Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman Read Free Book Online

America’s sidelines. He could reach back into his Port Arthur roots and comprehend the pain of being a black male trying to make it, coming from nothing. “It goes beyond not being prejudiced,” says Melvin Bratton, who later played for Johnson at the University of Miami. “Jimmy was white, but you don’t think of him racially.” In 1983 Oklahoma State turned the corner, going 8–4 and defeating Baylor, 24–14, in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
    Unfortunately for Stillwater’s football hard-core, Johnson wouldn’t be around very long. As Oklahoma State was climbing its way up the Big 8 ladder, Sam Jankovich, the University of Miami’s athletic director, was looking for someone to replace Howard Schnellenberger, the head coach who had departed for the upstart United States Football League after leading the Hurricanes to the ’83 national championship. Midway through a convention of college coaches in the spring of 1984, Jankovich pulled Johnson aside and asked for recommendations. “You know,” Johnson replied, “I wouldn’t mind living on the beach.”
    Several weeks later Jankovich offered Johnson the job—with one catch. To come to Miami, he would have to inherit Schnellenberger’s staff for at least a year; the athletic director felt it the honorable thing to do, given Schnellenberger’s last-minute departure. Johnson sought out wisdom from dozens of peers, none of whom advised him to leave Oklahoma State. Finally, he asked Lacewell. “Jimmy, I’d go,” he said. “You coached at Oklahoma one time; you know their firepower. You can’t win a national championship at Oklahoma State. But you can win one at Miami.” Lacewell’s words rang true.
    Upon arriving at Miami, however, Johnson found himself in a toxic environment. Three of Schnellenberger’s assistants (defensive coordinator Tom Olivadotti, offensive coordinator Gary Stevens, and an administrative assistant named Bill Trout) had applied for the head coaching position. Johnson’s first meeting with the staff was less than promising. He was greeted with a grim-faced silence. As Johnson beganto speak, the bitter Olivadotti dropped his keys on the table, picked them up, dropped his keys on the table, picked them up. “I’ve seen your teams play,” Olivadotti said, “and I really don’t think our philosophies could coexist. Your teams don’t play the way we want to play.”
    “I’m sure that we can work with each other,” Johnson replied before leaving for his introductory press conference. Inside, he fumed.
    To Johnson’s delight, Olivadotti resigned. To his dismay, the other assistants remained. Though the defending national champions played well in Johnson’s debut season, winning eight of their first ten games, much of Johnson’s time was spent worrying whether his coaches were poisoning his milk.
    In Miami’s second-to-last game, Johnson’s team blew a 31–0 halftime lead to Maryland, allowing Terrapins quarterback Frank Reich to pick the defense apart in a staggering 42–40 loss. The following week, the Hurricanes struggled against Boston College before staging a late drive to grab a 45–41 lead. On the last play of the game, 5-foot, 9-inch quarterback Doug Flutie scrambled away from the defense and threw a Hail Mary that was caught in the end zone by Gerard Phelan, giving BC the victory and college football one of its defining moments. Even before Flutie threw the ball, Trout had left his position in the press box. He was resigning from Johnson’s staff, and felt no need to remain for the final play.
    The season ended with a 39–37 Fiesta Bowl loss to UCLA, and as soon as the clock read 0:00 Johnson pledged he would never tolerate an experience akin to the 1984 season again. The morning after the game he held a press conference, announcing a restructured staff of Oklahoma State refugees committed to Johnson’s way. To the new Miami way.
    The Hurricanes of 1985 were brash, bold, and dominant. They went 9–1 through the first ten