NORMAN — TCU running backs coach Justin Fuente returns to Owen Field tonight, 11 years after he made the right decision to leave.
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An All-American recruit out of Tulsa Union High School, Fuente started at quarterback his freshman and sophomore seasons (1996-97) at Oklahoma.
The Sooners were awful under coach John Blake, with a combined record of 7-16 those two seasons, which would have been much worse without Fuente.
With two years of eligibility remaining, Fuente decided to leave for Murray (Ky.) State, where he set 11 school records, was named Ohio Valley offensive player of the year and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as Division I-AA national player of the year.
"Like anything in life, it's what you make of your situation,” Fuente said of leaving Norman. "I didn't leave with ill feelings toward OU. The situation wasn't good. It was tough on everybody. We weren't winning, and that's what you do at the University of Oklahoma.
"I don't sit around and choose to remember negative thoughts about OU. I choose to remember (longtime assistant coach) Merv Johnson, having a chance to play for (offensive coordinator) Dick Winder, plus the guys who I played with. I choose to remember the good people and the good times.”
Asked if self-doubt ever crept into his mind while he was at OU, Fuente chuckled and said, "I was probably too young and stupid to have self-doubt. Looking back on it, I probably should have. I didn't sit around and think, ‘Woe is me.' You're just a kid. You try not to let those things creep into your life.”
Fuente's thoughts on the state of OU football now?
"They've done an unbelievable job in the last 10 years,” he said.
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Ah, John Blake: the failed affirmative-action hire that David Boren rammed down our throats to assuage his politically-correct ego. Boren was, is, and remains one of the most disgusting public figures Oklahoma has ever produced, but at least he had the common sense to sign off on Stoops when the time came.
Justin Fuente quarterbacked for the Sooners in 1996-97 before transferring to Murray (Ky.) State. BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVE
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Leave a comment. Log in below or sign up (it's free).Editor's note: It is not our intent to offer comments on crime or fatality stories.