Best Sooner assistant ever?

[SteelClip49]

My guess would be Mike Shanahan.
- won title with OU in 1975
- won Super Bowl as an assistant with the 49ers'
- 2 Super Bowls as a head coach

Also, best assistant ever that didn't eventually become OU head coach.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Maybe not the greatest, but I always used to love watching Bobby Proctor at practice.

[King Crimson]

the answer to this question is Merv Johnson.

Shanahan was here one year. I don't really see at as much. if that is the criteria, your answer is Jimmy Johnson. However fun Proctor was at practice, it wasn't half as fun as my dad using expletives and taking the Lord's name in vain instead of Bobby as Proctors first name....at the games.

though Bobby gets credit for the most excellent quote after the 2000 Texas game....."was that a good lookin' asskicking or what?".

[Rogue]

It's a tough list.
Merv, certainly is in the hunt.
My vote goes to Barry Switzer.

Are you asking for best assistant AND ***'t that never became HC or only ***'ts that never became HC?

[King Crimson]

actually, thinking it through (haha, not this AM)....the answer is Bud Wilkinson.

[OUMonster]

Joe Dickinson - The guy could overhaul an entire offense in one quarter

[tulsaoilerfan]

Gary Gibbs would have to be on this list; some of the younger folks may not realize how great he was as the DC in the 80's

[Big Red Ron]

My top 5

1)Barry Switzer - OC, switched us to the bone, mid season and changed us for ever.

2) Merv - I know of very few people that have given so much to OU football.

3) Gary Gibbs - The Best defensive coordinate we've ever had.

4) Mike Stoops - The second best defensive coordinator.

5) Mike Leach - In one year changed our offensive philosophy with a QB nobody ever heard of or wanted. Mangino owes him big!

[King Crimson]

My top 5

1)Barry Switzer - OC, switched us to the bone, mid season and changed us for ever.

2) Merv - I know of very few people that have given so much to OU football.

3) Gary Gibbs - The Best defensive coordinate we've ever had.

4) Mike Stoops - The second best defensive coordinator.

5) Mike Leach - In one year changed our offensive philosophy with a QB nobody ever heard of or wanted. Mangino owes him big!


all these guys are better than Bud Wilkinson?

jus sayin. :D

[Big Red Ron]

all these guys are better than Bud Wilkinson?

jus sayin. :D
Glaring over sight on my part. Put him in at #2. The king, is well, the King.

[King Crimson]

Glaring over sight on my part. Put him in at #2. The king, is well, the King.

i'm with Bud as numba one. 47 straight. in his 13th year at OU, he lost his first conference game. think about that.

King at 2.

[Big Red Ron]

i'm with Bud as numba one. 47 straight. won 100 conference games without a loss. think about that.

King at 2.
Ah, but this is greatest assistant coach. I assume Bud was an assistant at some point. If not, It wasn't a mistake on my part.

[King Crimson]

Ah, but this is greatest assistant coach.

i see your point there. if "influence" as an assistant coach is the criteria Barry persuading Chuck to the bone....then, no doubt.

Bud was a one year assistant for Jim Tatum. who left to take the Maryland job, only to lose to Bud later on in a bowl game.

[adoniijahsooner]

Josh Heupel, Its just based on my opinion, but to see what he did with so little is nothing short of amazing. The other guys had a lot to work with.

[yermom]

i see your point there. if "influence" as an assistant coach is the criteria Barry persuading Chuck to the bone....then, no doubt.

Bud was a one year assistant for Jim Tatum. who left to take the Maryland job, only to lose to Bud later on in a bowl game.

OU to Maryland... heh

a lot has changed in 60 years

[King Crimson]

I assume Bud was an assistant at some point. .

C'mon, everybody should know this. that's our history.

and Billy's named was spelled Sims.

[tulsaoilerfan]

If u r going by strictly what they did as assistants, i would go with Switzer and Gibbs; Bud was only an assistant for 1 season

[Big Red Ron]

If u r going by strictly what they did as assistants, i would go with Switzer and Gibbs; Bud was only an assistant for 1 seasonDare I say, he had a forgetable assistant career. ;)

[Sooner24]

Jimmy Johnson

[Big Red Ron]

Jimmy JohnsonPretty unremarkable run as dline coach here.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Gary f'n Gibbs

[Big Red Ron]

Gary f'n Gibbswerd

[Sooner24]

Pretty unremarkable run as dline coach here.

Based on this criteria


My guess would be Mike Shanahan.
- won title with OU in 1975
- won Super Bowl as an assistant with the 49ers'
- 2 Super Bowls as a head coach

Also, best assistant ever that didn't eventually become OU head coach.

I would say a NC at Miami and two Super Bowls would put him right up there.

Plus OU was 29-6-1 in his three years here so I would still say Jimmy Johnson.

[Big Red Ron]

Based on this criteria



I would say a NC at Miami and two Super Bowls would put him right up there.

Plus OU was 29-6-1 in his three years here so I would still say Jimmy Johnson.
My criteria was based on what they did at/for OU.


My top 5

1)Barry Switzer - OC, switched us to the bone, mid season and changed us for ever.

2) Merv - I know of very few people that have given so much to OU football.

3) Gary Gibbs - The Best defensive coordinate we've ever had.

4) Mike Stoops - The second best defensive coordinator.

5) Mike Leach - In one year changed our offensive philosophy with a QB nobody ever heard of or wanted. Mangino owes him big!

[GottaHavePride]

Heh. ***'t

[SteelClip49]

I should have said....best Sooner assistant ever that didn't eventually become OU head coach. I originally had it as 2 different approaches.

I can't believe I forgot about Jimmy Johnson...guess I would put him above Shanahan just because he won NC and Super Bowls.

[47straight]

My man crush on merv takes precedence over my immense respect for Gibbs' defensive units of the late 80s.

[stoopified]

Shanahan made his impact elsewhere so I would disqualify him.Merv Johnson for my money is it.

[RedstickSooner]

I'm not tryin' to harsh anyone's mellow, but I really hate it when we use what they do *afterwards* as our criteria for how good they are. Judging an assistant coach by what they did when they WEREN'T our assistant coach is just as bad as deciding which of our players were best based on what they did in the NFL.

It's how they were HERE that counts. Yeah, sometimes you can get validation for your opinion of them based on what they did elsewhere -- but a superbowl ring does not a good assistant coach make.

So, let's all take a deep breath, and crown the guy we *KNOW* is the all-time greatest assistant coach the program has ever seen.

Mack Brown.

:D

(Hey, someone had to bring him up, didn't they?)

I can't judge this very well, because when I was a kid watching games (Switzer years), I never paid any attention to assistant coaches. I'm a big fan of Mike Leach, though, so I think I'd put him at the top of my list -- but it's a list *only* based on assistant coaches during the time I've paid attention and understood their importance. So, best assistant coaches since the 90s.

(I've blocked out any recollection of the Sooners from, say, 1989 through 1999.)