Oklahoma football coaching legend Barry Switzer is having himself a banner week. On Wednesday, Switzer ripped Johnny Manziel for being an “arrogant little prick” while at the same time praising him for his incredible ability. Roughly 24 hours later, the 76-year-old was talking about how he would never recruit a white quarterback.
Toward the end of his interview with Nashville Sports Radio on Thursday, Switzer was asked to elaborate on some of the positive things he has said about Manziel’s game. He somehow got into how he would never recruit a white quarterback.
“I love his ability,” Switzer said of Manziel. “I’ve always said I’d never recruit a white quarterback. The only way I’d recruit a white quarterback to play for me is his mom and daddy would both have to be black, and that’s the only way I’d do it.
“My offense is a quarterback-fullback offense — a wishbone offense. I’d have to have a Jamelle Holieway, JC Watts and Thomas Lott (former Oklahoma QBs). Those guys are gonna be my quarterbacks — great runners, great ball carriers and be able to pass. Those guys could throw and run.”
Following his aside, Switzer then went on to talk about how he would have a long talk with Manziel if he was an NFL representative that was considering drafting him.
I think — and I’m just guessing here — that Switzer was trying to say that Manziel has proved his theory about black vs. white quarterbacks wrong. I’m pretty sure Switzer was admitting that Manziel can do all of the things he previously believed only black quarterbacks were capable of. Either way, you can see why someone would interpret the comments as racism.
The interview is below, with the relevant portion beginning at about the 17:25 mark.
