“Failure As A Possibility”

3/16/1961 - In flight – Sunday night

Dear Jay,

After our Conference Meeting and the Coaching Clinic in Kansas City, I came on to Washington to talk with Ted Reardon, the President’s Executive Assistant and a Mr. Nestigain, the Under Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare concerning the Fitness Program.  I met with them this afternoon for about three hours.
     I told them I couldn’t, for many reasons, take the job full time – but that I would be glad to work as a consultant in setting up the program.  I guess I told you that I had sent them a proposal as to how to attack the problem.  They apparently like it – and it looks as though they’ll take me up on the offer.  I will be serving without pay – and will probably be gone from home a lot – especially during the summer – but if they want me – I guess I should give it a try.  After the organization is set up – I don’t believe it will take too much time to keep it operating. 
     I’m supposed to write a brief summary of my proposal which they will then send to the President’s Council – which is made up of 6 Cabinet members.  If these men concur with the program – and will support it – I’m going to appear before them to briefly answer questions concerning it at which time it will be announced that I’m the Advisor to the Council.
     Actually, I’m torn about it. If they don’t like my plan, I’m free to do my own job.  If they do like it, I’m trapped for a lot of extra work – at which I may fail.  We’ll just have to wait and see how it comes out. I’ll let you know, if and when I hear anything.
     How is spring practice?  I’ve been thinking about you, and wondering how you were getting along.  I’ll call – maybe before you get this letter – as I want to hear all about it.  I’m sure you’ll do well in FB.  I just hope you won’t let your studies get too far ahead of you.
     Mom is in Grinnell, but will be home Tuesday.  Write when you can.  Will talk with you soon.

                                                                                                 All my love always, 
                                                                                                 Dad

      In a sense, Dad was looking to take a “second job” as he continued to explore becoming the head of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.  On the one hand, his OU team was never in greater need of his attention, having concluded the 1960 season with his first losing season ever.  Yet, he was intrigued by the possibility of a presidential appointment and saw great potential in the program he was considering.  Unwilling to leave his players after a poor season, he hoped he could manage both his on- and off-field responsibilities.  Ever the realist, Dad knew there existed the chance of failure—at both pursuits.
      My father understood that the difference between victory and defeat can be a very narrow margin.  Beginning in 1948 and extending through the 1958 season, Dad’s teams lost only eight times and none of those defeats were by more than a touchdown.  If not for a seven-point setback in 1957 and a one-point loss in 1958, Oklahoma’s record win streak would have been sixty-two consecutive games, not forty-seven straight.   He knew the difference between success and failure in pursuits away from the athletic field could also be razor thin.  While confident of the plan he was putting into place, he knew he would be representing the White House from a position of disadvantage.
      When Dad took over the head-coaching reigns at Oklahoma, he inherited a full squad of players, facilities, a budget and supporters. In launching the President’s Council on Fitness, virtually nothing was in place. The Council had no statutory authority over school boards, teachers, or parents.  Its success depended entirely on his ability to provide leadership in defining the critical importance of the organization’s mission and in motivating many diverse interest groups to support the program passionately.  Just as he did as a football coach, he did all in his power to assure that it the program would have every opportunity to succeed.
      Dad invited me to attend the congressional committee hearings in Washington D.C., to approve the council’s budget All of the early dialogue between Dad and the committee members was about football! Congressmen were proud of the established football traditions in their home districts and these proved to be of enormous importance and interest.   It was amusing to me that testimony on the Council’s budget did not begin in earnest until all accolades and metaphors had been exhausted, which took considerable time.   Over the course of the hearings, the program was given the green light.
      Today, many believe that no subsequent effort or program did as much as the Kennedy administration’s to make the public aware of the need to address and improve physical fitness among both children and adults.  Dad’s honest and realistic assessment of the issue, and his skills at later implementing the program, showed me the factors that had made him successful as a coach were the same ingredients that led to his success off the field.