Bennie Owen

Oklahoma had been playing football for a decade, without much distinction, before Bernie Owen arrived in 1905. That quickly changed when OU went 7-2 that season, an omen of greatness to come.

Owen coached at OU for 22 years, longer than anyone else in school history. His teams endured only three losing seasons, going undefeated four times. His career record would wind up at 122-54-16, a .693 winning percentage, and would outscore their opponents by an average of 26.5 to 7.3. He was OU's athletic director from 1907-1934 and was instrumental in the building of Memorial Stadium and the OU Field House.

Owen's unending bonds with his players established an excellent rapport and constant devotion to goals and ideals, vital ingredients in his coaching success. He utilized smaller, faster athletes against bigger, stronger teams. A trademark that would soon be synonymous with Oklahoma football.

He was one of the first coaches to utilize a change in the rules concerning the direct snap from center. Before 1910, the first back to touch the ball after the snap could not run inside the tackles. The rule changed allowed the runner to go forward anywhere along the line of scrimmage. This change added immeasurable variety, deception and scoring to the running offense. For years, most defenses broke down before it.

His understanding of the significant change was to radically alter the entire pattern of Oklahoma's offense and elevate the Sooners from a position of mediocrity to that of a first-rate football power.

Owen was voted into the National Football Hall of Fame with its original class of inductees in 1951.