How would OU have done IF merv got

[stoopified]

the OU job instaed of Gary? I have wondered about that on occassion over the years.Would we have been better,worse,or about the same?The big question that always comes to mind after that is,would we have gone through the Schnelly-Blake fiasco?Would Bob now be at OU or would he have gone to Iowa and then suceeded Spurrier at Florida?

Personally I think Merv would have done better than Gary.I think his leadership skills and abilty to relate to players was and is superior to Gibbs .I think he might have been able to win a couple of conferense titles and maybe had a cuole of Top 10 finshes.

I do believe that after the tragic death of his daughter ,he would have stepped down as headcoach.I don't recall when his daughter died,(I am thinking 2001).Bob of course choose OU over Iowa and since the job would NOT have been open in 1999,I'm thinking we would have hired someone else.I have no idea who that would have been in this scenario.

I suppose it was just fate that things worked out the way they did.Apparently the Football Gods deemed it necessary that we endure Schnelly and Boo before Bob delivered us from the wilderness.At least we didn't have to wonder the College Football Wilderness for 40 years,or 110 years in the case of OUr agroid brethern.Is Gundy their Moses?:D Naw!

[Bloomer_Sooner]

Ten consecutive national championships?

[MikeInNorman]

See: Lloyd Carr.

[The Walk-on]

I'm a big Merv Johnson fan. Of course we'll never know now but I feel Merv would have taken us to great hights.

[OUHOMER]

Your right we will never know, Wasn’t there a deal about after Gary left the admin made it clear that Merv would stay at OU at some capacity. I always wondered why he did not coach like the special teams or something. I have always thought highly of him.

[Sooner-N-KS]

What is Merv's job now? I know he has a position within OU, and I remember that he was part of the Bomar mess interviews. What confuses me is that he is on the radio during the games.

[starrca23]

I am sure he is some sort of director of some sort of operations that pertains to football. Maybe director of sports information for the football team. We could come up with these titles all day.

[tommieharris91]

How did his daughter die?

[Remembering Tom Stidham]

I was not aware of his daughter's death. Merv Johnson is one of the classiest people I have ever known at OU. He would have been vastly superior to Gary. He never lacked for confidence. No insecurity at all.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I think the better question is Who would be in the booth with Bumblin Bob if Merv wasnt?

[King Crimson]

How did his daughter die?

car accident.

[yermom]

i'm pretty sure he is the Director of Football Operations

he also runs the walk-on program, from what i understand

supernice guy, he's seen it all here

[sooneron]

car accident.
I knew Jill pretty well. She was a little wild, but she was a good friend to those that knew her. She seemed like she was the type to be there for people.
Merv is great guy. He gave a buddy and I the tour back in Sep. Great way to see the facilities.

Jill died in 2000.

[OklahomaTuba]

Merv pretty much made it possible for Stoops to come here and be successful in his first 6 months.

If Merv hadn't have picked up the pieces Blake left when he went bat**** crazy after getting fired, then i doubt Stoops would be our coach right now.

Stoops owes Merv a lot, and that is why Merv will always have a job while Stoops is around.

[Winston Churchill]

http://blog.paulsveda.com/_photos/2006_05_05.jpg

[Crazy Sooner]

Who knows how well we would have done with Merv, but imagine what we could do with this fat *** cat, put it at nose guard:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o259/hobbs70/kitty8.jpg

[OUmillenium]

Moe Dampeer was a fat*** cat. Had a nice int return v. the Cats.

[stoopified]

i'm pretty sure he is the Director of Football Operations

he also runs the walk-on program, from what i understand

supernice guy, he's seen it all hereYou are crrect.Merv served on both the Scnelly and Blake staffs as an on field coach ,then was bumped up to his current position as Director of Football operations when Stoops became head ballcoach.

I have talked to him on the call-in show on many occassions and he is always friendly and considerate no matter how silly the question.A class gentleman and a true asset to OU.

[StoopTroup]

Merv doesn't get the credit he deserves...

[batonrougesooner]

Merv doesn't get the credit he deserves...

Don't disagree with you there, Bob.

[MissouriSooner]

I have talked to him on the call-in show on many occassions and he is always friendly and considerate no matter how silly the question.A class gentleman and a true asset to OU.
Merv spoke at our local SWMO Sooner Club prior to the 2005 season, and he was every bit the gentleman, very witty, and extremely knowledgeable about the Sooners. He basically predicted - very diplomatically - that we would be extremely lucky to be undefeated going into the RRS game with Texas. As it turned out his fears were well-founded. He gave the impression of being so knowledgeable about the Sooners that he even knew - and said so without naming names - what was needed to motivate certain players. He's a great asset to OU football, and I really enjoy his commentary on the games. It's like having a seat next to one of the coaches for instant insight into what's happening on the field.

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

The man is all class and is about as Sooner as one can get.


As far as the coaches after Barry, Gibbs and SchnellenBlake I think we probably wouldn't have bottomed out as much as we did if we kept Gibbs, and we could have had pretty good success had we hired Donnan (sp?), Johnson or gulp....:mack: , who by all accounts was very close to getting the job.

My whole hindsight on the mess is that if things hadn't sucked like they had we wouldn't have Stoops now. So if you ask me if I would liked to see the team go a different direction back then knowing what I know now I'd say no.

[OU4LIFE]

I love Merv and have ggreat respect for the man. He recruited my in HS, and I absolutely enjoyed everything about him. However, while i think he was a very good position coach, and a remarkable recruiter, I just don't know how much of a head coach he would have been. IMO, he just didn't generate the fear that I think you have to have to be a head coach. He was very Blake-ish in that he was a very good friend to the players of that era, but he generally wasn't viewed as a taskmaster. To be a head coach, I think that while the players have to like you and respect you, there also has to be an element of fear of what he will do when you screw up, and we know Stoops can get fired up.

Merv knows just about every coach in Oklahoma, and we should consider ourselves lucky that he has chosen to stick around in the capacity that he has....I'm glad to have him.

[sooner45]

i'm pretty sure he is the Director of Football Operations

he also runs the walk-on program, from what i understand

supernice guy, he's seen it all here

He does run the walk on program. He was head of it in 2000 when I came through it. Merv is a stand up guy, real class act.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Merv really is a class act with dedication to the program.

His daughter worked at the hair salon where I went and we would always talk about OU football. Jill was a great girl.

[Fraggle145]

we could have had pretty good success had we hired Donnan (sp?)

No we wouldnt with Donnan... he sucked it up at UGA (They dont think too highly of him, I know I've lived there) Could never beat florida and started this whole losing trend with florida that UGA has had. Also tried to change their traditions. Changed their pants from "Silver Britches" to Black. It looked awful.

Anyway, Donnan = Bad

Merv=:cool:

[jkjsooner]

the OU job instaed of Gary? I have wondered about that on occassion over the years.Would we have been better,worse,or about the same?The big question that always comes to mind after that is,would we have gone through the Schnelly-Blake fiasco?Would Bob now be at OU or would he have gone to Iowa and then suceeded Spurrier at Florida?

Personally I think Merv would have done better than Gary.I think his leadership skills and abilty to relate to players was and is superior to Gibbs .I think he might have been able to win a couple of conferense titles and maybe had a cuole of Top 10 finshes.

I do believe that after the tragic death of his daughter ,he would have stepped down as headcoach.I don't recall when his daughter died,(I am thinking 2001).Bob of course choose OU over Iowa and since the job would NOT have been open in 1999,I'm thinking we would have hired someone else.I have no idea who that would have been in this scenario.

I suppose it was just fate that things worked out the way they did.Apparently the Football Gods deemed it necessary that we endure Schnelly and Boo before Bob delivered us from the wilderness.At least we didn't have to wonder the College Football Wilderness for 40 years,or 110 years in the case of OUr agroid brethern.Is Gundy their Moses?:D Naw!

It's interesting to ponder these things. With our relationships so non-linear there's no telling what would have been different.

Had we been more successful under Johnson, we may have been more competitive with Nebraska, Nebraska may have not had as dominating teams in the mid/late '90s, Nebraska may have not killed Florida in the natl title game, and the door would have never opened for Stoops to take over the DC position at Florida.

Furthermore, a change in Merv's life would have probably altered his daughters life (even if so slightly) so that she would not been at the wrong place at the wrong time. (I don't know the story about the accident but it would only take a second delay here or there to change everything.)