Coaches lacking loyalty
In today’s Oklahoman, I wrote about coaches who don’t finish out a season with their teams. This morning, I’ve received a couple of responses from OSU fans and no doubt will receive more, upset that I fingered Larry Fedora for leaving the Cowboys but no Sooner assistant for one of their similar crimes.
Of course, some OSU fans exist only to stoke the belief that the media is out to get the Cowboys. If I had written about a Sooner assistant, and left Fedora unmentioned, those same OSU fans would have accused me of not caring that Fedora bailed on the Cowboys.
The truth is, when I wrote the column, I had Fedora and OU’s Kevin Sumlin both mentioned. In the same paragraph, in the same context. I figured Sumlin was like all the rest and was walking out on his team. Then I found out he was staying through the Fiesta Bowl. The truth is a wonderful defense.
Yes, many current and past Sooner coaches have quit on their teams. Bob Stoops left Florida before its bowl game in 1998. Mike Stoops and Mark Mangino and Mike Leach and Chuck Long all left OU before various bowl games, although Mike Stoops and Brent Venables stuck it out with Kansas State in 1998. I didn’t go back before this year for any references, because we’ve lost enough trees in Oklahoma this week. No reason to waste newsprint on what everyone knows. That if we start listing disloyal coaches, the number would reach into the thousands.
I stuck with only references to 2007. I had Sumlin and Fedora both on the list. Turns out one of them truly cared about his team. It’s not my fault that the one who cared was the Sooner, not the Cowboy.
6 Show / Hide Archive Comments