Jim Lookabaugh

Jim Lookabaugh, head football coach at Oklahoma A & M from 1939-1949, led his teams to three bowl championships (1945 Cotton Bowl, 1946 Sugar Bowl and 1948 Delta Bowl) and produced All-Americans such as Bob Fenimore and Neill Armstrong. Under his guidance, his 1945 team was the only undefeated team in the school’s history.

Lookabaugh was also a multi-faceted athlete before his coaching days, lettering in baseball, basketball and football at Oklahoma A & M, while earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Before his coaching position at A & M, Lookabaugh coached at Jet High School from 1925-1929. He later coached at Capitol Hill High School from 1930-1938.

In 1949, he resigned from A & M and moved back to Oklahoma City where he worked in real estate development and opened his own tire business in 1950. From 1955-1959 he served as the state’s Commissioner of Public Safety. Lookabaugh has been inducted into the Oklahoma State University Alumni Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame, Oklahoma State University Track Hall of Fame and the National Football Hall of Fame.

Lookabaugh served as president of the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce in 1969 and became a Lifetime Director in 1977. He was also president of the Oklahoma Arthritis/Rheumatism Foundation for three terms, chairman of the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority, Oklahoma Coaches Association and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation among many others.

Born June 16, 1902 in Watonga, Lookabaugh graduated from Watonga High School in 1919. He married Bernice La Grow in 1927 and had three sons. He died May 13, 1982.