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Tales from Oklahoma State Football | 
 enlarge | Author: Pat Jones
Creator: Jimmie Tramel
Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $8.00
You Save: $11.95 (60%)
New (23) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $0.17
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 330944
Format: Illustrated
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 185
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1596702117
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332630976634
EAN: 9781596702110
ASIN: 1596702117
Publication Date: August 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand New Gift Quality Book - No Remainder Marks
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Product Description
What happens when two of the best running backs in NFL history are on the same college campus at the same time? You win a lot of games, of course.Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas were teammates at Oklahoma State in the 1980s, when the Cowboys made history by producing three 10-win seasons in a five-year span.Pat Jones spent 11 seasons as Oklahoma States head coach and five seasons as a Cowboy assistant under Jimmy Johnson, who would later become an NCAA champion at Miami (Florida) and a Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys. Jones, who had the pleasure of coaching Thomas and Sanders, accumulated as many behind-the-scenes OSU football stories as Sanders and Jones accumulated yards. Jones shares his recollections in this book, which provides insight into one of the most exciting 10-year periods in Cowboy football history. The book details Johnsons five-year stay in Stillwater and the first five years of the Jones era, including Sanders Heisman Trophy season in 1988. What role did Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have in steering OSUs football fortunes? What happened to allow OSU to contend for a national title in 1984? How did a lightly recruited and soft-spoken kid from Wichita, Kansas, come out of nowhere to produce the greatest season by a running back in college football history? Pat Jones answers those questions and tells you how the Cowboys caught lightning in a bottle
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| Customer Reviews:
 Entertaining September 8, 2008
As an OSU alumnus and student during much of this time period, this book was a great insider's peek. It has some very interesting trivia about how many of the players and coaches came to OSU during those times, which was great to learn. It was a quick read because of its content, but also because of its writing style.
The dialog in the book is very conversational. The writing is hardly difficult to read, so any age group could whip through this book. Something I missed, intentionally I assume, were many of the seemingly private jokes and asides. Pat describes many situations more like we were there and are merely reminiscing as opposed to learning for the first time. His sections on the recruiting violations come across like he is protecting someone; he certainly knows much more than he divulges!
This is a great book if you were a fan during those times, or if you have any passing interest on how Barry Sanders got to OSU, why those teams were so exciting and how they evolved.
More info please December 27, 2007
Because I'm a huge Pat Jones and an OSU fan, this book was entertaining. But it left me wanting more. For example, the coach says QB Ronnie Williams had as much arm strength as Dan Marino and he was tough as nails. A few pages later Pat Jones replaces Williams with Mike Gundy, and he never really says why made the move. In the coach's defense, he moved Williams to wide receiver and that's the position he played in the NFL. There were a few neat anecdotes, such as a freshman player committing suicide and how the seniors, including Leslie O'Neil, became top-notch leaders; and how Scott Verplank, a former OSU golfer and current pro, gave some fans the finger when he was on the sideline. Pat also described how he tried to protect Barry Sanders from the media and fans during his '88 Heisman run. Pat even prevented Bob Costas from getting an interview with Sanders after he received the award.
All through the book, Pat comes off as a nice guy who loved his players and didn't even mind the likes of instate rival and OU coach Barry Switzer and Texas A&M Coach R.C. Slocum. This is really the only book out there that chronicles OSU football. Hopefully, there will be another OSU book out soon.
 Coach was..... September 13, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
for want of better words was "a helluva football coach," and equally as funny as Lou Holtz. At Oklahoma State, he often operated with one bullet in his gun, not unlike Barney Fife, but he was good football man and a great guy to listen too. Jimmy Trammel is a well recognized sportswriter for the Tulsa World.
Pat Jones was assistant at Arkansas and Pitt, part of the Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt, Butch Davis et al staff. When Johnson left us in the lurch at OSU (clouds of NCAA probation looming on the horizon) by booking for Miami, coach inherited a doomed program. But for a brief season or two, when he had the players his was a top 10 program nationally. He later coached for about 10 years for the Miami Dolphins.
Great read.
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