Bennie Owen

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Bennie Owen
Date of birth July 24, 1875
Place of birth Chicago, Illinois
Date of death February 26, 1970
Sport Football
Basketball
Overall Record 155-60-19 (Football)[1]
113-49 (Basketball)
Championships
  won		 3 Conference Championships
(1915, 1918, 1920)
Coaching Stats College Football DataWarehouse
School as a player
 ?-1899 University of Kansas
Position Quarterback
Coaching positions
1905-1926
1908-1921
1902-1904
1900		 University of Oklahoma (Football)
University of Oklahoma (Basketball)
Bethany College
Washburn College
College Football Hall of Fame, 1951 (Bio)

Benjamin Gilbert Owen (July 24, 1875—February 26, 1970) was an American head coach for the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team from 1905-1926.

[edit] Overview

Owen was the star quarterback for Fielding Yost's undefeated 1899 Kansas Jayhawks team. Upon graduating, he took his first head coaching job at Washburn College. Following a one year stint there, he spent another one year as Yost's assistant at the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, he helped Yost develop the famous point-a-minutes team built around the great Willie Heston.[2] He got his first exposure to the Oklahoma team while head coach at Bethany College in Kansas. His Bethany Swedes met and defeated two Sooner teams in 1903 and 1904.

Owen took over the Sooners football team in 1905, succeeding one-year coach Fred Ewing. He stepped in and immediately turned the fledgling team around, giving Oklahoma its very first win over the southern-rival Texas Longhorns. Owen was loved by the players as he regularly would involve himself in scrimmages when he felt his players were lagging.[2] Owen's first two years at Oklahoma were spent back and forth between Norman and Arkansas City. Due to a reduced financial budget, Owen only remained on campus during thefootball season. In 1907, Owen lost his right arm in a hunting accident.

Early in the Brooks administration, Owen was fired by the Oklahoma legislature. They believed his salary of $3,500 was far too great for an athletics coach. They would then use the loss of his arm as an excuse for dismissal. It was recommended he be terminated and shortly thereafter, he was. However, when President Brooks heard of this news, he quickly got the decision rescinded. Owens did not learn of his "dismissal" until a week after his "re-hiring."[3]

Early in Owen's tenure as head coach, funding for athletic teams were very much an issue. Due to costs involved in travel, Owen's team would regularly go out on long, grueling road trips. For example, in 1905 his Sooners played three games in five days and again in 1909 when they played three games in six days.[4] Owen is also known for introducing the forward pass to football in the southwest United States.[4] This allowed his team to quickly score against lesser opponents. In 1911, his team defeated local Kingfisher College 104-0. It is largely because of Bennie Owen the Oklahoma Sooners are ranked #1 in points scored. In 1,099 games, the Sooners have scored 28,756 points with over 5,000 of those being contributed to Owen (including two games with over 150 points each and three game in 1915 with a combined score 258-0).[5]

Owen's undefeated team of 1915.
Owen's undefeated team of 1915.

In addition to his immortality as a football coach, Owen also spent 13 seasons as the Oklahoma men's basketball head coach. In those 13 years, he won nearly 70% of his games, had two undefeated seasons and only two losing seasons.[6]

While the name of the Oklahoma football stadium is the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, it was originally named Boyd Field (during Owen's tenure) and later moved and renamed Owen Field. The playing surface itself still retains the name Owen Field and many still refer to the stadium as Owen Field. Owen was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame, elected in 1951.[1] He died February 26, 1970, in Houston, TX at age 94.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Bennie Owen: Member Biography. College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
  2. ^ a b Long, Charles F.. "With Optimism For the Morrow: A History of The University of Oklahoma", Sooner Magazine, September 1965.
  3. ^ Keith, Harold. "Dr. Stratton D. Brooks, 1869-1949", Sooner Magazine, February 1949, pp. 7-11. Retrieved on 2006-06-30.
  4. ^ a b Keith, Harold. "Football Ups and Downs", Sooner Magazine, September 1942, pp. 12-13, 54.
  5. ^ Bennie Owen Records by Year. College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
  6. ^ Galloway, Paul. "Want a Winning Basketball Team?", Sooner Magazine, November 1967, pp. 11-13.


Hall • Owen • McDermott • Drake • Parrack • Stevens • MacLeod • Ramsey • Bliss • Tubbs • Sampson • Capel

Harts • Parrington • Roberts • McMahon • Ewing • Owen • Lindsey • Hardage • L Jones • Stidham • Luster • Tatum • Wilkinson • G Jones • Mackenzie • Fairbanks • Switzer • Gibbs • Schnellenberger • Blake • Stoops

Switzer Center Mural

Coaches: Harts • Owen • Jones • Tatum • Wilkinson • Switzer • Stoops•
Heisman: Vessels • Owens • Sims • White•
Awards: Roberts • Weatherall • Jackson • Selmon • Casillas • Roberts • Dixon • 
•Williams • Bosworth • Calmus • Phillips • Harris • Lehman • Strait • Brown•
Hall of Fame: Reeds • Geyer • Owens • McDonald • 
Young • Tubbs • Pruitt • Burris•
Three-Time All-Americans: Burris • Shoate•
Four-Time All-Conference• Walker • Reed•
Record Holders: •Washington•Hinton•Royal•Hunt•Shipp•
Special Sooners: Gautt•Gundy•Kalsu•Selmon•Selmon•Owens•
NCAA Record 47-Game Winning Streak•Harris•Pricer•Thomas•
SplitT•Catlin•Crowder•McPhail•Leake•
Wishbone•Mildren•Davis•Lott•Watts•Bradley•Holieway•
Special: Uwe von Schamann•Stadium•Orange Bowl•Big 8•
Red River Shootout•Pride of Oklahoma•Cheerleaders•Fans•Jumbotron•BCS•Heisman•Outland
•Lombardi•Butkus•Thorpe•Nagurski•Rings•Trophies
•Sooner Schooner•Ruf-Neks•"Mex" the dog•
National Championships: 1950•1955•1956•1974•1975•1985•2000•
Persondata
NAME Owen, Bennie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Owen, Benjamin Gilbert
SHORT DESCRIPTION Football player and coach; Basketball coach
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1970
PLACE OF DEATH Houston, Texas
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/e/n/Bennie_Owen_9bfa.html"