“Thankfully, I was not very involved in that,” Boren said of hiring Schnellenberger.

The Schnellenberger hire went sideways early. His offensive coordinator, Gary Nord, made a joke about Oklahomans' lack of teeth. Rumors circulated about Schnellenberger's excessive drinking. And in August, two Sooners — Brian Ailey and Aaron Findley — were hospitalized for heat-related issues. Ailey spent six days in the hospital and later sued the university, saying Schnellenberger deprived players of water.

“It did not take long for Schnellenberger and I to have a parting of the ways,” Boren said. “First thing, various rumors of improper behavior on the job. One of the things I've always tried to do, I've had sources of information everywhere. Not just the chain of command. Maybe it's my intelligence background, but you don't want to depend just on information coming from the chain of command. I had trainers and other people that were supposed to be bringing water to the players. And from doctors around town, who were seeing kids for heat exhaustion. And former football players and others.

“One time, there was something like 15 players sent to the emergency room after one practice. They were out there with their players, in the sun. He wasn't letting them take off their helmets, he wasn't letting them have water. It was really endangerment.”