Bootlegger's Boy

By: Barry Switzer

Narrated by: Barry Switzer

A riveting memoir by one of the most successful football coaches in America!

As head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, Barry Switzer was the fourth most successful coach in NCAA history. Both praised and reviled by the media as the "outlaw" of college football, Switzer was characterized as the "greatest rogue, pirate, hustler, and con man" ever to command a football team. As head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, he led America's team to victory in Superbowl XXX.

In Bootlegger's Boy, Switzer gets the chance to tell it all from his point of view. He recounts the rough path he took from his youth—in which his father served prison time for bootlegging and his mother committed suicide—to his rare distinction as one of only three individuals to win national championships in college football and the NFL.

©1991 Barry Switzer (P)1991 Phoenix Books, Inc.

Needs better narrating

The story is very interesting but switzer has the same tone from the beginning to the end . You could tell he was reading but not telling you a story. Also at one point in the book he was just reading each week score and it was tedious to borderline annoying I had to fast forward.

A Legendary Account of a True Legend

This story takes you through the epic real life experiences of our King. The end of Switzer's career was troubling to most when it happened and this book gives you all the details to solidify an opinion. A captivating tale of a life well lived and the scumbags that forced out the best coach ever and an Oklahoma ICON.

I love Barry’s passion

This book has been on my reading wishlist for years. I just discovered the audible version, and was thrilled that Berry himself narrated the story. The emotion in the passion in his voice is moving.

I was born in Norman Oklahoma. I have been a lifelong sooner fan I remember watching JC Watts and Billy Sims playing when I was a kid. I went to undergraduate school at the Kansas City Art Institute and graduate school at Boston University but when you grow up in this environment, you’re a Sooner at heart. I have always admired Barry and to a certain degree I’ve been aware of how hard it is to Shepherd, so many young men, through the end of adolescence into their adult life.

I’ve heard many secondhand accounts of what this book was about over the many years, since it was first published, but what I found most compelling was Barry’s love for his players, and, his indignity at NCAA rules that work against the realities that young men are having to deal with as they are very often the first people from their family to get a college education.

Barry has always fought against racial injustice, and when you think about the impact, sports has had in changing, cultural perceptions across the broader society, it’s hard to argue that sports is not the most important performance art in the world.

Even if you’re not a sports enthusiast, and Oklahoman, or a Sooner fan, I think you can find inspiration from this book for whatever challenges you face in your own career.

Bravo, Berry

Great read and we'll narrated!

Great story, well narrated and a great book for any college football fan. I highly recommend.

Bootlegger's Boy

I happen to like Barry coach of Oklahoma and when he took Dallas to The Super Bowl.
I enjoyed the history, scores of all the games and how important each game outcome was and his personal thinking on what was going through his mind as his coaching career progressed. That gave all of us fans an experience of the challenges of being a head coach at a major college. The trials and tribulations. In addition I'm glad he did the narration because it was heartfelt and sincere.