The Norman Transcript
November 27, 2007
Former NHS Coach Gene Corrotto dies at 93
Longtime Norman High School football coach Gene Corrotto died Monday evening after suffering a fall Saturday morning.
Corotto, 93, coached Norman High from 1958 to 1973. He was the first coach inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame.
Services are scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 211 N. Porter under the direction of Primrose Funeral Home of Norman. A prayer vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Primrose.
Former OU player, Norman coach Corrotto dies at 93
By Berry Tramel
Staff Writer
NORMAN — Gene Corrotto, captain of OU's first Orange Bowl team in 1938 and a state championship-winning coach at Norman High School, died Monday at the age of 93.
Services will be he held at 3 p.m. today at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Norman, under the direction of Primrose Funeral Home.
Corrotto's brother, Al, was an OU football captain in 1937, and Gene followed him as captain in 1938, when the Sooners went 10-0 before playing Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. Corrotto was known as an offensive innovator and a great storyteller.
"He treated everybody like he was their own son,” said Joe Thompson, Corrotto's Norman quarterback in 1970. "Showed a lot of respect and love.
"Made the game fun. He'd always come up with something in practice. Kept you interested. Just a fun guy.”
Into the 1970s, Corrotto ran the Single Wing but called it the A formation and featured more passing than was the norm.
"Every week, he'd come up with a gimmick play,” Thompson said.
And 30-40 years later, his sayings remain on the tips of tongues that knew him.
Gin that cotton. Pick your feet up and put 'em down as fast as you can. Make a touchdown and get your name in the paper. Someone needs a do-better talk.
"He just had a way,” Thompson said. "You loved the guy.”
Corrotto coached Norman to the 1961 Class 2A state championship. His 15-year record at Norman was 105-40-5, and his 26-year record, including nine years at Seminole and two at Tulsa Central, was 183-65-14.
Corrotto also was a college assistant coach at Kansas, Arkansas and Tulsa. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and fought in Okinawa.
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