His teams were perpetually competing for championships as he continuously ran circles and scampered around players who were markedly bigger and stronger. (Sooner Magic) was born before me, but to be a part of it, to have a game or two in Sooner Magic, (was great).. Holieway signed with the Sooners and arrived on campus in the summer of 1985. Keith Jacksons TD in the 85 natty was a thing of beauty. That accomplishment is underrated in Sooner Lore. It really does when you're playing sports.''. People say he cant play QBhe is from los Angeles like Jamelle and about the same size..well im gona but him in the option bone and I formation and see what people think then. Holieway threw a 71-yard touchdown pass in that game to All-American tight end Keith Jackson. After his rec league season was over, Ferragamo approached Holieway and said, Everybodys been telling me that youre a really good player and that I need to get you out on the field with us. ''He keeps his composure when the game is really tough, and they win. But a string of injuries during summer and early fall practices had bumped him up to second-string. Holieway was the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to the national title.[1]. There wasnt anything I didnt know about attacking a defense with the option. Five plays later, following an Oklahoma time out, Holieway threw to the goal line to tight end Keith Jackson for a 17-yard touchdown. ''He believed in me as a baby, as a young man, and I was up here with grown men,'' Holieway said. Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. So, how much is Jamelle Holieway worth at the age of 55 years old? Him just talking and getting people together was really amazing., September 6, 1986; Norman, OK, USA; FILE PHOTO; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jamelle Holieway (4) in action against the UCLA Bruins. Ferragamo gave Holieway and his best friend, Leroy Holt, Bannings fullback, the keys to the team film room during the season. And suddenly, an 18-year-old freshman from Los Angeles was the all-Big 8 quarterback and tasked with fulfilling his teams preseason No. Thats what catapulted me to some good stuff, said Holieway. Since then he has learned that he has heart disease and only about 15% of his heart is functioning. You couldnt make that pivotal mistake. ''I think of how hard it is for any quarterback to do it (win a national title),'' Holieway said. And here I am, just a little 18-year-old snotty-nosed freshman. I could see stuff from afar. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports. I wish him the best! My first time I saw Joe Washington with those silver shoes, I am like, Aw, man, that is sweet. You cant jump offsides when it is 4th and 1. It was remarkable because my mom and them got to see at home. Against the Sooners fierce, top-ranked defense during fall practices, Holieway had been successful in marching a team of back-ups up and down the field. About a month ago he found out that he had a heart attack at some time. He goes on and on about Barry Switzer. He is the former OU quarterback, the wishbone legend, and in 1985, he became the first true freshman since at least the leather-helmet days to quarterback a team to a national title. At the time, 5-foot-9, 175-pound Sooner Jamelle Holieway was on the sideline doing what he did best. I got to step in and run my stuff. Outside of his athleticism, Holieway had a deeper understanding ofthe strategiesand rhythms for attacking defenses than mostother kids. Holieway had hoped for a chance to voice his appreciation for Hurts' game. Middle class blacks scattered as well and in the early 1970s, the areas manufacturing base began an abrupt decline. And then he goes and breaks his leg and I get to go in. And I would have given it all I could. But during his recruitment, USC told him that they didnt want him as a quarterback or running back. 2 talking about this. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). ', Holieway also ranks first in program history in number of fur coats worn on the sideline with one, set during the victorious 1987 Oklahoma-Nebraska Game of the Century II clash in Lincoln, Neb.#Sooners https://t.co/AZe52GJby1 pic.twitter.com/DMgokqg4G4, Douglas Miles (@douglasmilesCRG) August 30, 2022. Dont know if hes going to shake all his demons. The Sooners beat the Bruins 38-3. i agree, jamelle holieway is one of the greatest, most exciting college players of all time. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports, Coach (Switzer) said, Ah! we played one European Cup Match against the Hamburg Blue Devils, and our coach was James Brooks (former Bengals running back). I am playing with grown men that have babies. They did. Jamelle Holieway is considered one of the greatest option quarterbacks in NCAA Division I-A history. I dont care who is the coach, we know we put on that crimson and cream. I got in and I just matriculated down the field and I only got applause when we got the touchdown. At Oklahoma, he took over for an injured Troy Aikman in his freshman year in the Miami game when Jerome Brown and Dan Sileo broke Aikman's leg. That tide would soon shift, as Miami was on its way to becoming one of the most iconic, menacing and controversial programs in college football history. Miami led by as many as 20 points that day in its 27-14 victory. 1 Nebraska. Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. Coach Ferragamo would set up the projector for us and we would watch a ton of film, said Holieway. He attends most of the Oklahoma home games where occasionally you will catch him signing autographs for sooner fans and talking trash to the opposing teams fans. I pushed myself. Maybe Holieway felt invincible in Oklahoma. Holieways college photograph is still displayed in the Banning weight room. So you stay away from there and you stay away from strangers. An Aikman-led victory over Texas (14-7) set the stage for the well-documented October 19 visit from unranked Miami. Hed considered many other schools, including Oregon, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Colorado. Sign up to receive The Shadow League Newsletter in your inbox. GO BIG RED! In our practice film, I was taught if I saw their free safety start cheating over coming to the tight end, if that safety starts moving from the middle of the field down to the box, he is going to come on the blitz, Holieway said. I use his highlight film to inspire a young man that plays on an adult semi pro team that i coach in the bay area. He is having some very serious heart issues right now. Holieway still credits Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer for showing confidence in him. (Photo by Bernstein Associates/Getty Images), I was playing against my best friend, Leroy Holt, who was a starting fullback for USC, Holieway said. Hurts has only spoken to reporters once so far this season and isn't expected to be available until next week before the Peach Bowl. 22, scoot over and start coming down and I just said, Red, red, Y Go, Y Go and that means, (Oklahoma tight end) Keith (Jackson), go run as fast as you can down the middle of the field and I am going to throw it as far as I can and hopefully we connect. That is how that play came about., 88 days until Sooner football. OU legend Jamelle Holieway understands Caleb Williams' early success, Spencer Rattler's fall from QB1. But with 9:18 remaining in the half, everything changed in an instant. We understood every situation based on how a defense played us. Holieways mother, Charlie Mae Evans, worked three jobs to support him when he was growing up in South Central Los Angeles. Holieway led the Sooners to an 1110 record under Coach Barry Switzer and won the 1986 Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions for the national championship. And I had some success in moving the ball against them. He was by far the best wishbone quarterback every to play the game. Holieway, now 49 and living in Quinton, Oklahoma, has enjoyed watching Hurts from afar and sees similarities in their skills and situations. With future All-American linebacker Shane Conlan shadowing him on every play, Holieway never got his run game off the ground (12 carries, one yard). To me, he is more famous than Brian bosworth. a brown fur coat. The injury plagued Holieway for the remainder of the 1988 season, and he eventually lost his starting job to Charles Thompson. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports, Well then, going in to the watch the film, my coach (Switzer) reassured me of one thing: You cant play that sandlot football against Texas, Nebraska, against Miami. On the last play of the regular season, Thompson broke his leg in a 7-3 home loss to seventh-ranked Nebraska. Coach Switzer always told us, If it is not for the fans, then who the hell are we? On that afternoon of October 19 th in 1985, when Jamelle Holieway stepped into the crucible of the Miami game, replacing an injured Troy Aikman in the second quarter, his teammates didn't sense . I just left high school and now were on TV? You get your dream, you get to start one last game,' Holieway said. Oklahoma quarterback Jamelle Holieway (4) looks for an open man during a game against Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1986. Ligament and cartilage damage ended his season, but Holieway was enough of an asset moral-wise that Switzer brought him with the team to Lincoln for the second-ranked Sooners matchup with No. ''The part that entered my mind was, `It's your time.' 13 Clemson. The early 1990s-era Oklahoma Sooners player was part of an alumni-led, word-of-mouth effort to fulfill the wishes of new Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables, who implored the fan base to show up to last Aprils Oklahoma spring game and stressed that former players, no matter the era, were not only welcome back but would be instrumental in what Venables was set to build in Norman. Regardless of how his life has gone in the days since his Sooner glory, Jamelle Holieway should always be remembered as one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time. The win returned the Sooners to the top of the rankings and set the stage for another Orange Bowl matchup, this time against No. They were on a mission, returning a statuesque, rifle-armed sophomore quarterback that had given the team a new dimension that it had previously lacked: a potent passing attack. That humbles me and makes me appreciate what I did back then, and they still remember that. One of his favorite adventures was taking the two buses over to The Forum, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, and sneaking into the games. This is how long we have to practice.'. creation festival 1997 lineup. The Holieway-led Sooners would go on an epic run through the 1985 season, winning their next seven games after the Miami loss. My foot went inside the turf and it slid, so it just took all of the traction out of the bottom. He has right leg sticking out, I have got my left leg sticking out of the car and we are just riding around practice the whole time.. Man, Im always talking, said Holieway. I could see stuff coming., Not well enough to stay out of trouble. In Oklahoma, it was totally different. I didnt know any different, Holieway said. NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Jamelle Holieway dazzled the college football world as a true freshman who mastered Oklahoma's dynamic wishbone attack and led the Sooners to the 1985 national championship. After Jerome Brown, who was a beast by the way, sacked Troy, I heard Coach Switzer yell out, Jamelle Holieway! Simpson. He opened the door, I gave it to him, and he said, Thanks Kid. While not technically wrong, the first sentence in the above paragraph is awkward, to say the least. That is not going to work, Holieway recalled. Who is the greatest freshman Sooner of all time? He led the Oklahoma Sooners to a national championship in 1985. Young Jamelle was always active and in the street either riding bikes or playing games like Kick-the-Can. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Sooners started at their own 34-yard line with 50 seconds left, but only got to their 45 with just 18 remaining ticks on the clock. On the ensuing play, a 35-yard Holieway completion to receiver Derrick Shepard (decd. He remembers the knock on black quarterbacks in the old days, that they weren't smart enough to lead. He walked off towards his car and forgot his bag. When we would scrimmage, Eric would make some big ol play and these runs and the crowd would go wild and be cheering, Holieway remembered. Beginning at their own six-yard-line, the Sooners marched 94 yards, including a 4th-and-1 attempt at their own 15 where a Holieway fumble was negated by a Nebraska face mask penalty. Went to Banning High, Banning CA. And the rest will take care of itself.. It must have been a grueling wait for the coaches, players and the fan base. His decision to play for the Sooners came at the last minute, as he had a three-year-old sister that he didn't want to leave behind. Highly recruited from Banning High School in Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, under longtime head coach Chris Ferragamo, Holieway attracted interest from a swarm of schools. Switzers background was unique, and his rapport with African-American playersunequaled. It is not all about the cheering. I am like, That must be a cool-ass coach because he is letting these individual people be individuals, but they are still playing good football on the field.. With Oklahomas stingy defense going up against a team averaging close to 40 points per game, something was bound to give. To me, that is some good stuff for your mama to believe in you when you are 15 years old, and it is only me and her.. The Canes arrived with the countrys top-ranked offense in tow, led by quarterback Vinny Testaverde, running backs Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton, and a gangster wide receiving corps headlined by Michael Irvin and Brian Blades. Even though Holieway chased his football dream even after OU he played in Canada, in Europe and in the minor leagues he always came back to Oklahoma. She let us go in there to talk, but instead of sitting on the couch, Coach Switzer laid down on the floor. We will get together once a year in September, but not this year, at my moms house, and when people know that I am coming into town, we will have a five-day party. Even with the prolific quarterbacks that arrived on campus with the hire of Bob Stoops as head coach in 1999, Holieway still ranks 17th in passing yards in program history. A week ago I was playing out in the park, and here I am doing my thing against the varsity team thats getting ready to play for the city title! More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. I was pretty nifty, so I used that to my advantage when my mother was chasing after me and trying to whup me if I did something bad, said Holieway. If anyone seemed made for the Los Angeles lifestyle, it was Jamelle Holieway, with a diamond stud in his ear and a fur coat on his shoulders. HS coach Chris Ferragamo older brother of Vince Ferragamo Nebraska QB @OU_Football https://t.co/69xZp61LSR, Barry Switzer (@Barry_Switzer) June 9, 2018, I said, Mama, I can get a scholarship,' Holieway recalled. Oklahoma dominated the Big 8 schedule with an average margin of victory of 45-2 with four shutouts before heading to Lincoln for the regular-season finale at No. Hed eventually go down in history as one of the best to ever play the position. ''Now, because of the parity, because of the equality across the board - back then, you might have had six powerhouses. #Gatewood @GotBoz44 #EddieWally #1987OUNeb @Barry_Switzer @SpenceTillman @EarlJoh26055677 pic.twitter.com/hTzhvYx5id, Wallis Marsh (@WallisMarsh) August 30, 2022. It's a shame he didn't get a fair shot in the pros. ', Top 50 OU Football Players of the Modern Era, 30 Best OU Football Games in School History. Though he came back to play the following season, he saw limited action and reinjured the leg on October 8, 1988 versus the Texas Longhorns. You would think being relegated to spectator as his team competed for a national championship for Holieway. Glad he is doing well. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. He is still involved with youth sporting activities and continues to support . In practice that week, when he first sauntered into the huddle with the starters to call a play, senior offensive lineman Eric Pope stared at him intently and said, Lets roll, freshman. Quarterback Darian Hagan of the Colorado Buffaloes runs down the field during a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. So my father came home and had to find a way to feed his family. We know we played OU football., NORMAN, OK APRIL 23: Head coach Brent Venables of the Oklahoma Sooners kneels with former players before the teams spring game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on April 23, 2022, in Norman, Oklahoma. Everybody went to California looking for work and didnt find any. In this Jan. 1, 1986 file photo, University of Oklahoma quarterback Jamelle Holieway (#4) looks for an open man as his team battles Penn State University in the Orange Bowl in Miami. 1999) brought Oklahoma to the Nebraska 32. It is not a powerhouse anymore, but we still get together and have a Banning reunion. It was Jamelle. Not many would do the same, so he might have problems but who doesn't thank you Mr Holieway for you're time and professionalism on and off the field!!!!! Oklahoma coach Brent Venables talks with former quarterback Jamelle Holieway during the University of Oklahoma's annual spring football game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 23, 2022. He was about to pull off in his Mercedes when I knocked on his window and told him that hed left his bag. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 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