NORMAN — The first five years that Barry Switzer no longer was the Oklahoma football coach seemed longer than the next 20.

“The older you get, the faster it goes,” Switzer said Thursday, the 25th anniversary of the day he resigned. The Switzer era ended June 19, 1989.

Twenty-five years since the bombshell dropped in the Santee Lounge above OU’s Memorial Stadium. A quarter century that was much kinder to Switzer than it was to the Sooners.

Oh, sure, OU has restored the tradition under Bob Stoops. But it took awhile to get to Stoops. Nine years wandering in the wilderness. Only three bowl games. Five straight non-winning seasons for a school unaccustomed to a single-digit victory totals.