College Football: Top 10 traditional option quarterbacks of all-time
4. Jamelle Holieway, Oklahoma
The 5-foot-11, 186 pound Jamelle Holieway signed with the Oklahoma Sooners out of California. The Sooners had hit a slump after winning between nine and eleven games from 1973 through 1980 under Barry Switzer.
Switzer had even recruited in a pro style quarterback in Troy Aikman and had “broken the bone” if you will by moving into a more pro style attack for the pass happy future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback. Aikman had re-written the Sooners’ playbook and took over full-time starting duties for the 1985 season.
Holieway was a lowly freshman recruited in to play in the wishbone triple option offense. When Miami’s Jerome Brown and Dan Sileo sacked Aikman and broke his leg, Holieway entered the game. The Sooners would continue on to finish 11-1 in 1985 and win the national championship. Holieway put together a stellar collegiate career that saw the Sooners finish 33-3 from 1985-1987 when he was healthy.
Holieway made an immediate impact in Norman, OK returning Switzer’s offense to the wishbone. He threw for 2,339 yards and twenty-two touchdowns while rushing for 2,713 yards and thirty-two touchdowns on five yards per carry. Holieway injured his knee during the 1987 season and missed the 1988 Orange Bowl game against Miami, where the Sooners lost to Jimmy Johnson’s Hurricanes once again. Holieway tried to return for the 1988 season but never recovered.
As a pro, Holieway had short stints int he NFL and CFL. Watching Holieway command the triple option as a young freshman was a thing of beauty and his poise and control in the offense were exactly what option coaches need. Another player on this list, Keenan Reynolds, flashed the Holieway poise as well.
After the 1988 season, Switzer resigned amidst discipline issues in Norman. Barry Switzer was on the path to becoming an afterthought before the 1985 title run guided by Holieway and that championship surely pushed him into the Dallas Cowboys head football coach job- where he won Super Bowl XXX over the Steelers.