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In each new edition of Sooner Spectator, we ask legendary coach Barry Switzer to share his thoughts on any number of topics, ranging from football to food to his favorite anecdotes. In this installment of King’s Corner, we asked Coach Switzer about the Big 12’s Baker Mayfield decision and his favorite type of movies.

Sooner Spectator: Bob Stoops is on the verge of entering his 18th season as head coach at the University of Oklahoma. That a year longer than Bud Wilkinson and two years longer than your stint at OU. Did you ever think he would be at Oklahoma for so long?

Switzer: Yes, 18 years. It’s really hard to believe that it has been that long. But to be honest, where else could he go that would be better? He’s got one of the top four or five football jobs in the country, and I think he recognizes that and has embraced it. Basically any other coaching job from Oklahoma is going backward. Bob is a great coach and he knows how to recruit and relate to young players — and he’s at a place that has a great reputation and tradition and facilities like nowhere else. He has taken all of those element and made them work to his advantage and as a result, the program has enjoyed a lot of success under his watch.

SS: Did you feel the Big 12 Conference braintrust got it right when it reversed its original decision to take a season of eligibility away from transfers like Baker Mayfield?

Switzer: I think it was a great decision to change it and allow players in that position to keep their eligibility. I’ve always thought that. Mayfield wasn’t given a scholarship, so why should he fall under the same NCAA rules as a kid who does. I can see where his (eligibility) clock starts, but don’t mess with eligibility. He should get four years just like everybody else. The only thing that should be questioned is why in the hell didn’t Texas Tech offer him a scholarship? But we’re all glad up here that they didn’t.

SS: Can you of any players during your time at OU who you really believed were going to be standouts but who failed to live up to expectations because of injuries?

Switzer: Oh gosh, there were a few during my time. There was a kid from Shawnee named Scott Dawson who I really thought was going to be a great player. He was a defensive tackle and it looked like during his first two years at OU that he was going to develop into a helluva player for us. But he suffered a knee injury that required total reconstruction and unfortunately he was never the same player after that. About that same time there was a player named Dewey Williams from Bartlesville who I honestly felt might have been another Jimbo Elrod if he had stayed healthy. But he got hurt and did not get the opportunity to live up to that. There were a number over the years.

SS: Do you watch many movies in your spare time?

Swtizer: We watch a lot of movies. I watch Apple movies all the time.

SS: What kind of movies do you like and do you have a favorite actor?

Switzer: I like all kinds of movies — comedies, westerns, action — I like them all. Heck, I even like some chick flicks. I just enjoy a good movie, something that’s entertaining with good actors. I’m not sure I ever had a favorite actor, but I always like Al Pacino. He’s made a lot of good movies over the years. I had the chance to meet him and talk to him when we did the movie "Any Given Sunday." My daughter Kathy and I sat and visited with him for about two hours one day at a hotel in Santa Monica, California, during the shooting of that film. That was a lot of fun.

(Editor's Note: This story appears in the 2016 Spring Sports Review issue of Sooner Spectator. For more information, call 405-364-4515)