OK, third and last time to chime-in again, this time to address WestTxAg's question on whether Permian will regain its football prominence (and my apologies in advance for being long-winded!):
I, too, long for the day when Permian can regain its status in the football world, but I doubt it. Most posters here recall the 1988 game and the surrounding timeframe, which suggests they are younger than I am (with a few exceptions, of course!) But the real answer (I believe) lies in a much more macro view. I really do think that "the stars came into alignment" in west Texas over a period of 5-6 decades starting in the 1930s and ending in the 1990s, the likes of which will never be seen again. I haven't lived in Odessa for 30 years, but I still visit relatives there quite often. My observation is that the town hasn't changed much, but the rest of the world has.
To wit: Odessa's prominence began in the 1930s due to oil (duh!). In turn, the oil business did wonders for the city (and all of west Texas, for that matter), a trickle-down effect if you will via tax revenues, gifts of land and facilities, etc. This went on for decades. My uncle was a principal and school administrator in Ector ISD from the 1960s to 1990s, and he recruited teachers as far away as Minnesota to come to Odessa. Why?... because the oil-rich tax base allowed the school district to pay handsome teacher salaries and to provide state-of-the-art equipment for schools. Even if the landscape was butt ugly, these were nice perks to bring in talented folks to teach the next generation of west Texans. I know for a fact that I and many other students received an excellent education there (well, at least those who chose to apply themselves got the education!).
In turn, that excellent education system (and the “riches beyond avarice” that the oil “bidness” promised!) attracted a lot of people who wanted their families to benefit from it all. No doubt, this included some folks with talented sons, if you catch my drift! [Keep in mind that Odessa was not alone in this oil wealth… shoot, on a per-capita basis, Andrews blew us all away!]
Obviously, along the way football became THE sport. But, folks, it didn't start with Permian. Odessa High won the state championship in 1939, I believe, and had stars such as Hayden Fry. (Yes, the same Coach Fry who put U of Iowa's football program on the map in the 1980s-90s. He also started his coaching career at Odessa High. In fact, my grandparents bought their house from him, but I digress.)
When Permian opened in 1959, Odessa's thirst for football excellence didn't wane. It simply transferred to the "new school." I was fortunate enough to watch Permian win it's first state championship over San Antonio Lee in 1965 in Abilene's Shotwell Stadium. Gene Mayfield was the coach at the time, and it was absolute poetry to watch them play. Such discipline. Such continuity. Hell, we even ran the same plays in Pop Warner that Permian used! What this meant was that by the time you got to HS, you had run the same offensive and defensive schemes for 5 years or more! (I’m not sure anyone else in the state was doing this at the time, thus, it was a huge advantage for the Permian teams… and one of the origins of the MOJO mystique.)
Gil Bartosh became the coach in the early 70s and took Permian to another state championship in 1972 (my sophomore year). Yet, he agreed to run the same offense as before: the old Wing T. Again, continuity. (Anyone from that era can probably tell you what his assignment was on "18 Pitch!"
Yes, it was simple stuff, but it was executed to perfection. It was also executed with humility; there were no prima-donas in the system. To wit: on 18 Pitch, the QB turned around and tossed the ball to a halfback, then rushed ahead to block along with the fullback and other halfback. How many teams would sacrifice their QB nowadays to block like that on a regular basis?
The younger posters here recall Gary Gaines and even John Wilkins who was the coach before Gary, but Permian's MOJO mystique started long before these two were part of the program. They simply inherited it (and were good stewards of it, too). Still, the common denominators among all of these fine coaches were discipline, consistency, and the extra support that the oil business provided the schools and community.
Those elements lasted for decades, not just years. True, Permian had some tough and talented players over the years, but very few went on to play major ball anywhere. (Although, I must admit that I was in Darryl Hunt’s class, who went on to become an AA linebacker at Oklahoma and later played for the Houston Oilers. That class – 1975 – also included Randy Quisenberry, the current Midland Lee coach and former Abilene Cooper and Odessa High coach. In fact, he was the first Odessa High coach to beat Permian in 33 years!… isn’t it interesting that he, himself, is a Panther, but he’s made his living by beating-up on his old alma mater regularly! Ironically, that 1975 class went 8-2 – a noble record for most football programs in Texas – but that group was considered a scourge in Odessa because they didn’t make the playoffs that year. As Rodney Dangerfield would say: rough crowd, rough crowd! Sorry, I digress again.)
Sadly, the oil bust in the mid 80s put a nail in this coffin, and even though the price of oil today is at its highest point ever I don’t think Odessa will ever recover to its heyday of yesteryear. (I vividly recall the wellhead count in west Texas plummeting from 3,000+ in 1981 to something less than 500 in just a few short years. That ultimately translated into lost jobs, lost momentum, and lost interest in the area. And, I just don’t know how the area can recover from the trauma of it all.) True, there were a few state championships after that point for Permian, but there is a certain lag factor between cause and effect. The impact of the 80s oil bust finally manifested itself in Permian’s football program imploding in the late 90s. Even heralded coach TJ Mills couldn’t come in and save it.
Finally, I ask this question: if Randy Quisenberry has been so successful in all his stops as head coach in the “Little Southwest Conference,” why didn’t he apply for the HC job at Permian when it opened up a few years ago? Perhaps, just perhaps, Randy knows something that the rest of us don’t… and that is that the well is dry in Odessa.
My apologies for the length, but I just had to get this off my chest.
Gig’em, Aggies!
Go MOJO!
I, too, long for the day when Permian can regain its status in the football world, but I doubt it. Most posters here recall the 1988 game and the surrounding timeframe, which suggests they are younger than I am (with a few exceptions, of course!) But the real answer (I believe) lies in a much more macro view. I really do think that "the stars came into alignment" in west Texas over a period of 5-6 decades starting in the 1930s and ending in the 1990s, the likes of which will never be seen again. I haven't lived in Odessa for 30 years, but I still visit relatives there quite often. My observation is that the town hasn't changed much, but the rest of the world has.
To wit: Odessa's prominence began in the 1930s due to oil (duh!). In turn, the oil business did wonders for the city (and all of west Texas, for that matter), a trickle-down effect if you will via tax revenues, gifts of land and facilities, etc. This went on for decades. My uncle was a principal and school administrator in Ector ISD from the 1960s to 1990s, and he recruited teachers as far away as Minnesota to come to Odessa. Why?... because the oil-rich tax base allowed the school district to pay handsome teacher salaries and to provide state-of-the-art equipment for schools. Even if the landscape was butt ugly, these were nice perks to bring in talented folks to teach the next generation of west Texans. I know for a fact that I and many other students received an excellent education there (well, at least those who chose to apply themselves got the education!).
In turn, that excellent education system (and the “riches beyond avarice” that the oil “bidness” promised!) attracted a lot of people who wanted their families to benefit from it all. No doubt, this included some folks with talented sons, if you catch my drift! [Keep in mind that Odessa was not alone in this oil wealth… shoot, on a per-capita basis, Andrews blew us all away!]
Obviously, along the way football became THE sport. But, folks, it didn't start with Permian. Odessa High won the state championship in 1939, I believe, and had stars such as Hayden Fry. (Yes, the same Coach Fry who put U of Iowa's football program on the map in the 1980s-90s. He also started his coaching career at Odessa High. In fact, my grandparents bought their house from him, but I digress.)
When Permian opened in 1959, Odessa's thirst for football excellence didn't wane. It simply transferred to the "new school." I was fortunate enough to watch Permian win it's first state championship over San Antonio Lee in 1965 in Abilene's Shotwell Stadium. Gene Mayfield was the coach at the time, and it was absolute poetry to watch them play. Such discipline. Such continuity. Hell, we even ran the same plays in Pop Warner that Permian used! What this meant was that by the time you got to HS, you had run the same offensive and defensive schemes for 5 years or more! (I’m not sure anyone else in the state was doing this at the time, thus, it was a huge advantage for the Permian teams… and one of the origins of the MOJO mystique.)
Gil Bartosh became the coach in the early 70s and took Permian to another state championship in 1972 (my sophomore year). Yet, he agreed to run the same offense as before: the old Wing T. Again, continuity. (Anyone from that era can probably tell you what his assignment was on "18 Pitch!"
Yes, it was simple stuff, but it was executed to perfection. It was also executed with humility; there were no prima-donas in the system. To wit: on 18 Pitch, the QB turned around and tossed the ball to a halfback, then rushed ahead to block along with the fullback and other halfback. How many teams would sacrifice their QB nowadays to block like that on a regular basis?The younger posters here recall Gary Gaines and even John Wilkins who was the coach before Gary, but Permian's MOJO mystique started long before these two were part of the program. They simply inherited it (and were good stewards of it, too). Still, the common denominators among all of these fine coaches were discipline, consistency, and the extra support that the oil business provided the schools and community.
Those elements lasted for decades, not just years. True, Permian had some tough and talented players over the years, but very few went on to play major ball anywhere. (Although, I must admit that I was in Darryl Hunt’s class, who went on to become an AA linebacker at Oklahoma and later played for the Houston Oilers. That class – 1975 – also included Randy Quisenberry, the current Midland Lee coach and former Abilene Cooper and Odessa High coach. In fact, he was the first Odessa High coach to beat Permian in 33 years!… isn’t it interesting that he, himself, is a Panther, but he’s made his living by beating-up on his old alma mater regularly! Ironically, that 1975 class went 8-2 – a noble record for most football programs in Texas – but that group was considered a scourge in Odessa because they didn’t make the playoffs that year. As Rodney Dangerfield would say: rough crowd, rough crowd! Sorry, I digress again.)
Sadly, the oil bust in the mid 80s put a nail in this coffin, and even though the price of oil today is at its highest point ever I don’t think Odessa will ever recover to its heyday of yesteryear. (I vividly recall the wellhead count in west Texas plummeting from 3,000+ in 1981 to something less than 500 in just a few short years. That ultimately translated into lost jobs, lost momentum, and lost interest in the area. And, I just don’t know how the area can recover from the trauma of it all.) True, there were a few state championships after that point for Permian, but there is a certain lag factor between cause and effect. The impact of the 80s oil bust finally manifested itself in Permian’s football program imploding in the late 90s. Even heralded coach TJ Mills couldn’t come in and save it.
Finally, I ask this question: if Randy Quisenberry has been so successful in all his stops as head coach in the “Little Southwest Conference,” why didn’t he apply for the HC job at Permian when it opened up a few years ago? Perhaps, just perhaps, Randy knows something that the rest of us don’t… and that is that the well is dry in Odessa.
My apologies for the length, but I just had to get this off my chest.
Gig’em, Aggies!
Go MOJO!