Switzer visits Children's Hospital

Barry Switzer coached three Oklahoma teams to national championships and won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.

Thursday he was trying his hand at Wii football with the young patients at Omaha's Children's Hospital & Medical Center.

Switzer, in town to speak at a Thursday banquet before today's Boomer Esaison Foundation Nebraska Golf Classic, took time to speak about college football, golf and a Wii showdown with Tom Osborne.

A portion of the interview:

What would you have done if you were coaching during the Internet age, with all these message boards?

What do they call them, blogs? Oh, I would have got on them. I'm sure I would have written something back. I'd have been a ghost writer. I'd love it. I'm kind of thick-skinned, I'm a pachyderm. Things like that didn't bother me. I usually thrived on stuff like that.

You have some experience with the Wii?

I've had three back surgeries, so I'm not very good at movement. If it's a movement game, I'm in trouble.

Do you think Nebraska is on the cusp of returning to the elite of the Big 12?

I don't know. It depends on how the recruiting goes. You got to recruit consistently well every year. ... You got to recruit skilled players, good players at all positions, both sides of the ball. Oklahoma and Texas (are) the only two teams in this league that have been able to do that, be as good on both sides of the ball. The Nebraska job, I've always said, is a tougher job, because of the proximity to talent. (Oklahoma coach Bob) Stoops is fortunate. He's got the Red River, which has got Texas south of there, 1,600 high schools that play football, great high school football ...

You've got to import players. Nebraska doesn't produce enough players to compete every year consistently. Oklahoma doesn't; that's why they have to go to Texas.

So you got to bring players in from wherever you've got to bring them in. You've got to bring them in past a lot of good schools.

How good a coach is Bo Pelini?

I can't tell you. I know he was at Oklahoma, and I knew the coaches there believed he was a good coach and did a good job for them. Until you live in someone's house and spend 16 hours a day with them every day, that's the only way you know who they are, and how they are, and what they are.

Are Big 12 offenses that good, or are the defenses a little shaky with all the high-scoring offenses in the conference these days?

No, I think it's the systems that they use today. Tom and I would have taken the ball, and we'd take it about eight minutes, go score a touchdown, kick off, and get it back. And we'd take it for another about eight minutes, and we'd be in the middle of the second quarter, and we'd be leading 14 to nothing. It wouldn't be high-scoring, but we would control the clock and have it for about 40 minutes, and y'all have it for 20. We'd have the game out of reach by the time y'all scored a few.

How's your golf game?

I can't swing a golf club. I've had three back surgeries. I can't even walk straight up, much less bend over and put a ball on a tee. I enjoy doing other things, spending time with my grandkids. I've got a bunch of them in Norman.

You were saying you played video games with your grandkids. Primarily sports games?

Yeah, probably ... I can't ever beat them, so I give up in a hurry.

Do you think you could beat Tom Osborne in a Wii football game?

I don't know if Tom Osborne's ever played a game of that. I'll bet you he hasn't. I'll bet I've spent more time at it than he has.

— John Keenan, 444-1074, john.keenan@owh.com

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