Billboard in Norman 1997

From the LandThieves archives of 1997...Locals in Norman are buzzing over may who funded this billboard along the Miracle Mile of Cars along I-35. We travelled to Norman to research the the locals reaction. Bobbie Sue Jones said, "We think one of them Gibbs apologists did it. Them people think Gary was a great coach and that John Blake is just wrecking this program. I think John's done some great things here, and they just don't realize the mess this team was in when John took over. Sure, it's been over a year since he took over, and we just got shut out by Northwestern, but it's not John's fault. Once his teaching methods and philosophy takes hold, we'll be just fine."

Others believe the sign was purchased by supporters of John Blake. Demetrius Jefferson, an OU sophomore, said, "I think someone like me purchased the sign. Someone that supports Coach Blake and realizes what a great job he's doing. Not everyone is smart enough to see that."

We did find a person that was very supportive of Gibbs tenure, who wished to remain anonymous. "Look, Coach Gibbs was a great man. With what he inherited from the previous regime, with all of those scholarship deficits, it just wasn't fair to expect the level of prosperity we'd enjoyed previously. Now that you've got someone else in there running the show, and what a deeper mess there is, you can now appreciate the leadership Coach Gibbs provided during a difficult time in our team's history."