NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
NORMAN — Throughout his 50-plus-year career in the sports business, there wasn’t a day that went by that Bill Hancock didn’t think back to a valuable lesson he learned while working as assistant sports information director as a student at OU.
It was instilled in him to be early for everything by former Sooners men’s basketball coach John MacLeod, who would tell his team the bus was leaving at 9 a.m., which meant 8:55 a.m. He even learned how to manage finances from former OU business manager Ken Farris.
As a college student, Hancock spent most of his time inside the OU Field House, which housed the athletic department’s communications offices in those days.
On Feb. 1, Hancock, 74, retired from his post as executive director of the College Football Playoff, a role he served in since the playoff’s inception. In addition to representing the CFP, Hancock was also the first full-time director of the NCAA Men’s Final Four and the Bowl Championship Series.
When he first stepped on campus at OU, Hancock wanted to become a journalist. However, after serving as editor of the OU Daily student newspaper in the summer of 1971, Hancock found himself in the Field House that fall.
In his early 20s as a student, Hancock worked daily alongside MacLeod, baseball coach Enos Semore and offensive coordinator Barry Switzer and defensive line coach Jimmy Johnson. He was intimidated by head football coach Chuck Fairbanks.
Hancock’s first season as a SID was OU’s historic 1971 season, which featured the Game of the Century against Nebraska.
Hancock has been a diehard Sooners fan since growing up in Hobart and was in attendance when Notre Dame ended OU’s 47-game win streak in 1957.
He’s also a staunch supporter of Oklahoma State. His son Will Hancock, who was a sports information director at OSU, was killed in 2001 along with nine…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-bill-hancock-excited-future-000024573.html
Author : The Oklahoman
Publish date : 2025-02-11 00:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
