Barry Switzer jokes his age got him nod as Oklahoma's inaugural SEC football legend

There are few football coaches alive as accomplished as former Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer. And his resume evidently made Switzer an easy pick for the Sooners to put forth in the 2024 class of SEC football legends.

While there are certainly jokes to be made about Switzer being considered among the SEC legends — Oklahoma is only just in the league for the first time this year — his status as a college football legend is hard to argue. From national championships to Super Bowls and coaching Heisman Trophy winners, Switzer is as accomplished as they come.

But speaking with Paul Finebaum on the talking head’s self-named show, Switzer quipped that Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and others only picked him because he’s 87 years old. He recalled an interaction with Castiglione at a reunion dinner for national championship teams from mid-1970s.

“I was sitting off to the side and he turned to me and said, ‘You’re going to be our legend in the SEC,’ and I said, ‘Hell, the only reason you’re doing that is I’m the oldest guy that’s still living that coached here. And that’s what I have to be, the reason why,'” Switzer said. “But, ‘No it’s not, it’s because all the players and coaches and what we can attribute our tradition at Oklahoma, and we had some great teams back in that era.'”

Switzer, during his time at Oklahoma, was as dominant as coaches come.

The Sooners went 157-29-4 under his leadership, going 100-11-1 in conference play, in the Big 8 every year. He won three national championships and 12 titles in the Big 8, and coached Heisman winner Billy Sims.

But Switzer gave the credit to his players, and an unlikely place.

“Well Paul, what happened is that I came around at the right time and I did the right thing at the right time,” Switzer said. “I was recruiting all the best players at all positions, and a lot of coaches weren’t doing that. This is in the ’70s, I was recruiting Black quarterbacks, playing for me in ’72. The SEC and the Southwest Conference weren’t even recruiting Black players at all positions, they were recruiting some skill guys and all. But, no, I was doing the right thing and I was dominant, and Texas, Texas is a great recruiting area. And south of the Red River is only about 80 miles, 90 miles from here. So I spent a lot of time down there getting a lot of great football players in that state, and that’s why we were successful.

“Oklahoma wouldn’t have the tradition in college football if it wasn’t for the state of Texas, I promise you.”