The Sooner Schooner prepared to make its final run of the day with first year Oklahoma

RUF/NEK driver, Ryan Ard, after the Oklahoma football team scores its ninth touchdown

against Florida Atlantic University.

“I had absolutely no clue [my first drive] was going to be the first game, it was a total

blindside,” Ard said.

Ard became involved with the RUF/NEKS fall of 2017, the beginning of his freshman

year. Very quickly, Ard was fascinated with becoming a schooner driver.

“I remember asking one of the drivers how you become a driver. And he told me, you

don’t ask that question. Later, he told me ‘You don’t ask to be a driver, you show that you want

to be a driver’,” Ard said.

Over the course of his first year, Ard found opportunities to show he wanted to be a

driver. This included heading the ponies on gamedays and during appearances, washing the

ponies, and spending time learning from current drivers.

“When the [current] drivers thought who of the new guys helped out or showed that they

cared the most, I wanted them to think of me and I think that’s why I got chosen,” Ard said.

Ard was named a driver-in-training in April 2018, but he had a long road ahead of him

before he would see Owen Field in the fall. RUF/NEK driver training started almost

immediately. Ard drove from Fredrick, OK to Norman every other weekend in the summer to

participate in training with current drivers.

“Even though a lot of my training over the summer was fundamentals, like what

commands I would tell [the ponies] and the different speeds we go at, most of it was developing

a relationship with the ponies. With them getting to know me, me learning their ticks and what

works best for them. If a random person were to get [on the Schooner] even if they had all the
training in the world about how to drive a schooner, if they had not been around the ponies and

not trained them or bonded with them, [the ponies] wouldn’t go because they wouldn’t recognize

the voice and they wouldn’t feel safe,” Ard said.

Recent history shows drivers-in-training not driving the schooner on the field until the

Sooners were well into the season. The goal for Ard was to be ready to drive at the second home

game. RUF/NEK and RUF/NEK Lil’ Sis advisor, Bobby Nash, felt differently that day.

“Bobby says ‘Alright, it’s the fourth quarter, we’re up, most of the people have left the

stadium, so we’re going to go ahead and give you your first run.’ The reasoning was, even if it

was a bad run, there’s not that many people here to see it. He said do you think you can do it and

I said yes. I heard somebody say it was time to go, and I felt my heart drop to my stomach. They

moved the pylon and when I was given the go ahead I started yelling and we just went. It’s kind

of a blur. I remember when I made the turn going back to the tunnel, I stood up as tall as I could

and went in the tunnel,” Ard said.

The Oklahoma RUF/NEKS were founded in 1915, however the Sooner Schooner was

donated in 1965. It is a more recent tradition that has become the official mascot of the university

and an iconic symbol within Oklahoma.

“I had just recently taken in that I was a RUF/NEK, so then putting a driver on top of

that, I’ll be able to pull up game film 30 years from now and show my grandkids I’m driving the

schooner. There are only a handful of people who have ever done that, I couldn’t have imagined

being part of something this big,” Ard said.

Catch Ard, the RUF/NEKS and the Sooner Schooner at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on

Saturday Sept. 10 when OU plays the University of California, Los Angeles.