UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, November 22, 1994
5
Oklahoma's football coach steps down; Gibbs fed up with bad image
COACHING SHAKEUPS
By Owen Canfield The Associated Press
NORMAN, Okla. — Gary Gibbs,
who won two-thirds of his games
while guiding Oklahoma through the
rubble left by probation and a national
scandal, announced his resignation
yesterday.
Gibbs never won enough big games to suit Oklahoma fans, and in the end the constant hassles proved not to be worth fighting any longer.
"I've taken a bunch of bullet holes the past 51/2 years," he said. "This is a better program today than it was in '89."
During his weekly news conference, Gibbs talked briefly about Friday's game against No. 1 Nebraska and outlined his plans. Just last week, Gibbs had denied media reports that he would step down.
He said he will coach the team through a bowl game, most likely the Copper Bowl on Dec. 29. Athletic
director Donnie Duncan said he had no list of candidates to replace Gibbs, but that he would like to hire someone by mid-December.
Gibbs entered a no-win situation the day he was hired. He replaced highly popular Barry Switzer, who won 157 games, three national championships and a dozen Big Eight titles during his 16 years on the job.
Matching that success would be impossible, especially since Gibbs took over a team that was on probation. The program also had been shaken by a shooting, rape and drug bust involving five Sooner players.
"It was a hell hole in '80 and it's not today." Gibbs said yesterday.
Oklahoma is 44-21-2 and 2-0 in bowl games under Gibbs. But the Sooners have finished no better than the Sooners in the Big Eight and are only 2-14-1 in games against the Sooners' biggest rivals, Texas, Colorado and Nebraska.
Pressure started to mount on Gibbs
after this year's 14-7 loss to Texas, a game the Longhorns won despite lacking their first-string quarterback. It continued to build after a 38-point loss to Colorado and a second straight loss to Kansas State.
But Gibbs said a victory over Texas Tech in the third game of the season made him realize it might be time for a change.
"After the game in the locker room, our players and coaches were left with the distinct impression that their
efforts were not being appreciated and that they were having to constantly defend themselves, even in victory. "Gibbs said."
"The question I had to face was, 'Am I being fair to my family and to the team to continue as head football coach?'"
He intended to make that decision after this year, Gibbs said, but two newspaper reports during the weekend of Nov. 12-13 changed his mind.
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