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View Full Version : How is John Blake not on this list?


stoopified
5/27/2011, 01:22 PM
Got my first preseason football mag yesterday,Athlon Big 12.They have us winning the Big 12 and #2 behind Alabama nationally.That is not what got most of my attention so far.On the Back Page segment there is a listof the FIVE WORST COACHING TENURES IN THE LAST 50 YEARS.

Here istheir list:

5) Greg Robinson Syracuse 10-37
4) Todd Berry Army 5-35
3) Mike Locksley New Mexico 2-22
2) Stan Parrish Kansas State 2-30-1
1) Rick Venturi Northwestern 1-31-1

While I grant you they all have worse records they all coaced at schools with no winnining tradition,poor facilities andsmall budgets.While Army has had a winning tradition that died 50 years ago and Syracuse has sucked in the post McNabb eraand in the McNabb era were beaten by Blake and his Twister squad.Blake coached at tradition rich Ou with a big budget and good (but not great facilities) that have since been updated.Again I ask the question;how did Blake not make this list?
royalfan5
5/27/2011, 01:29 PM
Because the guy making the list didn't put him on it?
Flagstaffsooner
5/27/2011, 01:46 PM
And Smellslikebourbon?

Because its Athlons!!!:)
BOOMERBRADLEY
5/27/2011, 01:47 PM
Because Blake was a swell guy
badger
5/27/2011, 01:52 PM
That would be a good poll idea. Who were the worst coaches in the Big 12 era, for whatever reason? "Worst" could be defined as embarrassing to the school, losing a lot, NCAA violations, the way they left or the way they got hired, etc.

Of course we'd nominate John Blake, but aren't there far more worse coaches to consider?

Gene Chizik: 5 wins total in two ISU seasons before selling his soul to Auburn.
Bob Simmons: 30-38 (16-31 in conference play) in five Poke State seasons before resigning.
Dennis Franchione: 19-21 in conference play in five Texas A&M seasons before being forced out over some e-mail fun.
Larry Smith: 33-46-1 during seven Mizzou seasons (five in the Big 12) before getting fired after an embarrassing 66-0 loss to KSU in 2000.
Ron Prince: Broke everything Snyder built with a 17-20 overall record, but could anybody else ever win at Kansas State besides Old Man Snyder?
Turner Gill: Not only led KU to a 3-9 start (one conference win!), but it was revealed that there's no buyout clause in his contract. Things could get ugly.
Terry Allen: Another KU worster -- 21-38 in five seasons, only managing two conference wins in all of that time.

Pick any Colorado coach: Dan Hawkins had his "it's division one football!" screamfest, Gary Barnett had his "she was a girl!" crap, and Rick Neuheisel... well...


After Neuheisel left for Seattle, Colorado lost five of 25 scholarships for one year, and was put on two years' probation for 53 rules violations, 51 when Neuheisel was the Colorado coach from 1995–98. "This was a serious case," the NCAA's infractions committee ruling said, "in which a football coaching staff, led by the former head football coach, in a calculated attempt to gain a recruiting advantage, pushed beyond the permissible bounds of legislation, resulting in a pattern of recruiting violations."

Bill Callahan: Compiled a losing Big 12 record (15-17) in four Nebrasky seasons. More notorious for alienating fans left and right with his weird throat-slash gestures and "effing hillbillies" comments.

I know Blake was 12-22 and destroyed the recruiting files on his way out the door, but does he really compare to some of the other stooges in Big 12 coaching lore history?
101sooner
5/27/2011, 01:58 PM
It's funny seeing Greg Robinson on that list. Remember when he started talking **** to OU after the '04 game? Something like "that's not gonna happen again".

Then seven years later he's one of the worst Head Coaches in college football history.

Awesome.
rekamrettuB
5/27/2011, 03:06 PM
Looks like they were probably ranked by winning % and not who accomplished the least with what.
cleller
5/28/2011, 08:49 AM
Blake had Calmus and Fuente to pull him out of the fire against Texas and OSU a couple times. If he'd been coaching some of the teams in the first post, look out below.
Eielson
5/28/2011, 09:21 AM
To Blake's credit, he didn't completely ruin the program. We won a championship two years later with a lot of players that Blake brought in.
SoonerinLondon
5/28/2011, 09:26 AM
He was all about the keeuds.
mgsooner
5/28/2011, 09:42 AM
How did the guy at Washington State not make the list?
yermom
5/28/2011, 10:08 AM
John Mackovic at Arizona?
SoonerofAlabama
5/28/2011, 11:29 AM
He may have been a terrible coach, but that list is clearly just looking at winning% and not what the coach actually did while at the school outside of the losses.
Frozen Sooner
5/28/2011, 12:17 PM
How is Mike Shula not on this list?
yermom
5/28/2011, 12:18 PM
we've lost Froz :(

;)
Salt City Sooner
5/28/2011, 02:30 PM
To Blake's credit, he didn't completely ruin the program. We won a championship two years later with a lot of players that Blake brought in.
He sure as heck tried to on his way out the door.
yermom
5/28/2011, 02:34 PM
To Blake's credit, he didn't completely ruin the program. We won a championship two years later with a lot of players that Blake brought in.

after Leach recruited a sick class of QB's and installed a new offense, and Stoops switched up a bunch of players positions and got them in shape
SoonerMarkVA
5/28/2011, 02:52 PM
Pick any Colorado coach: Dan Hawkins had his "it's division one football!" screamfest, Gary Barnett had his "she was a girl!" crap, and Rick Neuheisel... well...


Barnett tops the list for me. That guy was an all-around tool.

Oh, and yeah, Blake really sucked. Blake was certainly the winner of the utterly clueless award.
SoonerMarkVA
5/28/2011, 02:55 PM
John Mackovic at Arizona?

Oh, wow. I forgot all about that. Yeah, huge debacle, for sure.
Salt City Sooner
5/28/2011, 03:18 PM
Won't debate Barnett's tooldom, but the guy not only got Northwestern to the Rose Bowl, but he also took CU to within an eyelash of the NC game in '01.
yermom
5/28/2011, 05:10 PM
he also won the North a LOT, including winning the Big 12 in '01

he was still a "horrible horrible" football coach
SoonerMarkVA
5/28/2011, 06:29 PM
Yeah, I know he won, but he still tops my list. I suppose that wasn't really the question, but he was the guy I thought about first.
SoonerofAlabama
5/29/2011, 01:35 PM
Well, he is the top coach on the bottom for me too. Tjis list had too just be looking at records though.
BigDeezy
5/29/2011, 01:41 PM
Because the author didn't have enough time to include him.
stoopified
5/29/2011, 04:19 PM
Blake had Calmus and Fuente to pull him out of the fire against Texas and OSU a couple times. If he'd been coaching some of the teams in the first post, look out below.Exactly ,all the other names on this list werein no-win situations.They had no talent or preious little on their teams,BUT WTF was Blake's excuse beyond utter incompetence?
Memtig14
5/29/2011, 10:09 PM
He wasn't good enough to make the list.
nighttrain12
5/29/2011, 11:56 PM
Because Blake was a swell guy

Because he was a great recruiter. ;)
picasso
5/30/2011, 12:18 AM
To Blake's credit, he didn't completely ruin the program.

Given a few more seasons he most certainly would have.
King Crimson
5/30/2011, 12:38 AM
gary barnett was a good football coach. doesn't belong anywhere near this list. he wasn't a really bad guy, in my personal experience. i will also say some of the "academic" accomplishments of his players were swept under the rug, witnessed by me in person. gary was at his best for beating your 7 win team with his 7 win team. light years better than Dan the Man Hawkins....who was a colossal idiot.

you make the list of guys who have won BCS conference titles in two different conferences and get back to me....seriously. i think he's the only one.
yermom
5/30/2011, 12:45 AM
no love for the '"horrible horrible" football coach' joke?
oudavid1
5/30/2011, 03:12 AM
Got my first preseason football mag yesterday,Athlon Big 12.They have us winning the Big 12 and #2 behind Alabama nationally.That is not what got most of my attention so far.On the Back Page segment there is a listof the FIVE WORST COACHING TENURES IN THE LAST 50 YEARS.

Here istheir list:

5) Greg Robinson Syracuse 10-37
4) Todd Berry Army 5-35
3) Mike Locksley New Mexico 2-22
2) Stan Parrish Kansas State 2-30-1
1) Rick Venturi Northwestern 1-31-1

While I grant you they all have worse records they all coaced at schools with no winnining tradition,poor facilities andsmall budgets.While Army has had a winning tradition that died 50 years ago and Syracuse has sucked in the post McNabb eraand in the McNabb era were beaten by Blake and his Twister squad.Blake coached at tradition rich Ou with a big budget and good (but not great facilities) that have since been updated.Again I ask the question;how did Blake not make this list?

Both of these programs are already pretty bad when you consider the talent they have to go after. I really think putting tjem up there was kinda watering down the topic.
TheHumanAlphabet
5/30/2011, 06:59 AM
after Leach recruited a sick class of QB's and installed a new offense, and Stoops switched up a bunch of players positions and got them in shape

Yeah, love the "we won with Blake's kids" arguement.

Not!!! Blake had everyone out of position and had no clue what they were doing. Blake lost his Sooner card the day he left and trashed his office and destroyed the recruiting records.
SoonerofAlabama
5/30/2011, 12:47 PM
Yeah, love the "we won with Blake's kids" arguement.

Not!!! Blake had everyone out of position and had no clue what they were doing. Blake lost his Sooner card the day he left and trashed his office and destroyed the recruiting records.

Agreed. Dark day for us.
Breadburner
5/30/2011, 12:54 PM
What about Tyrone Willingham.....
Booner
5/30/2011, 01:45 PM
Blake should be on the list for sure.
Keith Burns at Tulsa?
Gerry Dinardo - LSU?
Whoever coached Wisconsin before Barry Alvarez?
Walt Harris at Stanford?

In the Big 12:
Bob Simmons was looking pretty decent as a coach up until the end of the 1998 season. He inherited a mess. I wouldn't necessarily put him on the list.
Barnett is a good coach. Neuheisel peaked his first year at CU and took the program south. Barnett didn't walk into a great situation. I wouldn't put Barnett on the list.
Kevin Steele at Baylor probably should be on the list.
Dennis Franchione should be on the list.
Dan Hawkins probably should go at the top. He had two first round draft picks playing on his team this year.
This leaves two more slots - Blake and Callahan.
Salt City Sooner
5/30/2011, 03:18 PM
What about Tyrone Willingham.....
add on "at Washington" & I'll tend to agree w/ that more. TW took Stanford to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 27 years, & won 10 games in his first season at ND before slipping so there were some successful periods there.
Always_Sooner
5/30/2011, 05:18 PM
They still give John Blake credit as a recruiter, but as a head coaching job sure I agree. The travesty is how did he not compete for at least conference titles, and consistently beat OSU and Texas with what Stoops did with the majority of the players?
SoonerofAlabama
5/31/2011, 09:15 AM
What ever happened to Blake?
King Crimson
5/31/2011, 09:30 AM
Gerry Dinardo - LSU?


the amazing thing about Dinardo is he got hired 3 times...at Vandy, LSU, and Indiana.

Francione is a weird case, it's literally like he had a lobotomy or something. he was good for a while....something happened.

Walt Harris is a good choice. i have a Penn St. buddy who's from Pittsburgh and he said no one was real sad to see Walt leave Pitt (minus the local Penn St. fans).
Eielson
5/31/2011, 04:31 PM
after Leach recruited a sick class of QB's and installed a new offense, and Stoops switched up a bunch of players positions and got them in shape

I'm not acting like Blake would have won a championship at OU. I'm just saying that he didn't completely cripple the program. Once he left, things were able to pick up immediately.
wishbonesooner
5/31/2011, 05:39 PM
Blake's teams couldn't get 11 players on the field on punts. His players were so undisciplined, staying onsides was an adventure. Remember running option offense the first half and passing in the 2nd half? Blake had players that couldn't remember the snap count when they played for him, and turned into 1st round draft picks after one season with Stoops.
Memtig14
5/31/2011, 09:21 PM
Blake's teams couldn't get 11 players on the field on punts. His players were so undisciplined, staying onsides was an adventure. Remember running option offense the first half and passing in the 2nd half? Blake had players that couldn't remember the snap count when they played for him, and turned into 1st round draft picks after one season with Stoops.

Those were such sad days.

Even sadder that you didn't even have to make up any of that stuff....in fact....I think you have been kind.
wishbonesooner
5/31/2011, 09:46 PM
I get a little cheesed when people talk about Stoops championship coming with Blake's players. Blake couldn't be a head coach at a decent jr. high. We had no offensive identity whatsoever. When I think about the great players that had to spend their Sooner careers playing with no leadership, it's sad. Kelly Gregg, Demond Parker, how good could they have been playing under Stoops? Remember when we got 50% of our punts blocked? Or we'd stop somebody and get called for too many men on the field?