Wanting your children to grow up to be … Sooners

Sporting News, The, August 19, 1996 by Stan Dorsey

Reality No. 3. Nine. That's the number of passes the Sooners' returning wide receivers corralled last season. Blake says he plans to lean heavily on All-Big Eight tight end Stephen Alexander to catch most of the passes and even plans on playing him at wide receiver on occasion. But other receivers will have to step up, otherwise opposing defenses will ignore the impotent passing game and instead focus their attention on ...

Reality No. 4. The Sooners' running game, though not weak by any means, rests on the hope that senior tailback James Allen can regain the form that made him the first true freshman in OU history to start a season opener at tailback. Since Allen's memorable break-through in 1993, the emergence of recently departed Jerald Moore led to decreased carries, yardage, playing time and confidence for Allen. The stage is his again, and he'll need to perform.

Reality No. 5. Blake knows the secondary will be "another major concern for me and the coaching staff." Running teams will press the corners and passing teams will test them deep.

Blake will rely on his fatherly approach to relate to a group of kids he knows "need to have somebody watching and guarding over them and telling them what to do and what not to do."

"I can show them the way to success," he says with an evangelical sincerity befitting a man who may be looking for a few miracles this season. "If they listen, they'll be better people and better players. They will have selfesteem. I don't know how many coaches truly pay attention. But I do. It's baby-sitting. All of them are like little boys. They all pout. They all want attention. It's little things, personal things, family problems. They want to know that I care about them more personally than I do as athletes."

On the field, Blake has drawn positive reactions from players for his demonstrative, emotional approach to coaching, his omnipresence during practice sessions and his knowledge of the whole game despite his mostly defensive background.

Some former coaching acquaintances question his style, as well as his ability to be successful as a head coach. But former Cowboys defensive linemen Russell Maryland and Jimmie Jones see things differently.

"He's definitely a hands-on coach. The first word that comes to mind is `rapport,' " Maryland says. "You would think he is one of the players."

Says Jones, also reflecting on Blake's years with Dallas: "If he goes in there and works his players the way he did and was able to see coach (Jimmy) Johnson and (assistant coach Butch) Davis do, he'll be able to come out with a good result."

By all accounts, he has done that so far. Blake stepped up offseason workouts in hopes of getting the most out of what some feel is mediocre talent and has increased the contact and intensity of full-pads practices to prepare his younger players for their early baptisms. Alexander and Allen say that never before have they seen so many players in Norman working out over the summer, and both feel the mind-set of the team is more positive than at any point during Gibbs' or Schnellenberger's stay.