COACHING HISTORY
5
Oklahoma’s 10th football coach, Tom Stidham posted OU’s most successful record of all time against Texas with only one loss in four years. His greatest triumph while at OU was his 23-0 demolition in 1939 of Coach Lynn Waldorf’s Northwestern team that was picked to win the national championship. Stidham was the first Oklahoma coach to defeat Waldorf (both Adrian "Ad" Lindsey and Lewie Hardage had also tried). Stidham’s 1938 Sooners were undefeated in the regular season and were ranked No. 4 in the AP poll, but lost in the Sooners’ first bowl appearance, the Orange Bowl, to Tennessee. After OU’s hard-fought loss to the Volunteers, Stidham went back to his hotel room, took off the gray suit he had worn triumphantly in the 10 games Oklahoma had won and dropped it out the fifth-floor window. He was a native Oklahoman who grew up in Checotah. Stidham was one-sixteenth Creek Indian. He went to Haskell Indian Institute of Lawrence, Kan., and played football from 1925-26 under Coach Dick Hanley. In 1927, Stidham went to the University of Iowa, but before he gained eligibility, Hanley, who had accepted the coaching position at Northwestern, asked him to be an assistant coach. He was Northwestern line coach from 1933-34. Captain "Biff" Jones hired Stidham to coach the Oklahoma line in 1935. When Jones left in 1937, Stidham became the head coach. In his time, Stidham placed more of his Oklahoma players with professional teams than any other coach. In 1940, 17 Sooners started in pro football and 10 stayed all season.
TOM STIDHAM 1937-1940
COMPOSITE RECORD Alma Mater Minnesota
Coached 4 yrs.
W 27
L 8
T 3
Pct. .750
OU Pts. 590
OU Avg. 15.5
Opp. Pts. 235
Opp. Avg. 6.2
YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD Year 1937 1938 1939 1940
W 5 10 6 6
L 2 1 2 3
T 2 0 1 0
Pct. .714 .909 .750 .667
OU Pts. Opp. Pts. 98 39 185 29 186 62 121 105
Captains Al Corrotto, Fort Smith, Ark. Gene Corrotto, Fort Smith, Ark.; Earl Crowder, Cherokee, Okla. Norval Locke, Ardmore, Okla. Gus Kitchens, Purcell, Okla.
6
CHUCK FAIRBANKS 1967-1972
As Oklahoma’s 16th head coach, Chuck Fairbanks won three Big Eight Conference titles (1967, 1972 and a shared title in 1968). He had 24 players earn all-league honors while nine received All-America accolades. Fairbanks also coached the 1969 Heisman Trophy winner, running back Steve Owens. In bowl games at OU, he posted a 3-1-1 record with the Sooners playing in a pair of Sugar and Astro-Bluebonnet bowls, and one Orange Bowl. Fairbanks was the first OU coach to use the wishbone formation, a triple option offensive attack that Texas used on its way to the 1969 national title. The wishbone became the backbone of OU’s offensive dynasty for the next 20 years. In 1973, Fairbanks left OU to coach in the NFL for the New England Patriots. During his six-year tenure as the Patriots’ head coach, Fairbanks set a club record with 46 wins. The Patriots also won two division titles in the American Football Conference’s East division (1978 and shared in 1976). In 1978, Colorado began its battle to get Fairbanks as head coach, despite his four remaining years with the Patriots. After more than three months of legal battles between the Patriots and Buffaloes, the two factions agreed on a settlement that released Fairbanks from his NFL contract and allowed him to take over the helm at Colorado. He remained with the Buffaloes for three years. Fairbanks began his coaching career at Ishpeming High School in Michigan. From there, he went to Arizona State and Houston before coming to OU as a defensive backfield coach in 1966. As a player at Michigan State, Fairbanks played offensive end on the Spartans’ 1952 national championship team. In 1954, he concluded his playing career by earning a berth in the Blue-Gray All-Star game.
COMPOSITE RECORD
Alma Mater Coached Michigan State 6 yrs.
W 52
L 15
T 1
Pct. .772
OU Pts. 2142
OU Avg. 31.5
Opp. Pts. 1136
Opp. Avg. 16.7
YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
366
Year 1967 1968 1969
W 10 7 6
L 1 4 4
T 0 0 0
Pct. .909 .636 .600
OU Pts. Opp. Pts. 290 92 343 225 285 289
1970 1971
7 11
4 1
1 0
.625 .917
305 534
239 217
1972
11
1
0
.917
385
74
Captains Bob Kalsu, Del City, Okla. Bob Warmack, Ada, Okla.; John Titsworth, Heavener, Okla. Steve Zabel, Thornton, Colo.; Steve Owens, Miami, Okla.; Jim Files, Fort Smith, Ark.; Ken Mendenhall, Enid, Okla. Monty Johnson, Amarillo, Texas; Steve Casteel, Garland, Texas Jack Mildren, Abilene, Texas; Glenn King, Jacksboro, Texas; Steve Aycock, Midland, Texas Tom Brahaney, Midland, Texas; Greg Pruitt, Houston, Texas