Bob Stoops – Oklahoma Sooners
Bob Stoops shocked the college football world today as he announced his retirement as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners effective immediately.
Spoke with Bob Stoops. He confirms he is retiring as OU head coach. Team meeting to take pllace at 2:30. As first reported by @BerryTramel
— Carey Murdock (@CareyAMurdock) June 7, 2017
Stoops, 56, held the reins in Norman for 18 years. His accomplishments include:
- 1 National Championship (2000)
- 10 Big XII Championships
- 2x Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2000, 2003)
- 6x Big XII Coach of the Year
- 2x Heisman Winners (Jason White 2003, Sam Bradford 2008)
As the Sooners’ head coach, Stoops compiled an impressive 190-48 record, which is a .798 winning percentage. His 10 Big XII titles is the most in conference history. Also, Stoops has coached 13 first-round draft picks with 142 overall players in the NFL in his 18 years. It’s safe to say that Stoops is an NCAA coaching legend.
In recent years, Stoops and his Sooners have left quite a bitter taste in the mouths of Vol fans as he went 2-0 against Butch Jones. The 2014 game at Norman was a blowout and the 2015 “Checker Neyland” game sent a lot of fans into an uproar.
As expected, offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley has been named the head coach. Over the last few seasons, Riley has been regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game. In 2016, the Sooner offense ranked 2nd in total offense, 1st in passing efficiency and pass completion percentage. He has also been linked to several head coaching jobs in the past.
Here are some of the reactions from Twitter:
Bob Stoops is retiring before Bill Snyder.
I would've lost a lot of money on that bet.
— Matt Schick (@ESPN_Schick) June 7, 2017
https://twitter.com/PFBoone/status/872534997500133376
Bob Stoops is one of the truly bad characters in college football. Yes, the sports world still needs villians, but still…Good riddance.
— AJ (@AJTrueSon) June 7, 2017
There are a lot of unknowns about Riley, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see Oklahoma take a few steps back. It’ll be hard to replace the success Stoops had for sure. For the Big XII, especially first-year Texas head coach Tom Herman, this is great news.
The timing of all this does seem quite weird. Stoops has been knocking on the door of the playoffs the last few years, including having a Heisman runner up in Baker Mayfield leading the charge. However, given the recent handling of the entire Joe Mixon situation, he might have been facing some heat. Sources are also saying the decision is not due to health, although there are some saying that health was a concern. Who knows? If something behind closed doors did happen, then it’ll come out eventually. Like I said, it just seems odd right now.
