Columnist Calls Former OU Coach A "Slapdick" Hired "Because He Was Black," Doesn't Realize He's Being Recorded [UPDATE]

After yesterday's Fiesta Bowl press conference for Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young, Tulsa World columnist Dave Sittler did what a lot of reporters often do once the cameras and microphones are turned off and the interview subject hasn't yet bolted for the lunch spread. Sittler engaged Young in an off-the-record conversation, which he initiated by stating his intention to "turn this off now" when reaching for his tape recorder on the press conference table.

Sittler did this as Young continued to sit on the dais, however. And what Sittler didn't realize was that a camera and a microphone were still turned on, and that they were capturing everything that was said, all of which you can see and hear above. Right from the start, Sittler seems to be trying to gauge Young's frustration at not having gotten a chance to be a head coach. He initially asks Young about Young's time as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma under John Blake in 1996-97. Young handles the question as gracefully as he can, noting that Blake was inexperienced, but that "it wasn't his fault" because he "would have done a much better job" had that opportunity come later.

Which is where Sittler, at the 29-second mark, digs in:

Sittler: "That's what I'm—that must frustrate you that you have all this experience, you know what you're doing, and then they give it to some slapdick who hasn't earned his, you know. And then Donnie Duncan flat-out told me he gave it to him because he was black because they were worried about what [name indecipherable] was going to do with recruiting. I mean, those things must piss you off."

Young: There's a lot of things out there that's frustrating, but boy, I've been so fortunate to just get what I've got.

Duncan was the athletic director at Oklahoma at the time Blake, who went 12-22 in three seasons, was hired in 1996. Sittler and Young go on to discuss head coach Mike Gundy's contract status with Oklahoma State, plus the health issues Duncan and his wife are facing. Um, oops? Donnie Duncan must be absolutely thrilled with Dave Sittler right about now.

UPDATE: As numerous readers have noted, the indecipherable name mentioned by Sittler is Bob Simmons, the coach at Oklahoma State at the time Blake was hired by Duncan at OU.