BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, November 7, 2004 6:00 pm
John Blake had to think of something anything positive to tell his players. But what does a head coach say after you've just lost by 62 points to your longtime rival?
Blake, in the wake of Oklahoma's stunning 69-7 loss to top-ranked Nebraska in 1997, chose to focus on the future.
"I remember saying to my group of guys, The next time Oklahoma plays Nebraska, you will be as talented a football team as they are,'" Blake said. "And they were."
Only by that time, Blake wasn't a part of the picture.
Sure, he'd recruited guys like Roy Williams and Trent Smith and Rocky Calmus players who'd eventually help Oklahoma win a national championship in 2000.
Under Bob Stoops.
Blake, who had two years remaining on his contract, was fired following the 1998 season.
"I had things (on track)," Blake said. "There ain't no question about that. That's something I know for a fact."
But Blake's record after three years was 12-22. Oklahoma lost two games by a combined three points in Blake's final year the difference between a winning season and a losing season for the Sooners, who finished 5-6.
"We knew we were right at the edge," said Joe Dickinson, a longtime friend of Blake's who served as running backs coach and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma at the time. "You're supposed to be getting good players and you're supposed to be right on the edge. But right on the edge isn't good enough at Oklahoma."
Blake didn't return to coaching until last season, when he was defensive line coach at Mississippi State.
Now he's serving the same position at Nebraska and will coach in the storied Nebraska-Oklahoma series Saturday night for the first time since 1997.
Blake said earlier this season he doesn't expect an emotional return to Norman, Okla.
"It's not hard at all. It's a game," Blake said. "It's nothing personal. It's a game. We're preparing to go play a game. I play dominoes against my mother. I try to beat the dog out of her if I can. And I love her more than anything in the world. That's all I look at it, as a game."
Mike Clopton, who served as Blake's administrative assistant at Oklahoma, has a different view.
"I guarantee you he'd love to walk out of this field with 85,000 people hanging their heads," said Clopton, who now works at an auto auction in Oklahoma City.
"I think he's always going to have a place in his heart for Oklahoma," Clopton said. "If he was playing against the kids he recruited, it would be really hard. He didn't stop caring about those guys when he got fired."
It's not like Blake can cut all ties with Oklahoma. Remember, he's an Oklahoma native, and he played for the Sooners under Barry Switzer.
"I think people look at tradition the wrong way," Blake said. "Tradition is people. It's not buildings. All the relationships you had and all the great times you had, you can't take that away. A lot of former players are good friends of mine, a lot of great people in Oklahoma are great friends of mine. It's a great place."
Does that make wearing Nebraska gear all that more strange?
"It's not weird at all," Blake said. "This is my family up here. Nebraska has openly accepted me and my family with open arms.
"The Bible says a fox has a hole and a bird has a nest, but man has no place. Wherever I lay my head is home. And I'm laying my head here."
Clopton is happy for that.
"It's a great place for him to go," Clopton said. "After he had been there for about a month, he told me this place is everything he thought it would be. He loves Coach (Bill) Callahan. That place is a good fit for him because of the type of people there are at Nebraska.
"He's a guy that needs to be in college coaching. I was around that business for 15 years or so, and there's not many John Blakes out there."
Ironically, Blake reenters the Nebraska-Oklahoma series with the roles reversed for the schools, anyway. Oklahoma is the national power, and Nebraska's the team in rebuilding mode.
Blake is here to help.
"He deserves to be at a big-time school," said Dickinson, who's now the quarterbacks coach and receivers coach at Oklahoma Central University. "He's one of the best recruiters in college football. You better put your hat down tight if you're going to recruit against John Blake."
The latest example? Sunday's commitment of Marlon Lucky, the nation's No. 1-ranked running back from California. He was recruited by Blake, as were several of the Huskers' other oral commitments, which now total 15.
"You can already see the effects of his recruiting," Dickinson said, "and you can't be a great recruiter unless kids think you're a genuine person."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.