Blake set OU's table, didn't feast
BY ELIZABETH MERRILL
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Somewhere between the chocolate pies and the nighttime chats about God and family and how his mama loved him so much she'd cook dinner no matter what time he got home, John Blake landed another one.
Sultan of schmooze. Lord of the living room. Blake had his critics, like any coach with a 4-8 record would, but man, could he recruit.
He sat down with Rocky Calmus in 1997, locked eyes with the strapping young linebacker from Jenks, Okla., and said something so crazy that half the state of Oklahoma would've wondered what was in the pie.
You will win a championship at Oklahoma.
Calmus was in. Blake was on, yet still hopelessly destined for No. 20.
For all his recruiting genius, this is where you will find John Blake on the list of career records for the 21 head coaches in Sooner history. Had it not been for John Harts coaching just one game in 1895, going 0-1 while teaching a class in elocution, Blake would've been listed as the least-successful coach in Oklahoma football history. No. 21.
But did they know about his promise to Rocky? How Blake sat in his own living room, three years later, watching the Sooners win the 2000 national championship with 18 of his recruits in the starting lineup?
"I just always wonder," Blake said, "what would've happened if I had a chance to finish what I started."
Blake was sitting in his office last week, easing into his new job at Nebraska, when somebody asked if he deserves another shot at a head coaching job.
He quickly changed the subject.
"I take nothing for granted," he said. "I am going to give every inch of effort and energy to do my part to turn this program into a national championship contender."
When Blake was hired as Nebraska's defensive line coach in January, it was all the buzz in Oklahoma.
Radio jocks chuckled and said good riddance to the man who changed offenses three times in 1998, his last season at OU. Internet junkies argued whether Blake fell into that ballyhooed recruiting class, which produced the likes of Calmus, Roy Williams and Andre Woolfolk.
Blake says he's moved on. He yearns for stability at Nebraska, a place he can plant himself for a few years.
He knows coaching isn't conducive to stability.
He was a 34-year-old assistant with the Dallas Cowboys when Oklahoma offered him the head coaching job in 1996. Blake hadn't even been a coordinator before, but OU had just rid itself of Howard Schnellenberger and his 5-5-1 season, and it was time to get back to the Sooner family.
Blake was an alum, a nose tackle under Barry Switzer in the early 1980s. Blake was honest, a look-you-in-the-eyes kind of guy who reminded Sooner fans of Switzer.
Blake went 12-22 in three seasons.
On Nov. 22, 1998, the Oklahoma Board of Regents met to decide Blake's fate. The Sooners went 5-6 in '98 and were three points from finishing 7-4. Blake thought the team was turning the corner. He couldn't wait for '99.
On statewide television, the regents voted 4-2 to fire Blake.
Blake pondered giving up coaching.
"My dad said, 'Son, I don't know if you can coach now, but you'll always coach. That's what you were born to do,' " Blake said.
"He told me that's who I am. Nothing is going to stop me from the gift I have, to communicate with young men and women. He was right. He just needed to tell me."
James Blake never got to see his son get back to the college game. He died in a car accident two years ago, before Blake took a job coaching defensive linemen at Mississippi State.
Blake spent 1999 to 2002 running a professional camp for defensive linemen. He said it gave him a chance to stand back, outside the forest, and see the trees. He said it made him a better coach.
Was he ready to be a head coach in 1996? Switzer thought he was. It was his recommendation that ultimately got Blake the job.
But when asked the other day if Blake got a fair shot at Oklahoma, if he could've eventually done the things OU Coach Bob Stoops has, Switzer declined to comment.
"I wasn't a part of it," Switzer said. "It's hard for me to speak to that one. What happens is regardless of who you recruit, it all comes down to the wins.
"John is a great communicator. He relates to the players. He's sincere, upbeat and has a very infectious personality. Kids take to him."
And maybe that's exactly what Nebraska needs. When NU Athletic Director Steve Pederson fired Coach Frank Solich in November, he said recruiting had lagged in Solich's watch.
Within days of Bill Callahan's hire in January, Callahan added Blake to his staff. They spent the rest of January chasing 17-year-olds from California to Minnesota to Omaha.
"He's a people person," said Adam Blankenship, a defensive end from Tulsa who committed to NU in late January. "It was pretty cool hearing him talk about the fact that he really thinks I can come in there and do something.
"It just seemed like he wanted me to be part of this program."
Blake said recruiting starts a relationship that never really goes away. He got pies from Calmus' mother long after his last recruiting visit. He still talks to Calmus and Roy Williams even though they're in the NFL now.
Blake said he isn't bitter. He gives Stoops his credit, but wonders what could've been.
"I know that we all have a purpose in life, and it's time for me to move on," he said. "God has a plan for all of us. Sometimes we just don't know what that plan is."
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg...8&u_sid=1027021
BY ELIZABETH MERRILL
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Somewhere between the chocolate pies and the nighttime chats about God and family and how his mama loved him so much she'd cook dinner no matter what time he got home, John Blake landed another one.
Sultan of schmooze. Lord of the living room. Blake had his critics, like any coach with a 4-8 record would, but man, could he recruit.
He sat down with Rocky Calmus in 1997, locked eyes with the strapping young linebacker from Jenks, Okla., and said something so crazy that half the state of Oklahoma would've wondered what was in the pie.
You will win a championship at Oklahoma.
Calmus was in. Blake was on, yet still hopelessly destined for No. 20.
For all his recruiting genius, this is where you will find John Blake on the list of career records for the 21 head coaches in Sooner history. Had it not been for John Harts coaching just one game in 1895, going 0-1 while teaching a class in elocution, Blake would've been listed as the least-successful coach in Oklahoma football history. No. 21.
But did they know about his promise to Rocky? How Blake sat in his own living room, three years later, watching the Sooners win the 2000 national championship with 18 of his recruits in the starting lineup?
"I just always wonder," Blake said, "what would've happened if I had a chance to finish what I started."
Blake was sitting in his office last week, easing into his new job at Nebraska, when somebody asked if he deserves another shot at a head coaching job.
He quickly changed the subject.
"I take nothing for granted," he said. "I am going to give every inch of effort and energy to do my part to turn this program into a national championship contender."
When Blake was hired as Nebraska's defensive line coach in January, it was all the buzz in Oklahoma.
Radio jocks chuckled and said good riddance to the man who changed offenses three times in 1998, his last season at OU. Internet junkies argued whether Blake fell into that ballyhooed recruiting class, which produced the likes of Calmus, Roy Williams and Andre Woolfolk.
Blake says he's moved on. He yearns for stability at Nebraska, a place he can plant himself for a few years.
He knows coaching isn't conducive to stability.
He was a 34-year-old assistant with the Dallas Cowboys when Oklahoma offered him the head coaching job in 1996. Blake hadn't even been a coordinator before, but OU had just rid itself of Howard Schnellenberger and his 5-5-1 season, and it was time to get back to the Sooner family.
Blake was an alum, a nose tackle under Barry Switzer in the early 1980s. Blake was honest, a look-you-in-the-eyes kind of guy who reminded Sooner fans of Switzer.
Blake went 12-22 in three seasons.
On Nov. 22, 1998, the Oklahoma Board of Regents met to decide Blake's fate. The Sooners went 5-6 in '98 and were three points from finishing 7-4. Blake thought the team was turning the corner. He couldn't wait for '99.
On statewide television, the regents voted 4-2 to fire Blake.
Blake pondered giving up coaching.
"My dad said, 'Son, I don't know if you can coach now, but you'll always coach. That's what you were born to do,' " Blake said.
"He told me that's who I am. Nothing is going to stop me from the gift I have, to communicate with young men and women. He was right. He just needed to tell me."
James Blake never got to see his son get back to the college game. He died in a car accident two years ago, before Blake took a job coaching defensive linemen at Mississippi State.
Blake spent 1999 to 2002 running a professional camp for defensive linemen. He said it gave him a chance to stand back, outside the forest, and see the trees. He said it made him a better coach.
Was he ready to be a head coach in 1996? Switzer thought he was. It was his recommendation that ultimately got Blake the job.
But when asked the other day if Blake got a fair shot at Oklahoma, if he could've eventually done the things OU Coach Bob Stoops has, Switzer declined to comment.
"I wasn't a part of it," Switzer said. "It's hard for me to speak to that one. What happens is regardless of who you recruit, it all comes down to the wins.
"John is a great communicator. He relates to the players. He's sincere, upbeat and has a very infectious personality. Kids take to him."
And maybe that's exactly what Nebraska needs. When NU Athletic Director Steve Pederson fired Coach Frank Solich in November, he said recruiting had lagged in Solich's watch.
Within days of Bill Callahan's hire in January, Callahan added Blake to his staff. They spent the rest of January chasing 17-year-olds from California to Minnesota to Omaha.
"He's a people person," said Adam Blankenship, a defensive end from Tulsa who committed to NU in late January. "It was pretty cool hearing him talk about the fact that he really thinks I can come in there and do something.
"It just seemed like he wanted me to be part of this program."
Blake said recruiting starts a relationship that never really goes away. He got pies from Calmus' mother long after his last recruiting visit. He still talks to Calmus and Roy Williams even though they're in the NFL now.
Blake said he isn't bitter. He gives Stoops his credit, but wonders what could've been.
"I know that we all have a purpose in life, and it's time for me to move on," he said. "God has a plan for all of us. Sometimes we just don't know what that plan is."
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg...8&u_sid=1027021