John P. Scott: Bud Wilkinson and the Rise of Oklahoma Football, Kartoniert / Broschiert

Klappentext

At the end of World War II, the nation's top college football programs looked much as they do today-with one notable exception: University of Oklahoma. In 1947, Bud Wilkinson was named head coach, launching a remarkable transformation that carried Oklahoma from mediocrity to national prominence. Drawing on interviews with Wilkinson, former university president George L. Cross, and numerous former players, John Scott offers an authoritative, behind-the-scenes account of this ascent. Scott traces Wilkinson's teams from 1947 to 1963, illuminating the philosophies and strategies that reshaped the program. Vivid, close-up accounts of key games bring to life both the tactical precision and the personalities that defined Oklahoma football. He chronicles the Sooners' legendary 47-game winning streak and memorable contests against storied rivals, while also examining pivotal moments off the field, including Wilkinson's role in integrating OU athletics and the infamous 1959 Chicago food-poisoning incident. Before his death in 1994, Wilkinson reviewed an early draft, praising its clarity and insight: "The explanations of football strategies are concise and clear. They rank among the best I have ever read." Enriched with portraits of Wilkinson's coaching contemporaries, Bud Wilkinson and the Rise of Oklahoma Football captures the drama of Oklahoma's emergence and stands as both an engaging narrative and a definitive history of a transformative era in college football.