The announcement that Fox Sports television is bringing in former University of Oklahoma head football coach Barry Switzer as an analyst did more than just raise eyebrows in the CFN department. It actually got Bucky out of his chair for a quick "Boomer Sooner" yell " which set off the building alarm.
The charismatic coach swashbuckled his way on the OU sidelines for 16 years, winning three national championships. He turned up again as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for four years, bringing home the Super Bowl trophy in 1996.
Switzer is a god in Oklahoma, but outside the state lines he tends to invoke scowls from sports fans. He remains in good graces with sportscasters by his cut-to-the-chase remarks, which tend to heighten in exuberance the more he talks.
However, Fox Sports is going to do more than just sit Switzer in chair, strap on a microphone and say, "You're on": Switzer will be pitted against his old nemesis for one-on-one debates in a weekly "Coaches Corner" bit.
Throughout their coaching careers, Switzer and Jimmy Johnson tangoed so much judges would have given them first place just for entertainment value. "They're like an old, bickering married couple," Fox Sports President Ed Goren said, USA Today reported.
Both are Arkansas grads who made their marks in Oklahoma and shadowed each other for three decades. Switzer brought Johnson on as an assistant coach at OU when he took over the program. Johnson later would wind up as head coach at Oklahoma State University, giving Switzer fits in head-to-head matchups, but never able to beat his old coach.
It wasn't until Johnson moved to Miami University that revenge would be served up three times, with the school beating OU from 1985 to 1988.
Johnson went on to greater glory as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the early Nineties. But, after a spat with team owner Jerry Jones, Johnson left. His replacement? Switzer.
At Fox Sports, the two will debate both NFL and college football action. But, it seems likely they will go a little further, probably into their feuding past. Give it up to the guys at Fox Sports. They know a good fight when they see one.
