coached in.
“Well, it was a loss. The ones that stick out are the losses, we won so much that the wins really don’t stand out. I would have to say it was the game against Nebraska in 1978. All we needed to do is win that game then we would go play in the Orange Bowl and be national champions.
“We had four first round draft picks. We turned the ball over nine times and we still had a chance to beat them. But Billy Sims fumbled the ball at the two-yard line. We went on to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 31-24, but that game is the one that sticks out, because it was the one that slipped away.”
Switzer did not have a prediction on OU vs. Texas this weekend.
“I’m not going this year. Texas should be favored, but it’s just going to be whoever makes the fewest mistakes. It’s the two best offenses and defenses in the Big 12, and it has been for a while now. They have better players than anyone else in the Big 12, but it should be a defensive game,” Switzer said.
Switzer, who led the Sooners to three national championships, and the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory, posed with members of the team for pictures and also signed autographs.
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