Barry Switzer tells it like it is about Sooners' recent struggles and loathed Red River rivals

There is no name better associated with Oklahoma football past and present than that of legendary former Sooner head coach Barry Switzer.

As a guest on the SEC Network's Paul Finebaum Show this week, Switzer was asked about all that's gone wrong for Oklahoma this season, including the coaching staff change this week. The popular former head coach said the Sooners have fallen "short in a lot of areas" and a quick fix doesn't appear to be in the cards.

Switzer acknowledged that the OU offense -- something that he has special interest and expertise in as a former offensive coordinator and the coach who had the greatest success with the Wishbone offense -- has been the team's biggest disappointment this season and is not living up to Oklahoma football standards.

"Defensively, we're probably a lot better than we are offensively," Switzer said. "We're short (on the) offensive line, with running backs, receivers, quarterback -- every area of the offense needs help. And its gonna take a while to get there."

No one liked beating the Sooners' biggest rival, Texas, more than Switzer. He did so nine times, along with a pair of tied games, in his 16 seasons as head coach, The former head coach, however has serious reservations about OU's ability to keep pace with the rival Longhorns in future recruiting and the new era of NIL (name, image and likeness).

"I question whether we can compete with Texas every year (in the NIL bidding war)," Switzer told Finebaum. "They can raise more money than we can. We're a small state. We've only got 3.5 million people, and it's gonna be more difficult than it is for the University of Texas, where they've got 35 million people.

Switzer was one of the co-founders in 2022 of 1Oklahoma. That NIL collective later came together with the Crimson and Cream collective and the Sooner Nation collective.

Also this week, Switzer was named to the 2024 SEC Football Legends class. The 2024 class consists of "16 former stars who excelled on the football field and helped write the rich history of the sport at their respective institutions," according to a press release issued by the OU athletic department.

Switzer was directly affiliated with OU football as head coach from 1973 to 1988 and as offensive coordinator before that from 1966 through 1972.