Switzer tales: Hochevar postscript

Barry Switzer is flanked by Gene Hochevar (left) and Jerry Pettibone (right) at Louis Oubre's wedding. (PHOTO PROVIDED)

I know I bid farewell to the Barry Switzer series, but I received an email Thursday from Gene Hochevar, the Switzer assistant from the 1970s who accompanied us down to Waco for the impromptu reunion of those ’70s Sooners.

I never had met Hochevar, though I had read about him in the 1970s. Pouring through media guides as a kid, learning the faces of even assistant coaches, paid off that day we went to Waco. I arrived at Westheimer airport before Switzer and Elvis Peacock; I was waiting in the lobby when a man walked, saw me and said, “Hello, Berry.”

Somehow, I recognized the guy as Gene Hochevar, even though I never had met him and the last picture I saw of him was from the 1970s. Hochevar had left OU in 1979 to join Chuck Fairbanks’ Colorado staff. Hochevar is back in Oklahoma City in the oil business and was a delight to meet. You could see how he fit in well with Switzer’s great staffs.

Hochevar’s email shed some light on some of the Switzer magic from the ’70s. He also sent along a photo from Louis Oubre’s wedding, which I referenced in one of the blogs. We’ll post it with this blog, but it comes with a warning from Hochevar: “This picture is not of the Temptations.”

Here is Hochevar’s short email, which is as revealing as anything I’ve read about the Sooner salad days:

“Enjoyed all of your articles! Well written. Just think of this….that was just a very short segment of the ’70s. Can you even imagine what it would take to cover that in detail? Going to work was like going to a movie. Everyday I was filled with every emotion that you could imagine. Best damn coaching staff that ever coached a down of football and the best group of young men to ever play the game, and ‘you can write that down and put it in the light.’”