Chuck Fairbanks, who built successful football teams in college at the University of Oklahoma and in the National Football League with the New England Patriots but left each job under a cloud of disfavor, died Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 79.

The cause was brain cancer, said Pete Moris, a spokesman for the University of Oklahoma athletic department.

Known for being a savvy player evaluator, a shrewd recruiter and a practice-field taskmaster, Fairbanks became head coach at Oklahoma in 1967 and, in his first year, led the Sooners to a 10-1 record and the championship of the conference then known as the Big Eight. It won the conference title again in 1968.

In 1971, the Sooners led the nation in scoring and yards gained, whipped Auburn in the Sugar Bowl and finished second in the polls to archrival Nebraska.

After the 1972 season, during which Oklahoma was again 11-1 and again finished second in the polls (to Southern California), Fairbanks accepted a job as the coach and general manager of the Patriots.

He left Sooners fans feeling betrayed, especially after the NCAA unearthed 14 rules violations at Oklahoma during Fairbanks’ tenure and punished the university by rendering the Sooners ineligible for bowl games for two years.

With the Patriots, Fairbanks took a mess of a franchise, whose cumulative record from 1970-72 was 11-31, and made it competitive.

From 1973-78, his Patriots teams went 46-40 in the regular season, including 31-13 with two playoff appearances (both losses) in his last three years.

Once again, however, Fairbanks made a shady exit. During the 1978 regular season, with an unexpired contract with the Patriots, he secretly accepted a job at the University of Colorado.

His tenure there was calamitous: In three seasons, the team went 7-26 and was tainted by stories of off-the-field misdeeds by players.

Charles Leo Fairbanks was born in Detroit on June 10, 1933, and played football at Michigan State. He began his coaching career at Ishpeming High School in Michigan, and he was an assistant at Arizona State and the University of Houston before landing at Oklahoma.