By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Nov 2, 2012, at 1:02 PM Updated on 11/02 at 1:02 PM
HENRYETTA — The summer before his senior year at Midwest City High School, Mike Gundy used to drive down to Norman to work out with Oklahoma’s quarterbacks.
Gundy was eager to follow in the footsteps of another Oklahoma high school prodigy: Henryetta’s Troy Aikman.
“I remember watching him thinking, ‘Oh gosh. I’ve got a long way to go,’ Gundy told the Tulsa World this week. “Then a couple of their other quarterbacks, a couple wishbone guys, would throw and I’d think, ‘Eh, I’m not so far away.’
“I can remember him being so big and strong. Geez, I was maybe 160 pounds.”
It’s a testament to the unparalleled recruiting skills of Barry Switzer that he could land the greatest high school passer in the history of the state while running the wishbone. It’s further testament that he got a verbal commitment from a passer who would instead set the Big Eight total offense record at Oklahoma State: Gundy.
“He’s the guy that nobody can say no to,” Gundy said of Switzer. “(Aikman) had no business going to Oklahoma. I don’t know how he feels about it, but as far as ‘This is your style of play’ and they’ve never even thrown a forward pass, it’s pretty amazing they could get him there. And then once they get him there, I guess he realized there were greener pastures somewhere else for his ability.”
During a Tuesday “High School Hall of Famers” ceremony at Henryetta High School put on by Allstate and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Aikman agreed that he “had no business going to Oklahoma” as he recounted how Switzer enticed him and others who were interested in throwing the ball to go to a place renowned for running the option.
“It was a program that was really going through change at the time,” Aikman said. “Marcus Dupree had just left in the middle of that year (1983), they had gone to the I formation, and Barry had made it clear to me that they were going back to the option (in ’84) because of Danny Bradley. Had Marcus stayed there, I think they would have stayed in the I. But because of Danny and the other skills of the players, (Switzer said) ‘We’re gonna run the option.’
“But then (Switzer said), ‘When you come, when you play, we’re gonna go back to the I.’ Everybody asks me why I went, well, Keith Jackson went too, and Keith was the No. 1 tight end in the country. He didn’t plan on going to a wishbone offense. That’s not what he was looking for. Then there were some running backs that were being told we were going back to the wishbone.
“That class of ’84 really was strange. Because you had part of the guys who thought we were gonna do one thing, and part of the guys thought we were gonna do something else. So it was just a bad fit from that standpoint.”
Aikman broke his leg against Miami, and the wishbone guys took over and led the Sooners to the ’85 national championship. Aikman transferred to UCLA, was drafted No. 1, won three Super Bowls and became a college and pro hall of famer.
Aikman still has a deep affection for Switzer, who later coached him with the Dallas Cowboys.
“I think he was at a different stage of his life when he came to Dallas,” Aikman said. “But when they tell the story of college football, Barry Switzer is awfully high on that list. I enjoyed the time I played with him.
“I loved his confidence, I loved his willingness to tell the players, ‘Hey, you’re great.’ Some coaches don’t want to do that. … He was the complete opposite. He went against all those things, and he made it very clear he wasn’t afraid to tell us how good we were. I thought he was outstanding.”
Gundy said he rarely is able to catch any NFL games, but last Sunday watched a dozen or so plays of the Cowboys-Giants game. He was impressed with Aikman’s analysis during the broadcast.
“He was dead on,” Gundy said. “(Dallas QB Tony) Romo came back out (down 23-0) and he said, ‘Romo’s actually probably more dangerous now because he can just fire away,’ and he’s right. I’ve been in that mode where, ‘I’m gonna throw it now and it doesn’t make any difference.’ Very few people know that unless you’ve been in that situation, and he’s obviously been there.
“He can give an insight to the game that other people can’t because he’s done it.”
Aikman laughed when told about Gundy’s recollections of those informal passing sessions in Norman back in 1985. Gundy probably doesn’t know it, but Aikman has followed Gundy’s career, too.
“I’m a big fan of Mike’s. Mike’s good,” Aikman said. “He’s done a hell of a job with that program there (at OSU). I’ve been real proud to see it.”
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