COMMENTARY

Broyles enlisted help from Switzer

There is little doubt that Barry Switzer is one of the all-time greats in coaching. He led Oklahoma to three national titles, 12 Big Eight crowns and coached the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl win.

But when the Hall of Fame coach pairs “we” and “national championship” in the same sentence, Switzer also might be talking about his first crown, as an assistant coach for Frank Broyles when Arkansas won the 1964 national title.

I covered Switzer as a beat writer for the Tulsa World from 1978 until he resigned in the late spring of 1988. Many times he’d ask about Broyles because I was also covering some University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, games. He always beamed of his ties with the Razorbacks in those conversations. He might quickly switch into “we” when talking about the goings on in the Ozarks.

Switzer is proud of serving as one of “Frank’s first captains” when the 1959 Razorbacks broke through in Broyles’ second season for a share of the SWC title and that Broyles asked him to coach on his staff, getting him out of the U.S. Army to do so.

The Crossett product is also proud that he was able to see Broyles in his final days. He drove to Fayetteville two weeks ago to hug his old coach and mentor.

“I just said, ‘Coach, I love you,”’ Switzer said. “He said, ‘Barry, I love you, too.’”

They visited at length. Broyles passed away Monday at 92.

“I was recruited by Bowden Wyatt, then played three seasons for Jack Mitchell,” Switzer said. “I’m so glad it worked out that way. The highlight was being on Frank’s first two teams. That’s why I got into coaching, because of Frank. I will forever be grateful to him. I never intended to be a coach.”

Switzer laughs about stories from Bob Stoops about following his father into coaching. Switzer said he tried not to follow anything his dad did.

“My dad was a bootlegger,” Switzer said. “If I followed his steps, I would have been in prison. But coaching was never in my thoughts.”

Switzer maintains his plans in college, especially at the end, were to enroll in law school after mandatory military service.

Switzer did get some coaching experience while finishing up his degree requirements in 1960. It included working with the freshman team.

“I was assigned to help [defensive coordinator] Jim Mackenzie with recruiting,” said Switzer, always a magician with that part of coaching. “A player would get to campus and they would give them to me for the tour. I gave the young recruits attention and our coaches noticed. Coach Broyles saw it.”

Then came military service, as required in those days.

“You do six months; everyone did,” Switzer said. “I picked the Army. They sent me to Aberdeen Barracks in Maryland.”

It was the summer of 1962 with Switzer lacking four months to complete his six months in the Army.

“I got a call over the loud speaker to report to the commander’s headquarters to take a call,” he said. “It was Dixie White, my offensive line coach under Mitchell and Broyles. He said, ‘Barry, Coach Broyles would like you to come back and coach and run the scout team.’ He wanted me back Sept. 1 for two-a-days. I told him I was in until the middle of October and it wouldn’t work.”

Switzer thought that was the end of the story. He told White that there were plans for law school anyway.

White was ready to help expedite his return to Fayetteville. He was given the name and address of someone in Washington, D.C., with Arkansas ties with the hope of getting Switzer’s early exit from the Army.

“I was told to go to the commander and tell them I was planning to get out early and fill out a form,” Switzer said. “When I asked him for the form, all he did was laugh in my face. He said there had been hundreds and hundreds of that type form filled out. They filled his file cabinet. None had ever been granted.”

Five days later Switzer heard his name called on the loud speaker at the parade grounds again. Private Switzer was to report to headquarters.

“The commanding officer asked me in and he pushed a manila envelope across his desk,” Switzer said. “I looked at the return address. It said Wilbur Mills, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.”

That was three years into the 17-year stint Mills served as the head of the Ways and Means Committee, perhaps the most powerful seat in Congress. The Arkansas man controlled the funding for the military as well as just about everything else in national government.

“I guess Frank had pretty good friends,” Switzer said. “The commanding officer said, ‘Private, this is the first one of these I’ve seen. You know someone pretty powerful.’”

Indeed.

Broyles became one of the most powerful men in Arkansas pretty quickly. Switzer was there for the early years of a great ride.

“I sure was,” Switzer said. “I didn’t mean to get into coaching. I told Dixie White that. He just responded, ‘Coach Broyles has a pretty good job for you. It’s a free place to live, the dorm. Everything is paid for. You will work with our offensive line.’ I got to thinking, this isn’t bad. Law school can wait. Plus, I was getting out of the Army.”

Even when he got to Fayetteville, there was a visit with Broyles where Switzer emphasized that law school was the ultimate goal.

“I went to see him and found out what he wanted me to do in the dorm,” Switzer said. “I was to be the discipline guy. I really didn’t think that was great. I was going from being good friends with players to the guy who had to get after them when they messed up.

“So I told Coach Broyles I’d do it, but I wasn’t going to do it for long. He said, ‘Barry, just give it one year and then you can go to law school.’ I agreed and then I never left coaching. I’m thankful that he was persistent in getting me back from the Army. I would have never been in coaching except for what he did that summer.”

Switzer was elevated to full-time assistant in ’64, working with Merv Johnson to coach the offensive line for two seasons. When Mackenzie became head coach at Oklahoma in 1966, Switzer followed him. Mackenzie died of a heart attack after his first season. Switzer stayed at OU and later became head coach after Chuck Fairbanks went to the NFL in 1973.

Switzer won national titles at Oklahoma in 1974-75 and 1985. Jimmy Johnson was his O-line coach in ’85. Switzer was the first one Broyles called in his quest for a successor when he decided to retire as Arkansas coach in 1976. But Switzer turned it down, so Broyles called Lou Holtz, who became Broyles’ successor.

Switzer’s son Greg played outside linebacker for the Razorbacks, lettering in 1988-91. Out of coaching, Switzer found himself in the UA press box for many games and served briefly — after being asked by Broyles — as the color analyst for the radio broadcast.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Switzer quickly slipped into “we” talk when the Razorbacks were rolling. And he would always look for Broyles for a handshake that he pulled into a bear hug.

After all, if it was not for Broyles, Switzer would have been a lawyer instead of a Hall of Fame coach.

Clay Henry can be reached at [email protected] .

“So I told Coach Broyles I’d do it, but I wasn’t going to do it for long. He said, ‘Barry, just give it one year and then you can go to law school.’ I agreed and then I never left coaching.”

— Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer

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