Stoops and Gundy do it in different and effective ways

<p><em class="gnmEkDate">Originally Published: Dec 26, 2010 2:22 PM CDT</em></p><P>Dana Holgerson is a different breed of cat. And as we know, in football there are oftentimes more ways than one to skin

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 1:30 pm

By: News 9


Originally Published: Dec 26, 2010 2:22 PM CDT

Dana Holgerson is a different breed of cat. And as we know, in football there are oftentimes more ways than one to skin a cat. Just look at the process we see in Oklahoma when the two staut universities go about hiring new offensive coordinators. Different but effective ways of going about business.

 Bob Stoops hires his new OCs from within. Mike Gundy hires OCs from the outside. Staffs prefer the former and seemingly would have better chemistry with realistic hope for promotion. This style has worked swimmingly in Norman a And most Sooner fans assume it will work again with Josh Heupel now in charge.


Meantime in Stillwater, Gundy is looking outside his staff to hire. That’s because of the one-and-done from hot-shot Dana Holgerson. I use hot-shot in a complimentary tone because he’s proven to be very good at his trade. 


But it’s disappointing Dana Holgerson seems certain to leave Cowboys on touchy terms. It’s easy to see why Gundy seems none too happy about the way things transpired in the process of Holgerson’s decision to leave. The old odd duck, Jimmy Buffett look-alike was a different breed a cat. Never  signed contract, lived in  a hotel rather than conventional housing with running water, and leaves the person who gave him the opportunity (and @Justin Blackmon and @Brandon Weeden) with apparent hard feelings. It’d be good to know Holgerson’s side because on the surface it seems OSU did everything right and anything wrong was done from his end. There’s always two sides.


Now, Gundy is forced to answer questions about Holgerson’s  departure and the status of his OC search in San Antonio where the he’s doing his dead-level best to keep his troops focused on Wildcats from out west. It’s disturbing, to say the least, when a boss gives someone a much sought after  opportunity only to see them leave in the middle of the night. Holgerson may not have left in total darkness. But some things weren’t done in the light of day. Real or imagined, the sense of betrayal and disloyalty is the worst.


One has to wonder if the guy split time living in a hotel and the football office, how much packing he’d have to do. Furniture? Can’t see many Lazy Boys’. Clothes? Outside of Under Armour and a couple of Tommy Bahama button-ups, can’t imagine much. No. need for a U-Haul. A  Volkswagen bug would have plenty of room.  And with ample West Virginia greenbacks, the odd cat could pay hire a driverhis bellman at Hotel Payne County. Have him MapQuest Stillwater to Morgantown. 


Sometimes stats can be deceiving. Not in Tulsa’s case where the Golden Hurricane got out of the islands with more than a tan. The reasons for their win over Hawaii jump off the game summary. TU committed only four penalties,  got 5 picks and threw none and had 178 return yards to minus six for Hawaii. Great stage for TU which finishes the season ranked ahead of Texas. August odds on that? Not enough zeros. Try 9,999,999,999,999 to one. Another great job by an underrated head coach (who succeeded in finishing him a winning OC.) Can’t help but get the 65 OSU posted on them though. Was that an example of OSU’s offensive strength? Bad defense on TU’s part? An aberration? A sign of the times? My guess is at least three of the four.


I’m a Todd Graham fan, but his TD pass with 1:16 to go for the 61st point did not set well with UH head man McMaikin. Their post-game handshake was more chilly than a December day in Green Country where the wind comes sweeping down the plains at about 40.


Anyone notice that Hawaii was missing what made them hard to beat in Honolulu? Guy named June Jones. Another underrated coach who’ll make a bigger name for himself with that Dallas address over at the SMU campus. Really good coach. Really, really good coach. Called two of his games and found him to be at least in the offensive class of Mike Leach. Quirky, but not Leach quirky. Quirky, but definitely not Holgerson quirky. I know because he actually lives in a home and has a signed contract.


To my knowledge, the last person Mike Gundy hired from outside his program to call plays was someone he knew quite well. He was from Midwest City and a former record-setting QB for Pat Jones. And he was someone who in the famous words of the late great Chris Farley of Saturday Night Live fame, didn’t “live in a van down by the river.” Not his best hire, but of course Gundy’s hiring of himself is the answer. Gundy quickly quieted critics when his offense didn’t play lights out when he demoted himself and hired a couple of dandies to take his place. Persistent but not stubborn. A good combination and not one found in a lot of former star QBs.


Didn’t take long for Urban Meyer to land in an ESPN studio. A coach who days ago was chastised by many in our business for being “bad with the media,” and “needlessly confrontive at times,” looked as natural in the studio as he did in homes of Florida high throwers, catchers and sprinters.

 

By the way, who is Hawaii playing next year in their traditional 13th game? Wonder if it’s just printed on their future schedules with TBA later as the opponents?

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