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Former Oklahoma football coach John Blake dies

By Chip Rouse

2 Nov 1996: Oklahoma Sooners head coach John Blake confers with an official during a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Nebraska won the game, 73-21.
2 Nov 1996: Oklahoma Sooners head coach John Blake confers with an official during a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Nebraska won the game, 73-21. /
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Former Oklahoma football player and head coach John Blake died Thursday of a heart attack, reportedly while walking. He was 59 year old.

Blake’s death was confirmed to several Oklahoma news outlets by former Sooner head coach, Barry Switzer, who recruited and coached Blake at OU.

A native of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, near Tulsa, Blake was a nose guard on the Oklahoma football team from 1979-1982. He was a defensive line coach and linebackers coach for four seasons (1989-1992) under Gary Gibbs, who replaced Switzer.

Blake left OU for several seasons (1993-1995) to become defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, but was named head coach of the Sooners in 1996 following Howard Schnellenberger’s one-year head-coaching stint in Norman. He was the first African-American to serve as head coach in any Sooner sport.

Blake started off his head-coaching career with four straight losses to open the 1996 season. That had not happened to an OU football team since 1961. His first win, however, soothed over some of the open wound. The Sooners defeated Texas 30-27 for one of just three wins that first season under Blake.

In three seasons serving as the Oklahoma head coach, Blake never enjoyed a winning season, something highly uncharacteristic of an Oklahoma football team. He was 12-22 coaching the Sooners. Oklahoma had not suffered three consecutive losing seasons since 1922-1924.

Many of the players Blake recruited, however, formed the backbone of Bob Stoops’ 2000 national championship team.

Blake took a few years off away from football after being replaced at OU. He later served as defensive line coach at Mississippi State, Nebraska and North Carolina. His final year in coaching was in 2016 as defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills.

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