How about telling us about what duties you had as the trainer in those great early 70 year teams?
For example, did you tape the players up before practice or games or how was that handled?
Did they wear jock straps in those days and did you have to handle them? Did you have to wash the towels, jerseys etc? LOL
How were shoes, shoulder pads, etc handed out to the players? I'm sure measurements were made.
Give us some more inside info.....................
It was harder back then and different. But it was easier. These days, there are so many more kinds of pads and equipment. Back then, all players backs were totally exposed between the bottom of their shoulder pads, and the tail pad in their pants. And we had only one player with an air helmet. He'd had a concussion problem in high school. Really good athlete, but never played.
The pad thing you wrote made me laugh. Remember, freshmen weren't eligible until my senior year. So varsity players got measured by Jack Baer personally, but in the spring. Then he'd go on a rant when the guy showed up a half size bigger shoe or an eighth of a size bigger helmet in the fall, saying they should cut their hair, or shouldn't have gone barefoot all summer. Jack was intentionally hard to get along with.
I wasn't a trainer. I was a manager. The trainers considered themselves the educated support staff and the managers the untrained guys. So I've never taped an ankle in my life. We had ten managers. The head manager was determined by who had submitted their application to be a manager the earliest. The other guy in my class who stayed more than a year, was a Vietnam vet, who'd been a marine. And his parents knew Bud Wilkinson. He'd submitted his application to be a manager when he was like 14, and first enrolled at OU in his early 20s as a true freshman. So I had no chance to be head manager my senior year. It was an important deal, because the head manager in every sport lettered. So they had all the privileges of O Club for the rest of their lives. If you weren't, you had none of those options.
But I did get room and board from second semester my freshman year, through my senior year. And books my senior year. First semester, I only got meals, because the dorm was already full up.I don't know that they do manager scholarships now, because of the requirements of equal ship numbers for men and women. Back then, I don't believe there were any ships in any sport for females. There were two dorms, Washington House (north and newer) and Jefferson house. (South and pretty old.)
I'd written a letter not really expecting anything. I wrote it to Chuck Fairbanks, the HC, not knowing that the real contact was Associate AD Ken Farris. Ken sent me a pretty typical "we're already full up" letter about a month later. I did get a nice letter from Chuck's office telling me he'd forwarded it.
Then a day after my birthday the second week of August, I got a letter telling me there was a new opening, and would I take meals as remuneration (Ken's word) to be a new manager. I was pretty excited. I didn't know that they only took one manager on trips... occasionally two. So many road games there would be only one guy, which is a huge responsibility. I had one trip that was mine. The head manager my junior year didn't want to make but a couple of trips, so he spread it around. He'd been overwhelmed on the trip to Pittsburgh, which nobody else could get to. If we got to the game, we could get in and work the game. And usually, any conference trip somebody else would find a way to the game.
But my junior year, I had the RRR. Still have a copy of the intinerary which had my name listed on the hotel assignments. They sent a second guy. I got the game because most of the guys going to the game on their own didn't want to go with the team. They wanted to party with a girl Friday night. There were usually half the guys there for the Texas game. I worked all four RRR's my four years. I also had a trip to Iowa State as the second guy. I also went on my own to KState the year we set the national record for rushing yards in a game and beat them 75-28. I worked the SMU game in the Cotton Bowl in the 1970 opener. Was going to drive to Boulder my senior year, but the ice made me think otherwise.
I made the New Year's Eve trip to Houston for the 24-24 tie with Bama in 1970. Bowls were different. The head manager flew with the team and the second and third guy drove the rented equipment truck to the site. There were five guys in the class a year older than me, so I didn't qualify for the bowl trip until my senior year, which was New Orleans for the 14-0 win over Penn State. But I needed to work and make some money during the Christmas break, so I let the number four guy take my place. He was going to be the head manager the next year, and it made sense for him to go. For onsite bowl games, they only had the three guys to cover what nine or ten guys usually do for a week of practice. So it was not an easy trip.
For that 1971 Texas game, we beat the Horns 48-27. It was Fairbanks first win over UT as OU head coach. Only OU's second in the previous 14 years. Chuck was so excited afterward that he said, "Everybody who made the trip, gets a game ball." So I have a game ball from the 1971 RRR. They gave everybody autograph balls. One of my freshman year jobs, was to take autograph balls around the locker room usually at least once a week, so that generous donors could be honored. So I just did the same thing for myself. Then my senior year, I just bought one for myself and had it autographed, so I have OU autographed footballs that I personally had signed by every member of consecutive Sooner teams that finished number two nationally. The first was the loser of the GOTC on Thanksgiving day to the Huskers. The second was second to undefeated USC after we lost on the ice in Boulder in game five.20-14 I think. That team beat Dan Fouts' Oregon Ducks, 68-3.
In practice, all but two guys are assigned to one position coach. The head manager stayed around with Jack Baer, getting stuff done for Saturday. The low guy on the totem pole timed practice periods and signaled changes with one of those freon air horns. And the timer spent a lot of time wandering around the four field perimeter, telling people at the gates outside the practice area, that they weren't allowed to watch a closed practice. Also had to police the field and make sure that dummies were stored and covered when through. I was a lousy timer. ADHD, though they didn't call it that, in the old days.
I was assigned to the OLine coach, Billy Michael for 2 1/2 years. Maybe my most important task was to make sure Coach Michael had his Beachnut Chewing Tobacco before practice started. All the coaches knew that I was going to the Sooner Superette 30 minutes before practice, so if they wanted a dip or a chaw, they gave me money to go pick it up for them. I don't think I ever bought any chewing gum. I started smoking during first semester finals my freshman year. Barry, who was then the OC, asked me on three or four occasions if I smoked. The first time it freaked my out, because in high school, a manager got kicked out of the football program for smoking. But Barry was just wanting to bum a cigarette. The first time he sent me, after asking if I had them in my locker, he told me to not forget my lighter. I didn't have a lighter, but I brought him a matchbook. Then he fussed at me for smoking Camel Filters. After that, I switched for a while to his brand, which was Tareytons.
During breakdown times in practice, when each position group is with their position coach, I made sure the dummies where available. Found out before practice how many would be needed. Stand up, or hand held. After I worked with Coach Michael for a year, he let me take snaps from the center during practice, when he didn't want to do it himself. Sometimes he got a better look, doing it himself. Sometimes, he wanted to see from the other side. We had three guys who were All American centers during my time at OU, though Ken Mendenhall graduated before I was with Billy. Tom Brahaney was an AA in my class. Kyle Davis was two years younger than me. He was an AA after I graduated.
Second semester my freshman year, I was assigned to the new DB coach, Jimmy Dickey after Bill Gray got fired when were really bad in pass coverage my freshman year. Jimmy had this cocky blonde son who was ten, who showed up at practice more than occasionally after he got out of school. He was sort of a pain in the neck. He turned out to be a college HC, and did a great job at North Texas until heart problems showed up in his mid 40s. Darrell Dickey. He also was a good quarterback at Kansas State a decade later, after Jimmy got the HC job in Manhattan. He's been the OC at Memphis the last four years. They had a great game against Ole Miss last season.
For about two weeks, at the beginning of my sophomore year, I was assigned to the new defensive tackle coach: Jimmy Johnson. I think JJ would have preferred I was on the asthma field. Not sure about that. But I know that as soon as the new freshmen arrived in 1970, only able to play on the Boomers' 4-game schedule, I was the only freshman team manager. Don Jimerson was the Boomer HC. Jerry Pettibone was his assistant. They spent less than half of their time preparing the Boomers for their game plans, and more than half supervising their scout team duties for the varsity.
During team periods, we went into the stadium with Chuck's tower on the center of the 50 yard line. There was no OU logo there until at least my junior year. Both offenses, huddled next to the tower with the ball spotted on the 40 YL going in. Managers rotated spotting the ball, usually with each new period. The OU offense was facing the south end zone. The scout team offense was facing the north end zone, against the alternating first and second team defense. On O, they alternated every other play against held dummies. Very very little live player on player blocking during team time. That was confined to the breakdown periods.
Now that was different in the spring. No game plan to prepare. So practices in the spring ended with mostly live team blocking. And a good bit of to the ground tackling. During the season, the only ball carriers who got put on the ground were the scout team running backs. They weren't supposed to be tackled. They were supposed to be let go, so every player on the D could come pursue the ball and put a shoulder to shoulder lick on them. But some defensive players didn't play by those rules. And D coaches
tend to like that.
During the spring, we never had game officials. If coaches saw holding they called it, but much of the play was putting the ball in the same spot every play.
Occasionally, they'd do a scrimmage live moving the ball up and down the field. And mostly coaches would spot the ball, but every once in a while, they'd have the manager do that. I remember, probably my junior year, I was doing the spotting of the ball, and there was a third down run that was really close. I know how to spot a ball, and I thought he'd made it, by half the football and spotted the first down. We weren't running chains, so on first down, we'd spot the ball on the nearest stripe. Anyhow, when I gave them the first down, the defensive coaches disputed the call pretty loudly, and Chuck said, "Guys, Plano is an offensive manager." I don't remember as many details as I used to, but I don't think I'll ever forget that. I think it was the only time Chuck ever used my nickname.
Oh, and one last thing. The reason that I didn't get the letter to be a manager, until August 10th, less than a week before I had to be in Norman for to get ready for two-a-days was because of the new opening. That happened because one of the managers got his girlfriend pregnant, and had to quit, drop out of school and get a job. So if he'd used protection, I'd never have gotten the job. In 1969, most college aged girls didn't use The Pill. And abortion wasn't legal for another four years.
