STILLWATER — Pat Jones didn't yet hold a job offer from Pittsburgh in the winter of 1985, yet he was in serious conversation, and more than intrigued, even as his Oklahoma State squad was blooming and soon to be booming.
Jones came to OSU from Pitt seven years earlier along with Jimmy Johnson, who was hired to reenergize a troubled program. So there was familiarity for a fit, on both sides as it turns out.
“Jimmy and I, we really liked western Pennsylvania,” said Jones, who coached All-Americans Hugh Green and Rickey Jackson as the Panthers' defensive ends coach.