Tulsa Answers Loss of a Head Coach with Bold Statement

The week of January 8, 2007 will go down as one of the most exciting and dramatic in Golden Hurricane history.

Late on Sunday night, rumors began to swirl that Louisville coach Bobby Petrino had left for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons (a move that to many Golden Hurricane fans rekindles the vision of Lon Kruger heading to the NBA, paving the way for Bill Self to go to the Illinois Fighting Illini).

By Monday, most Tulsa fans had resigned themselves to losing head coach Steve Kragthorpe to Louisville. Kragthorpe has a well-known friendship with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich and there is one rumor that he had been introduced as the next coach at Louisville during the Kentucky Derby. Kragthorpe was introduced as the head coach at Louisville on Tuesday afternoon. Apparently, he had a long-term agreement to accept the Louisville job if it ever came open.

Kragthorpe was a fan favorite in Tulsa and few fans, if any, held any contempt for his departure. He revived a dying program and under his watch, TU made its first stadium improvements in decades (a new end zone building) with additional plans for more work to be done on the Golden Hurricane’s antique home field, Skelly Stadium. He took Tulsa to three bowl games ( Tulsa hadn’t been to a bowl for 12 years before his arrival) and won a league championship in Tulsa’s first season in Conference USA. Kragthorpe was one of the most well respected people in the Tulsa community and a great ambassador for the program.

On Tuesday, another story broke—first year Rice head coach (and former Tulsa defensive coordinator) Todd Graham had signed an extension. This seemed to quell any doubt that Graham would receive an offer from Tulsa. Early speculation surrounded names that had appeared as possibilities for the Tulsa job in the past, such as Illinois State head coach (and Tulsa alum) Denver Johnson and former Miami head coach Larry Coker.

Late Thursday afternoon, a Houston television station posted an article that Graham had been offered the Tulsa job and was mulling it over. By Thursday night, the internet was abuzz with fans attempting to guess if Graham was on a private jet between Houston and Tulsa. Within hours, news reached Tulsa that Todd Graham had accepted the offer at Tulsa.

This in turn set off a firestorm of coverage and commentary. The Houston Chronicle, as well as a number of Rice fans, expressed outrage that a fellow conference mate would steal their coach. Rumors swirled as to Graham’s contract ( Tulsa never releases much information on contracts, but it is believed to be around $1.1 million a year). TU fans are obviously sympathetic, having lost so many basketball and football coaches over the years (Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, Bill Self, and John Cooper).

In Tulsa, there was a lot of excitement and shock. Few thought Tulsa would be able to lure Graham away and fewer expected Tulsa to act so quickly. That said, Graham was known for his energy and attitude while a defensive coordinator on Tulsa’s staff under Kragthorpe. Some even speculated that his absence this past season contributed to a less energetic and dynamic defense (while Tulsa’s defense played very well at times, it often seemed like something was missing and indeed Tulsa saw a dramatic decline in its turnover ratio from the Liberty Bowl season).

Graham also helped recruit a lot of Tulsa’s native Texan-heavy roster.

Graham was never officially introduced at TU on Friday and a massive ice storm forced his airplane to divert to Kansas City. No one was quite sure what to think about his staff or his future recruiting.

By late Saturday night, it had become public that West Virginia tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Herb Hand would be Tulsa’s offensive co-coordinator. Other names soon appeared. Former Tulsa Union High School coach ( Tulsa alum and local legend) Bill Blankenship will coach receivers. Former Rice assistant Dean Jackson will coach tight ends. Former Rice Assistant Danny Phillips will coach linebackers and serve as defensive co-coordinator. Bo Graham (Todd’s son) will coach safeties. Former Tulsa and Rice assistant Jason Jones will coach cornerbacks. Former Tulsa player Jess Leopp will coach outside linebackers and serve as recruiting coordinator. Yancy McKnight will take over as strength and conditioning coach.

Despite a new staff, most agree that this staff has enough familiarity with Tulsa’s roster that there will not be a major drop-off in progress for the program. Moreover, the staff may be able to spice things up a bit and add a missing ingredient to a team that many felt underachieved in 2006.

Sunday night, the coaching story became surreal. With no fanfare, Tulsa’s KOTV Sunday Sportsblitz reported that Arkansas offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was headed to Tulsa as co-offensive coordinator. In 2005, Malzahn was the head coach of Arkansas Springdale High School’s nationally renowned team. He is known as a guru of the spread offense and was hired by Arkansas in order to obtain commitments from nationally ranked players like quarterback Mitch Mustain and tight end Ben Cleveland. Rivals.com ranked Malzahn as a top national coordinator. With little evidence other than hearsay accounts of the television show, many Arkansas fans dismissed the story.

By Monday morning, the story had grown legs. One Arkansas television station reported that Tulsa was going to pay Malzahn his same salary from Arkansas. Eventually ESPN.com picked up the story and posted it on its front page. Local sports radio stations in Tulsa that are often highly critical of Tulsa’s commitment to collegiate athletics as the smallest school in Division I-A were singing its praises.

On the day that Todd Graham arrived at TU, a story goes that Steve Kragthorpe asked for his car keys. Graham tossed him his keys and then asked why Coach K needed them. Kragthorpe explained that he took them so that once Graham got a low-down on the facilities, he wouldn’t leave.

That same coach that Kragthorpe was worried about losing on his first day on the job has become the head coach of a program he helped revive. While many rivals will contend that Tulsa can start counting its days with a coach like Graham, you have to admit that Tulsa has made a bold statement with this hire, both financially and programmatically.

Tulsa will run a wide-open spread offense to go with a dynamic and fast defense. For a program that had trouble finding a coach before Kragthorpe came to town, it has come a long way in a short time. In attempts to keep building the program, it has pulled off a couple of the most exciting decisions in its long football history. A Tulsa fan can ask for nothing more.