The state of football

Up and down the field with Oklahoma State head coach Pat Jones

(page 1 of 2)

Location: Vintage 1740

To drink: Marshall Sundown Wheat

[Author’s note: In the interest of transparency, the interviewer and Coach Jones are related by marriage.]

Pat Jones: This is such a relaxing place to me. Sittin’ right here watching the world go by is pretty damn nice.

The Tulsa Voice: I agree. So, seen any good games lately?

PJ: [laughs] Well, let’s see. Three touchdown underdog, playing in Norman, you got a total unknown at quarterback, playing against the hottest running back in the country, bowl eligibility on the line—this is a classic example of why you play the game. That being said, if Perine doesn’t go down, I think OU puts that one away. About half of the OSU defense did not want any part of him. So, the interesting thing is that the Cowboys had not recovered a fumble all year, and in one play, Perine goes down and fumbles the ball. Now, you add Stoops’s decision to re-kick and it kind of just turned into a perfect storm at the end.

TTV: Where does OU go from here?

PJ: That football program in Norman is so interwoven with the DNA of this state that, long-term, that’s not going to be diluted. You’re talking about Wilkinson and the dust bowl days. It’s just not going away. At a whole lot of programs, 8-4 gets you an “attaboy.” At OU it gets you run off. Ask Wilkinson and Switzer. Let me put it this way: you can’t get to the ticket window down there for all of the Heisman Trophy statues. They’ll get it figured out.

TTV: If Gundy goes down there and the Pokes get blown out, does he still have a job today?

PJ: You’d like to think so. He should, but you never know.

TTV: Are they foolish if they run him out of there?

PJ: I think so. Not that you shouldn’t ever make any kind of coaching change, but no one knows the road map over there better than Mike Gundy. I think some of this situation is wearing on him. You know, it’s hard enough to beat the people you gotta beat on the field, but when you also have to beat your own administration, that’s tough. That’s the strain that’s on Gundy. That’s what people are seeing in him. This stuff with the media, that wasn’t a front that he was putting up, or some mastermind move to get his guys prepared to play the University of Oklahoma. It’s eating away at him. Mike is a tough guy. He was tough when he was at Midwest City. He was tough when he was playing with us [at Oklahoma State]. He’s tough now. So, when you see something bothering him, it’s truly bothering him.

To make these programs work, everybody’s got to be pulling the wagon in the same direction, and I don’t think that’s always the case over there.

TTV: What do you think about the inaugural College Football Playoff? Did they get it right?

PJ: I think as soon as I saw Ohio State beat Wisconsin 59-0, I said, “They’re in.” I think you can make a case for all three: Ohio State, Baylor and TCU. It certainly gets people to talking. It’s great for people like me in the media, because people are really engaged about dissecting this playoff and breaking it down. I think the committee did a pretty good job. Some people got left out, but that’s always going to happen, and I think they’ve been pretty transparent.

TTV: New Coach at TU. What’s a good season at the University of Tulsa look like?

PJ: Well, they’re in a competitive league, a good little mix of that next tier of schools. When I look at a coaching job, I look at two things: Attendance and do you have to overschedule make it work financially?

TTV: You mean having to schedule OU to whip your ass so you can get money from them to balance the budget?

PJ: Yes. And TU is still in that position.

TTV: What about attendance?

PJ: Well, we don’t joke about this because it’s not funny, but TU goes up to Notre Dame when Todd Graham was the head coach, wins what I feel like is the landmark win of the program, and they come back and play in front of 19,000 people. There is not an answer there. Every excuse or reason has been thrown out there—be it parking, be it ticket prices, be it stadium renovations, you name it. Back in the day, when Jerry Rome was here and Tulsa was beating the devil out of Oklahoma State, they could fill that stadium, but now even when they play OU, the OU fans don’t even bother. TU played their conference championship there and nobody showed up. You put pencil to paper and it just doesn’t work. You have to go play money games and long-term that makes TU a tough place to coach.

TTV: What can they do?

PJ: Well, maybe this new guy can get into Texas, since he has ties there, and get some of those second-tier guys and coach them up. TU’s got a great campus, a really nice football facility and what little backing they have is very dedicated. I would also find a way to schedule Oklahoma State for the first ball game every year. Even if you had to trade them 2-1 home and away, I’d do it.

TTV: Get some of that Pickens money.

PJ: Yes. Get paid. Fill up the stadium. OSU fans would come to this game. And TU’s roster is going to be closer in talent to OSU’s than OU’s. One of the teams in this state, you can’t compete with. The other one, you got to try. Every once in awhile, you knock ‘em off, and it makes your year.

TTV: What’s the incentive for OSU, though?

PJ: Well, I went round and round with Jimmy Johnson about the same thing. Jimmy didn’t want to play them.

TTV: Did you?

PJ: Yes!

TTV: Why? There’s nothing to win.

PJ: Look, if you’re OSU and you’re any good, you win the game. Now TU people don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. You have zero overhead in the game—it’s a bus ride, not a plane ride. And for OSU, it sure makes a helluva lot more sense than going and playing Central Michigan, who I believe they have on the schedule next year, or getting blasted for playing Savannah State.