Jacie
6/4/2009, 06:30 PM
As someone reminded us in the last thread, these are 10-year old posts and so may be out of date or as has also been pointed out, slightly inaccurate since they are one person's memory of events. The only changes I've made have been to correct typos and a some grammar to make it more readable. It hasn't been easy to resist the urge to add comments but putting them out here for others to do so is enough work for me. I did like the one where someone noted how prophetic the author's assertion was that OU couldn't contend for a title until the Sooners could get through October unscathed.
Anyway, here's the one we've been dreading . . .
1995: The Beginning of the Howard “Colonel” Schnellenberger Era
I had no idea to who OU would hire, but my first thoughts were Jim Donnan based on his past tenure at OU as well as his accomplishments at Marshall. In my opinion he should have been the #1 candidate and the only candidate that Donnie Duncan sought. Unfortunately, Donnie Duncan had an “issue’ with Donnan and didn’t even look his way. I will be honest, I never liked Donnie Duncan and thought he was a selfish you-know-what. He put himself above the program and you simply cannot do that as A.D. if you wish to be successful. It was rumored that Donnie Duncan talked to a guy by the name of Howard Schnellenberger at a coach’s convention. My first thought was “Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!! How could you even consider him!” I must admit that was based entirely on him being a former coach of the Miami Hurricanes, along with his brashness that doesn’t really fit here in the Bible Belt. On top of that, I am one of the most anti-passing football fans in the world, more on that later. Well, it was too late, there were some mumblings of other coaching candidates, but good ol’ Donnie had his sights set on Howard Schnellenberger and he was the new head coach of the University of Oklahoma. In the press conference, Howard displayed exactly what I was talking about saying there would be books, movies, etc. written about OU’s accomplishments under his regime. That was a good way to set OU up for a fall, but I must admit after that press conference my opinion of him changed a bit. That was further solidified by this march around Oklahoma to several towns etc. to promote OU football. He really did spend a lot of time promoting OU football and got fans excited again. I didn’t like and still don’t like the passing game in college football. But considering that Howard made Miami from nothing to something as well as winning a national title there and then doing the same with Louisville minus the title, I was turning from an anti-Schnellenberger person into a pro-Schnellenberger person and what his experience could bring to OU. Before we began the 1995 season two early blemishes on the Schnellenberger coaching regime was Gary Nord’s comment as well as the Brian Alley incident where he suffered heat stroke because of Schnellenberger’s water rules, which ultimately led to a lawsuit against OU and Schnellenberger. Now on to the 1995 season under the new regime of Howard Schnellenberger a.k.a. “The Colonel”.
OU opened up the season on a road trip to play the San Diego St. Aztecs. I pretty much new about WAC teams not playing defense, but they were also known to throw quite a bit. That was typically true for San Diego St., but they focused more on a ground game that year which worked in OU’s favor based on poor pass defense from recent years. OU won 38-22, but jumped out to an early lead and went on cruise control, which was kind of worrisome. I have been waiting for OU to get that killer instinct back for a long time now and it didn’t happen in the San Diego St. game. Basically, what happened is OU jumped out to something like a 26-0 lead and Garrick McGhee threw a few interceptions that San Diego St. turned into touchdowns. OU’s second game of the season came against a SMU squad still fighting to get back to respectability even after several years of being off the death penalty. OU won this game, but in unimpressive fashion 24-10. So far Schnellenberger’s offense was not what I had hoped. Next up was a a guaranteed blowout win over the likes of North Texas, and it was as OU went on to win 51-10 and had a 3-0 start. Most notable was a promising young freshman running back by the name of Jeff Frasier who tied the OU record for longest TD run in school history. It should be noted that OU was ranked 10th in the nation at this time and also the last time OU was in the Top 10 or worse yet, the last season OU was even mentioned in the Top 25. Following the North Texas game, OU had what was suppose to be a showdown against Colorado, a team OU had not defeated in six years. The game was going to be tainted somewhat after OU won, because Koy Detmer was out with an injury and an unknown back-up named John Hessler took his place. Howard got things rolling early before the game ever started earlier in that week, when he said he hoped Koy Detmer would play so there wouldn’t be an asterisk by the game when OU beat they’re you know what. Things started out great as OU took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. It looked like Howard was going to live up to his promise, however things quickly turned as Hessler was able to find Rae Carruth who burned Darrius Johnson for a TD and CU closed to 10-7. OU only scored one TD the remaining time and Colorado consistently found holes in OU’s secondary and went on to win 38-17 in a very disappointing game. Colorado was ranked #4 in the nation and OU was #10. OU could have really started making some noise again at the national level, but instead all the wind seemed to have been taken out of the teams’ sails and the players and coaching staff kind of separated. It seemed the players weren’t too crazy about Howard overall, but when OU started winning, they kind of looked past that. But it appears that Howard might have embarrassed them by making that bold prediction and not coming through. Things were in decent shape though as OU was 3-1 and getting ready for an obvious victory over Iowa St. before the Red River War. OU wasn’t flashy by any means, but went on to defeat Iowa St. 39-26 while holding ISU’s super star running back Troy Davis to 89 yards. I was looking forward the OU/TX game as usual, but even more so this year, because it has been rare in the 90s’ when both teams were ranked in the Top 25. OU entered this game ranked #13 in the nation and Texas entered the game ranked #18 in the nation. Jerald Moore ran for 174 yards and 2 td’s, but it wasn’t enough as the game ended in a 24-24 tie on a last second missed field goal by OU. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any stranger in college football they did. OU was ranked #15 in the nation, yet the pathetic college football program known as the Kansas Jayhawks were ranked #7 in the nation! While they did and do have a pathetic college football program, they were by no means a pathetic team that year. Things were going well as OU raced out to a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter on two long TD runs by Jerald Moore. He had roughly 150 yards in the 1st quarter and looked to be on his way to breaking the NCAA single game rushing record along with OU looking to annihilate KU in the process. When the game was finished though, Jerald Moore “only” had 219 yards. Something went woefully wrong, and OU put on display of one the worst special teams performances in football history, college or pro. OU gave up points from blocked field goals, blocked punts, kickoff returns and punt returns. You name it and OU gave it up. OU’s special teams were so bad that game, KU scored about 28 of their 38 points that way! Sadly, KU won the game 38-17 in about the strangest game I have ever seen from a “results” standpoint. Jerald Moore was absolutely killing them in the 1st quarter and KU couldn’t stop him, but they ended up doing so in the 2nd quarter. This tells me one side knew how to coach a little bit and the other side didn’t because KU was “physically” unable to stop Jerald Moore, so they had to do it “systematically”. OU’s next game came against its traditional whipping boy, Missouri. If there has been one mainstay football team that OU has beaten in the 90s’, it would definitely be Missouri. OU barely escaped this game though with a 13-9 win to improve to 5-2-1 and still remained in the Top 25 but went from #23 to #25 after their unimpressive victory over Missouri. Earlier I discussed if college football could get any stranger in regards to KU being ranked and not even that, but ahead of OU. Well, it got stranger as OU faced yet another pathetic college football program that fielded a pretty solid team in the Kansas St. Wildcats. KSU was having the best season they ever had with more wins in that season than in the entire decade of the 80s’ combined! In a complete surprise, KSU not only won, but won decisively to the tune of 49-10. I believe there were some rumblings about Howard’s coaching status after this one! OK, things were bad, real bad! OU lost to both Kansas schools in the same season! The only thing that could get worse than that would be to lose to OSU. Aye, aye, aye. OU had they’re worst display of offense in an OSU game ever and lost 12-0 on a day where OU either turned the ball over or punted on a consistent basis. Absolutely, a terrible game and one of the biggest downers in the decade of the 90s’ for Sooner football. This is not getting much fun to talk about, so I will close this cursed season with Nebraska who was ranked #1 at the time pummeled OU 37-0 as OU finished with they’re first non-winning season in decades.
On Monday, December 18, 1995 Howard Schnellenberger resigned from the head coaching position at the University of Oklahoma. Things were not good for Schnellenberger in what was his first and only season at OU in 1995. The Brian Alley incident in fall two-a-days and his overall brashness didn’t sit well with President Boren, who ultimately made the decision to get rid of Schnellenberger. There were reports by players that Schnellenberger drank on the job among other things. My thoughts on Schnellenberger are somewhat mixed to this day. The reason I say that is, these were not issues at Miami or Louisville and those players thought he was great. But could it of been that those programs were so downtrodden that the players would do anything or deal with anything for victory? Possibly. But it could also be said that OU fielded a bunch of spoiled brats that were use to partying and not showing up for practice during the Gary Gibbs regime and when they finally got a coach that made them actually work and practice they revolted. Perhaps Schnellenberger was fine at those other institutions and just lost it roughly the same time he arrived at OU. It could have been just about any possibility, but one thing is for sure, you don’t lose to OSU and Texas in the same season, nor do you get blown out by KU and KSU, much less lose to them. Overall, Schnellenberger is something in OU’s history that is probably best forgotten, but who’s to know what actually happened except for the coaching staff, President Boren, the players and Donnie Duncan who brought Schnellenberger in? Howard Schnellenberger is now the special assistant to the director of athletics for football operation at Florida Atlantic. His job is to field a football program there by 2003 or so. But enough of that, the Schnellenberger era at OU was over and it was time to start fresh with OU’s next regime.
Anyway, here's the one we've been dreading . . .
1995: The Beginning of the Howard “Colonel” Schnellenberger Era
I had no idea to who OU would hire, but my first thoughts were Jim Donnan based on his past tenure at OU as well as his accomplishments at Marshall. In my opinion he should have been the #1 candidate and the only candidate that Donnie Duncan sought. Unfortunately, Donnie Duncan had an “issue’ with Donnan and didn’t even look his way. I will be honest, I never liked Donnie Duncan and thought he was a selfish you-know-what. He put himself above the program and you simply cannot do that as A.D. if you wish to be successful. It was rumored that Donnie Duncan talked to a guy by the name of Howard Schnellenberger at a coach’s convention. My first thought was “Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!! How could you even consider him!” I must admit that was based entirely on him being a former coach of the Miami Hurricanes, along with his brashness that doesn’t really fit here in the Bible Belt. On top of that, I am one of the most anti-passing football fans in the world, more on that later. Well, it was too late, there were some mumblings of other coaching candidates, but good ol’ Donnie had his sights set on Howard Schnellenberger and he was the new head coach of the University of Oklahoma. In the press conference, Howard displayed exactly what I was talking about saying there would be books, movies, etc. written about OU’s accomplishments under his regime. That was a good way to set OU up for a fall, but I must admit after that press conference my opinion of him changed a bit. That was further solidified by this march around Oklahoma to several towns etc. to promote OU football. He really did spend a lot of time promoting OU football and got fans excited again. I didn’t like and still don’t like the passing game in college football. But considering that Howard made Miami from nothing to something as well as winning a national title there and then doing the same with Louisville minus the title, I was turning from an anti-Schnellenberger person into a pro-Schnellenberger person and what his experience could bring to OU. Before we began the 1995 season two early blemishes on the Schnellenberger coaching regime was Gary Nord’s comment as well as the Brian Alley incident where he suffered heat stroke because of Schnellenberger’s water rules, which ultimately led to a lawsuit against OU and Schnellenberger. Now on to the 1995 season under the new regime of Howard Schnellenberger a.k.a. “The Colonel”.
OU opened up the season on a road trip to play the San Diego St. Aztecs. I pretty much new about WAC teams not playing defense, but they were also known to throw quite a bit. That was typically true for San Diego St., but they focused more on a ground game that year which worked in OU’s favor based on poor pass defense from recent years. OU won 38-22, but jumped out to an early lead and went on cruise control, which was kind of worrisome. I have been waiting for OU to get that killer instinct back for a long time now and it didn’t happen in the San Diego St. game. Basically, what happened is OU jumped out to something like a 26-0 lead and Garrick McGhee threw a few interceptions that San Diego St. turned into touchdowns. OU’s second game of the season came against a SMU squad still fighting to get back to respectability even after several years of being off the death penalty. OU won this game, but in unimpressive fashion 24-10. So far Schnellenberger’s offense was not what I had hoped. Next up was a a guaranteed blowout win over the likes of North Texas, and it was as OU went on to win 51-10 and had a 3-0 start. Most notable was a promising young freshman running back by the name of Jeff Frasier who tied the OU record for longest TD run in school history. It should be noted that OU was ranked 10th in the nation at this time and also the last time OU was in the Top 10 or worse yet, the last season OU was even mentioned in the Top 25. Following the North Texas game, OU had what was suppose to be a showdown against Colorado, a team OU had not defeated in six years. The game was going to be tainted somewhat after OU won, because Koy Detmer was out with an injury and an unknown back-up named John Hessler took his place. Howard got things rolling early before the game ever started earlier in that week, when he said he hoped Koy Detmer would play so there wouldn’t be an asterisk by the game when OU beat they’re you know what. Things started out great as OU took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. It looked like Howard was going to live up to his promise, however things quickly turned as Hessler was able to find Rae Carruth who burned Darrius Johnson for a TD and CU closed to 10-7. OU only scored one TD the remaining time and Colorado consistently found holes in OU’s secondary and went on to win 38-17 in a very disappointing game. Colorado was ranked #4 in the nation and OU was #10. OU could have really started making some noise again at the national level, but instead all the wind seemed to have been taken out of the teams’ sails and the players and coaching staff kind of separated. It seemed the players weren’t too crazy about Howard overall, but when OU started winning, they kind of looked past that. But it appears that Howard might have embarrassed them by making that bold prediction and not coming through. Things were in decent shape though as OU was 3-1 and getting ready for an obvious victory over Iowa St. before the Red River War. OU wasn’t flashy by any means, but went on to defeat Iowa St. 39-26 while holding ISU’s super star running back Troy Davis to 89 yards. I was looking forward the OU/TX game as usual, but even more so this year, because it has been rare in the 90s’ when both teams were ranked in the Top 25. OU entered this game ranked #13 in the nation and Texas entered the game ranked #18 in the nation. Jerald Moore ran for 174 yards and 2 td’s, but it wasn’t enough as the game ended in a 24-24 tie on a last second missed field goal by OU. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any stranger in college football they did. OU was ranked #15 in the nation, yet the pathetic college football program known as the Kansas Jayhawks were ranked #7 in the nation! While they did and do have a pathetic college football program, they were by no means a pathetic team that year. Things were going well as OU raced out to a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter on two long TD runs by Jerald Moore. He had roughly 150 yards in the 1st quarter and looked to be on his way to breaking the NCAA single game rushing record along with OU looking to annihilate KU in the process. When the game was finished though, Jerald Moore “only” had 219 yards. Something went woefully wrong, and OU put on display of one the worst special teams performances in football history, college or pro. OU gave up points from blocked field goals, blocked punts, kickoff returns and punt returns. You name it and OU gave it up. OU’s special teams were so bad that game, KU scored about 28 of their 38 points that way! Sadly, KU won the game 38-17 in about the strangest game I have ever seen from a “results” standpoint. Jerald Moore was absolutely killing them in the 1st quarter and KU couldn’t stop him, but they ended up doing so in the 2nd quarter. This tells me one side knew how to coach a little bit and the other side didn’t because KU was “physically” unable to stop Jerald Moore, so they had to do it “systematically”. OU’s next game came against its traditional whipping boy, Missouri. If there has been one mainstay football team that OU has beaten in the 90s’, it would definitely be Missouri. OU barely escaped this game though with a 13-9 win to improve to 5-2-1 and still remained in the Top 25 but went from #23 to #25 after their unimpressive victory over Missouri. Earlier I discussed if college football could get any stranger in regards to KU being ranked and not even that, but ahead of OU. Well, it got stranger as OU faced yet another pathetic college football program that fielded a pretty solid team in the Kansas St. Wildcats. KSU was having the best season they ever had with more wins in that season than in the entire decade of the 80s’ combined! In a complete surprise, KSU not only won, but won decisively to the tune of 49-10. I believe there were some rumblings about Howard’s coaching status after this one! OK, things were bad, real bad! OU lost to both Kansas schools in the same season! The only thing that could get worse than that would be to lose to OSU. Aye, aye, aye. OU had they’re worst display of offense in an OSU game ever and lost 12-0 on a day where OU either turned the ball over or punted on a consistent basis. Absolutely, a terrible game and one of the biggest downers in the decade of the 90s’ for Sooner football. This is not getting much fun to talk about, so I will close this cursed season with Nebraska who was ranked #1 at the time pummeled OU 37-0 as OU finished with they’re first non-winning season in decades.
On Monday, December 18, 1995 Howard Schnellenberger resigned from the head coaching position at the University of Oklahoma. Things were not good for Schnellenberger in what was his first and only season at OU in 1995. The Brian Alley incident in fall two-a-days and his overall brashness didn’t sit well with President Boren, who ultimately made the decision to get rid of Schnellenberger. There were reports by players that Schnellenberger drank on the job among other things. My thoughts on Schnellenberger are somewhat mixed to this day. The reason I say that is, these were not issues at Miami or Louisville and those players thought he was great. But could it of been that those programs were so downtrodden that the players would do anything or deal with anything for victory? Possibly. But it could also be said that OU fielded a bunch of spoiled brats that were use to partying and not showing up for practice during the Gary Gibbs regime and when they finally got a coach that made them actually work and practice they revolted. Perhaps Schnellenberger was fine at those other institutions and just lost it roughly the same time he arrived at OU. It could have been just about any possibility, but one thing is for sure, you don’t lose to OSU and Texas in the same season, nor do you get blown out by KU and KSU, much less lose to them. Overall, Schnellenberger is something in OU’s history that is probably best forgotten, but who’s to know what actually happened except for the coaching staff, President Boren, the players and Donnie Duncan who brought Schnellenberger in? Howard Schnellenberger is now the special assistant to the director of athletics for football operation at Florida Atlantic. His job is to field a football program there by 2003 or so. But enough of that, the Schnellenberger era at OU was over and it was time to start fresh with OU’s next regime.