Words of Wisdom

In fact, if it wasn't for the controversy that erupted during his reign at the University of Oklahoma, most agree Barry Switzer would have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame last year, his first year of eligibility. Instead, last month he was again passed over even though his winning percentage (.837) is the fourth-best all-time in Division I-A and the best overall in the last 50 years.

But, Switzer has maintained, he isn't worried about whether he is immortalized in the hall in South Bend, Ind. With the three national championships he won while at Oklahoma and the Super Bowl ring he earned while directing the Dallas Cowboys, his coaching abilities have been sufficiently recognized. Besides, as the 64-year-old told reporters in January, when he became a media darling as Oklahoma made its run for the national championship, "I'm in the fourth quarter. When I left the Cowboys, I said the fourth quarter was going to be mine. I'm not near the two-minute warning and I plan to play overtime." Here's some other thoughts from the always quotable Switzer:

"Sometimes, even when you have the best players, you gotta be lucky."

"It was like a heart transplant. We tried to implant college in him but his head rejected it."

"I swear it would scare people to death if they knew the frame of mind that those kids are in on the field."

"Football is a violent physical sport. It's a demanding sport run by demanding coaches who teach huge kids to collide into one another as fast as they can."

"I always told the momma and daddy when I recruited a kid, you give me a good one, I'll give you back a good one."

"I said, 'No, ma'am, we don't have a [drug] problem; you can get all you want."

"When you beat the University of Texas, I don't care what your won-lost record is, it's the biggest day of your life."

"Sooner Magic is composed of three things. First, it's outstanding players. Then it's good assistant coaches. And third, you create an atmosphere in which the players want to excel."

"[Zach Thomas] is just a rolling ball of butcher knives."

"Look at an obstacle as a challenge and an opportunity to grow from the experience of overcoming it."

"[Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops] had a perfect situation coming in where everything was on the downside. It's great to go into that. I wouldn't want to go into a place like Ohio State or Alabama where there's upside, because right away you got to win."

Quotes from press clips and Football Coach Quotes: The Wit, Wisdom and Winning Words of Leagers on the Gridiron, by Larry Adler