Barry Switzer NORMAN, OK – AUGUST 31: Former Oklahoma Sooners Head Coach Barry Switzer walks off the field after a presentation before the game against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks August 31, 2013 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Louisiana-Monroe 34-0. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

Former Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer is never shy of sharing his opinion on any subject tossed his way. So when he was asked about the situation at Baylor on a podcast, Switzer fired off some criticisms and justifications for the fate of Art Briles in Waco.

The whole Baylor saga popped back up once again this past weekend when fans were wearing and selling shirts in support of the former Baylor head coach Briles, fired amid controversy within the program for the handling of sexual assaults linked to Baylor football players. Switzer suggested a head coach should be held accountable for what happens by representatives of a program even if the coach cannot watch over them at all times of the day.

“In an athletic program, the coach has got to be held responsible for the actions and behaviors of his players. Even though we can’t spend 24 hours a day with the 100 players that are out there…it’s our job every day, coaches do do-good talks all the time,” Switzer said.

So how did Switzer handle his players when he was the head coach at Oklahoma?

“The guy who messes up is the guy sitting there thinking you’re talking to the guy next to him, not him. I used to have call him into my office: Look to your right, look to your left, look me in the eye. Do you see anybody? He’d say no. So you know I’m talking to your ass,” Switzer said in a way you would expect from Switzer. “It’s a hell of a note you have to have individual sessions in some situations but you do. Sometimes that doesn’t make a difference. You have kids you give second chances to and people criticize them.”

Being the head coach of a college football program is a demanding job, and sometimes a coach has to take the heat for the behavior of players he brings into the program, whether as a recruit out of high school or as a transfer player looking for a second chance. That got away from Briles, and he continues to pay the price for his role in leading Baylor’s football program. Switzer knows the pressures of being a head coach, which makes him uniquely qualified to comment on the situation.

If only Briles had been more like Switzer, right? Yeah, I can’t believe I just said that too.

[SportsDay]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.