The Way It Used To Be
College football coaching legends share their experiences on the gridiron before laptops, charter jets and mega-million dollar facilities
by: Aaron S. Lee©
More from this issue
If there is one constant,
it is that there are no constants. Over time, everything changes
and nothing remains quite the same. Never is this more evident than
in the profession of coaching college football.
American Football Monthly recently sat down with a few of the
game’s greatest coaches for a peek inside the ever-changing
world of college football. From their first job to their last, their
first championship season to their first losing season, AFM has
captured it all – in their words. Men like Pat Dye, Bo Schembechler,
Barry Switzer, Don Nehlen and Gene Stallings have provided AFM with
an exclusive journey down memory lane. Maybe you can’t walk
in their shoes, but perhaps you can at least try them on. Over the
course of the next few months, AFM will feature several of these
“firsts” in each issue. So sit back and enjoy the game
of football “the way it used to be.”
Recruiting ...
Pat Dye (Auburn, 1981-92)
“In 1969, I was coaching under Paul “Bear” Bryant
at the University of Alabama and at the time, we were not very good,
but we were scheduled to play Colorado in the Liberty Bowl ... we
were going over the preparations for the trip in a staff meeting
and I told Coach Bryant I had about eight or 10 kids that I can
sign if I am in Alabama and not on the road at the bowl game. At
the time, signing day for the SEC was on the same day as the bowl
game, with the national signing day to be held at a later date.
Anyway, I told Coach Bryant that it didn’t make any difference
whether I go to Memphis or not because Colorado is going to whip
us anyway, which they did because we were not very good. I also
told him that if we didn’t get some good football players around
here then we’re all gonna get fired ... so, I stayed home and
signed all those recruits and four years later we were No. 1 in
the nation and played Notre Dame for the national title ...”
More from Coach Dye in upcoming issues of AFM
Bo Schembechler (Michigan 1969-89)
“I had Jack Harbaugh (retired coach from Western Kentucky)
with me on the road recruiting some kid in Indiana ... we were sitting
at the table with the kid and his parents and grandmother talking
... at that time Woody Hayes had just retired from Ohio State, so
the recruit's mother said that she had heard that a movie was going
to be made about Woody Hayes. I said that I had heard that, too
... the mother said, ‘If they did indeed make a movie, then
George C. Scott will certainly play Coach Hayes, but I wonder who
would play you in the movie, Bo?’ Just then the grandma of
this recruit, who hadn't said a word all night, says, ‘The
only guy I could see playing Bo would be Robert Redford.’ My
response: You know what, I think that would be a good choice.”
Barry Switzer (Oklahoma, 1973-88)
“I’ve told this story before, but it always gets a chuckle
... I was coaching Oklahoma and we were pounding the Buffaloes in
Boulder, Colo., when I decided to pick up the phone and call one
of our most prized recruits from Hooks, Texas ... I asked the kid,
who was actually pumping gas at a filling station at the time, ‘You
watching us? We just hung half a hundred on these guys!’ The
kid started to ask me if I was Coach Switzer and I told him, ‘Damn
right, sittin’ here on a pay phone in the locker room. I gotta
go finish this butt-kicking. Call you later.’ But you have
to understand that we were beating the crap out of Colorado, so
I had nothing to say or do at halftime. I saw a pay phone in the
corner and decided to call the kid. The ref tapped me on the shoulder,
and I had to go back out to the field, but the kid knew where I
was and knew what I was doing. He also knew I wasn’t going
to call another recruit and that he was special, and so did I. By
the way, the kid was Billy Sims, who would eventually capture the
1978 Heisman Trophy as a Sooner. ”
Recognition ...
Don Nehlen (West Virginia, 1980-2000)
“I was down in southern West Virginia and I stopped to buy
some gas for my vehicle when this old fellow walked up in bib overalls
and looked at a ring on my hand and asked me, ‘Hey, fella ...
what kind of ring is that on your hand?’ I told him that it
was a football ring and he asked me, ‘What do you mean by a
football ring?’ I told him that it was a bowl ring and that
often times when you are a coach or player and your team is successful,
you will get a ring as a reward. He asked me if I was coach and
I told him that I was. He then asked me where I coached and I told
him at West Virginia, to which he replied, ‘Well, brother,
you better savor that ring because as long as that damn Nehlen is
there, you’ll never get another one.” More from Coach
Nehlen in upcoming issues of AFM
Officiating ...
Gene Stallings (Alabama, 1990-96)
“I was coaching the Phoenix Cardinals at the time and I was
in a game that Bobby Skeleton was one of the officials, and I had
coached Bobby over at Alabama ... well, I called Bobby over to the
sideline and told him that this was without question the worst job
of officiating that I had ever seen, and Bobby turned to me and
said, ‘Well, Coach, even at that it’s better than the
coaching ...’” More from Coach Stallings in upcoming
issues of AFM
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