If McCoy didn't like Jackie Shipp then, he does now
Published: 2/27/2011 11:17 PM
Last Modified: 2/27/2011 11:17 PM
A hard truth when it comes to football: The tougher the position, the tougher the position coach. Those who teach offensive linemen and defensive tackles – the game's grunts – aren't in it to be popular. They're just trying to get their guys to do dirty work in as efficient and ruthless a manner as possible.
Gerald McCoy played defensive tackle at Oklahoma about as efficiently and ruthlessly as you can. It's how he became a two-time All-American, and a $63 million first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He returned to OU Sunday, and before he was recognized during the women's basketball game, someone asked him about Jackie Shipp, the Sooners' 12-year defensive tackles coach.
"He played a huge role in getting me where I'm at now," McCoy said. "Coach Shipp doesn't just develop football players, he develops men. I have a father for that, but Coach Shipp took it upon himself to do that. He made a promise to my mother that he would do that, and he stuck to it. One thing I can say is he is a man of his word."
Suppose you've heard that before. NFL players often appreciate their college coaches for laying a foundation, both professionally and personally.
But how often do you hear this?
"I didn't like him," McCoy continued of Shipp. "He knows that. We talked about it. He would tell me to my face, 'I know you don't like me.' I'd say, 'Yeah, you're right. I don't.'"
McCoy also said: "During the summertime when football season is not in, you think he's the nicest person ever. He invites you over and you get to have dinner at his house and he lets you play all his video games. You're like, 'Man, Coach Shipp is better than I thought.'
"Two weeks before the season is about to start, I mean, he turns into the most evil person ever."
Now, here's the rub: McCoy gets it. Actually, he got it. He spent his four years at OU, even his first in 2006 when fans wondered why the OKC Southeast phenom was redshirting, pronouncing his trust in Shipp. He was fully aware he didn't always have to like his coach to understand what he was doing for him.
"He's like the way I am when it comes to football. I don't know how to take a break and neither does he," McCoy said Sunday. "He has a passion for football and coaching, the same way I have a passion for playing."
McCoy also said: "In the long run, it helped. And now we're actually pretty close. I tell him I appreciate all he did for me."
They might not have been friends then, but they are now. They talked during McCoy's rookie season, and again when that season ended with McCoy's torn biceps.
Asked when he actually started to like Coach Shipp, McCoy smiled: "After I got drafted. After I left."
Which is very likely just fine with Shipp. It means he did his job, thankless as it is.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
