Bob Devaney
Devaney from 1966 Cornhusker
Sport(s)	Football
Biographical details
Born	(1915-04-13)April 13, 1915 Saginaw, Michigan
Died	May 9, 1997(1997-05-09) (aged 82) Lincoln, Nebraska
Playing career
1937–1938	Alma
Position(s)	End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1953–1956 1957–1961 1962–1972	Michigan State (assistant) Wyoming Nebraska
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1967–1993	Nebraska
Head coaching record
Overall	136–30–7 (.806)
Bowls	7–3 (.700)
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 2 National (1970–1971) 4 Skyline (1958–1961) 8 Big Eight (1963–1966, 1969–1972)
Awards Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1971) Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1971) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1994)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1981 (profile)

Robert S. "Bob" Devaney (April 13, 1915 – May 9, 1997) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1962 to 1972, compiling a career college football record of 136–30–7. Devaney's Nebraska Cornhuskers won consecutive national championships in 1970 and 1971. Devaney also served as the athletic director at Nebraska from 1967 to 1993. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1981. He died of a heart attack on May 9, 1997.

Playing and early coaching career[link]

Devaney graduated from Alma College in 1939, where he played end on the football team. Devaney coached high school football in Michigan at Big Beaver, Keego Harbor, Saginaw, and Alpena, before joining the Michigan State Spartans staff as an assistant coach under Biggie Munn and continuing under Duffy Daugherty.

Head coach[link]

Wyoming[link]

Devaney's first college head coaching job was at the University of Wyoming, where he went 35–10–5 (.750) in five seasons between 1957 and 1961. The Cowboys won the Sun Bowl in his second season and won or shared the Skyline Conference title in his final four seasons in Laramie. Following the 1961 season, he was hired at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln at an annual salary of $17,000.^[1]

Nebraska[link]

Devaney was the third choice of Nebraska's coach, Tippy Dye. Utah's Ray Nagel and Utah State's John Ralston had turned down the job. Devaney joined Nebraska in 1962 and immediately reestablished the program as a force in the Big Eight Conference. Prior to Devaney's arrival, Nebraska football had fallen on hard times with seven consecutive losing seasons. The 1961 team under Bill Jennings went 3–6–1 overall and 2–5 in conference. After a winning tradition up until the early 1940s, Nebraska had only two winning seasons in the two decades preceding Devaney's arrival.^[2]

Devaney engineered an immediate turnaround with a 9–2 record in 1962 that included a victory in the Gotham Bowl at Yankee Stadium over the Miami Hurricanes. It was the first of forty consecutive winning seasons for Nebraska. Devaney followed this up with an even better 10–1 season the next year, including a perfect 7–0 record in the Big Eight to claim the conference title and an Orange Bowl victory over Auburn. His success continued through 1966, with records of 9–2, 10–1, and 9–2, bringing his record at Nebraska to 47–8 (.854). This had so revived Nebraska football that Memorial Stadium was enlarged significantly by enclosing both ends. For the first time, Nebraska was on television once or twice a year and fans all over the state sat down to watch the Bob Devaney TV show each week, in which he used his folksy manner to review the tape of the game for all of the fans who hadn't seen it in person.

Consecutive 6–4 seasons followed in 1967 and 1968. Allegedly known as a drinker,^{[citation needed]} Devaney became subject to a whispering campaign about whether he had peaked. However, he had brought in an innovative offensive thinker as an assistant coach, Tom Osborne. Devaney and Osborne revamped the offensive scheme, an I formation with an unbalanced line, and upgraded the recruiting effort. Nebraska began the 1969 season with just a 2–2 start and in its fifth game needed a last-minute comeback at home to beat a Kansas team that finished the season 1–9. But the 1969 Huskers kept winning and concluded the season with a 9–2 record, including a 45–6 rout of Georgia in the Sun Bowl. This set the stage for the highlight of Devaney's coaching career.

National championships[link]

The 1970 Nebraska team returned most of the key offensive starters from the previous year, and added sophomore Johnny Rodgers, an explosive punt returner and wide receiver, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1972 as a senior. Nebraska tied USC in Los Angeles early in the season and was ranked #3 going into the 1971 Orange Bowl against LSU. A late touchdown by quarterback Jerry Tagge gave the Huskers a 17–12 victory to finish the season at 11–0–1. This secured a share of the national championship, after the other two undefeated teams in the nation, Texas and Ohio State, lost their bowl games earlier in the day. The final AP Poll, conducted after the bowl games were played, picked Nebraska as champion, while the final UPI Poll, released in early December before the bowl games, had Texas #1 with Nebraska #3.^[3].

With most of its key players back and its defense vastly improved, the 1971 Nebraska team rolled through its first 10 games. The top-ranked Huskers met unbeaten Oklahoma in Norman on Thanksgiving Day in the Game of the Century, one of the most celebrated games in college football history. A late touchdown by tailback Jeff Kinney gave the Huskers a hard-fought 35–31 victory. When Nebraska crushed unbeaten Alabama, 38–6, in the 1972 Orange Bowl to finish 13–0, the Cornhuskers were said by many to be the greatest team in college football history. In fact, the Huskers defeated the teams ranked second, third, and fourth in the final AP Poll: Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alabama.^[4]

Final season[link]

Devaney coached one more year in 1972. Although a disappointing loss to UCLA at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened the season, the Huskers finished with a 9–2–1 record. The loss to UCLA ended Nebraska's 32-game unbeaten streak, which dated back nearly three years to October 11, 1969, when they lost at Missouri. Although the Cornhuskers tied Iowa State and lost, 17–14, to Oklahoma in Lincoln in November, the season ended with a 40–6 victory over Notre Dame in the 1973 Orange Bowl, the Huskers' third consecutive victory in that bowl game. Nebraska finished the 1972 season ranked #4 in the AP Poll ^[4]. In addition, Johnny Rodgers was selected as the winner of the Heisman Trophy. The UPI Poll, released before the decisive bowl victory, had Nebraska at #9.

Following the 1972 season, Devaney stepped down as head coach at age 57 and hired his protégé to succeed him, offensive coordinator Tom Osborne. Devaney's overall record at Nebraska was 101–20–2 (.829) in 11 seasons, with nine bowl appearances and two national championships. His teams won or shared eight Big Eight Conference titles. His record in his final three seasons was 32–2–2 (.916), and his career college head coaching record at Wyoming and Nebraska was 136–30–7 (.806) in 16 seasons.

Nebraska athletic director[link]

Devaney served as athletic director at Nebraska from 1967 to 1993 and as athletic director emeritus until 1996. The university's indoor arena, the Bob Devaney Sports Center, is named for him.

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bob Devaney at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Bob Devaney at the College Football Data Warehouse

Sir John Melton (died 1640) was an English merchant, writer and politician.

He was appointed Secretary to the Council of the North in 1635, by Charles I of England.^[1]He was elected Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the year of his death.

His works include A Six-Folde Politician (1609), and the satirical play Astrologaster (1620), against astrologers.

Source[link]

• Concise Dictionary of National Biography

Notes[link]

Barry Switzer
Sport(s)	Football
Current position
Conference	Big 12
Biographical details
Born	(1937-10-05) October 5, 1937 (age 74) Crossett, Arkansas
Playing career
1956–1960	Arkansas
Position(s)	Center, linebacker
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1961–1965 1966–1972 1973–1988 1994–1997	Arkansas (assistant) Oklahoma (assistant) Oklahoma Dallas Cowboys
Head coaching record
Overall	157–29–4 (college) 40–24 (NFL)
Bowls	8-5
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships Super Bowl XXX 3 National (1974–1975, 1985) 12 Big Eight (1973–1980, 1984–1987)
Awards Sporting News College Football COY (1973) Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1974)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2001 (profile)

Barry Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former football coach, active in the college and professional ranks between 1962 and 1997. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history,^[1] and is one of only two head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a Super Bowl (the other being a rival college head coach Jimmy Johnson.^[2])

Early life and career[link]

Born in Crossett, Arkansas, Switzer's father Frank was a bootlegger who was arrested at the family house. His mother Mary Louise raised Barry and his brother Donnie, but on August 26, 1959 she shot herself.

Barry accepted an athletic scholarship and played football at the University of Arkansas. After graduation, he did a brief stint in the U.S. Army and then returned to Arkansas as an assistant coach.

University of Oklahoma[link]

Following the 1966 season, Switzer moved to the University of Oklahoma as an assistant coach under new head coach and good friend, Jim Mackenzie. After Mackenzie died of a heart attack following spring practice of 1967, Switzer continued as an assistant under former University of Houston assistant and new Oklahoma head coach Chuck Fairbanks.

Switzer quickly made a name for himself by perfecting the wishbone offense and developing it into the most prolific rushing offense in college football history. Under Switzer's wishbone, the Sooners set an NCAA rushing record of 472 yards per game in 1971 and scored over 500 points in two different seasons, 1971 and 1986.^[3]

When Fairbanks accepted the position of head coach of the New England Patriots following the 1972 season, Switzer was the obvious choice to succeed him.^[2]

Switzer became head coach at Oklahoma in 1973, leading the team to undefeated seasons that year and the next. Oklahoma won national championships in 1974, 1975 and 1985 under Switzer's leadership. The team won or shared in the Big Eight Conference championship every year from 1973 to 1980. During his sixteen years as head coach at Oklahoma, his teams won eight of the thirteen post-season bowl games they played in, and 54 of his players were selected as All-Americans. In 1978, Billy Sims won the Heisman Trophy.

In 1983, Switzer was civilly prosecuted for illegal insider trading by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but defended himself as having innocently overheard the information while lounging on the bleacher behind some corporate insiders, and was found not guilty. ^{[4] [5]}

In 1989, Oklahoma was placed on probation by the NCAA ^[2] amidst several scandals involving Oklahoma players, including Charles Thompson's arrest for soliciting cocaine to undercover FBI agents.^[6] In that same year, after sixteen years as Oklahoma's head coach, Switzer chose to resign.

Switzer succeeded in getting the better of several famous contemporaries, including a 12–5 mark against Tom Osborne, 5–3 against Jimmy Johnson, 3–0 against Bobby Bowden, and 1–0 against Joe Paterno, Bo Schembechler, and Woody Hayes. Along with Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, and Bob Stoops, he is one of four coaches to win over 100 games at the University of Oklahoma. No other college football program has more than three coaches to accomplish such a feat.

Switzer was known as an outstanding recruiter of high school talent, particularly in the neighboring state of Texas. This may have contributed to his 9–5–2 record against the University of Texas, including a 3–0–1 record against Darrel Royal and a 2–0 mark against David McWilliams.

Dallas Cowboys[link]

Switzer resurfaced in coaching in 1994 with the Dallas Cowboys. Switzer stepped in following the departure of Jimmy Johnson, who as head coach had won the previous two Super Bowls. Johnson had clashed with owner Jerry Jones (leading to his departure) and many felt that Switzer was more apt to go along with Jerry's ideas. Switzer was successful with the Cowboys, going 12–4 his first season in 1994 (losing to the 49ers in the NFC Championship). In Switzer's second season of 1995, the team went 12–4. Dallas won Super Bowl XXX over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27–17, making Switzer one of only two coaches to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl (the other being Jimmy Johnson). Switzer resigned as Cowboys' coach after a 6–10 1997 season with a 45–26 career NFL coaching record.^[2]

In August 1997, Switzer, while head coach of the Cowboys, was arrested after a loaded .38-caliber revolver was found in his luggage at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Switzer, who was returning to the team's training camp facility in Austin, said there were children at his Dallas home and he put the gun in his bag to hide it from them. He said he accidentally forgot to remove the gun from the bag before heading to the airport.^[7] Switzer pled guilty, was fined $3,500, and was given one year deferred adjudication. Two days later, he was fined $75,000 by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.^[8]

After coaching[link]

Switzer was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.^[1] In 2004, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award. Switzer still resides in Norman Oklahoma with his wife Becky.^[2] In August 2007, XMSN added Barry Switzer^[9] as a part of the channel's expanded college sports coverage. On September 9, 2007 Barry Switzer joined the FOX NFL Pregame show. Switzer also guest-starred in an episode of TNT's Saving Grace titled "Do You Love Him?", which first aired August 11, 2008 and received sub-par reviews. As a color commentator, Barry Switzer is known for his insightful football knowledge stemming from his career as a head coach. Barry is known to be seen around Norman, OK. He owns Switzer's Locker Room and a number of other small businesses in the Norman area.

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

National Football League[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Barry Switzer at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Voices of Oklahoma interview with Barry Switzer. First person interview conducted with Barry Switzer. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.