Per Twitter (a good source I know) this is not about his health
This is a couple of things. One Bob Stoops has been at OU for 18 years. That is a long time. From what I'm hearing, this is a natural retirment in that a coach just wants to do other things. Also this wasn't a sudden development within the OU circles. That's why they gave Lincoln Riley a massive extension.
Don't know where to find the live press conference if there is one, but reading comments on-line it seems like he confirmed it isn't because of health.
Apparently Stoops said something like "it is the right time, wrong time of the year, but the perfect offseason to transition."
So I'm guessing Stoops was comfortable handing the program off to Riley while the team was loaded with upperclassmen, and one of their best recruiting classes recently coming in.
and I don't think anyone had wind of it until he announced today. Probably a great move by hiim. He's still young and has his health. Have to imagine he has plenty of money, might as well move on and enjoy an easier life.. He is going to continue to do something with OU, probably some type of advisory position, but sure it will be a lot less stress then coaching.
should be interim.
Odd timing.
It does have to be chanted though... Over-Rated clap clap clap-clap-clap
Extremely strange time to decide to retire.
Lincoln Riley, the OC, is taking over, so maybe it was a Bo Ryan to Greg Gard type deal.
As I commented below, Stoops has little connection to Lincoln Riley. Riley has only been on staff since 2015 and is a disciple of Mike Leach.
Bob Stoops' own brother Mike has been on staff longer and is the defensive coordinator. Did I mention he was his brother? But Stoops would do this for an assistant he has only known for 2 years instead?
It certainly does seem odd.
It's weird, but not unprecedented. When Bret Bielema became head coach at Wisconsin, he had only been on Barry Alvarez's staff for two years and had no prior connection to Wisconsin, yet he was Alvarez's hand-picked successor. Alvarez is the patriarch of that program and he became AD when he retired from coaching, so it's doubtful that decision came from anyone but Alvarez.
Mike Stoops didn't exactly set the world on fire when he was head coach at Arizona, so Bob Stoops recommending his brother to succeed him would have been seen as pure nepotism.
That's a good point. And a good HC would be in position to REALLY be able to tell if the guy on his staff was capable or not.
Riley has been mentioned for multiple HC jobs and he was sign, sealed and delivered to ECU for a second there. He's a hot, Hot, HOT name as far as OCs go.
It was well known around OU that he was next in line if he could get experience under Stoops.
Brother Stoops was never going to be a HC, if he was, he would've done so elsewhere a long time ago.
This isn't weird at all, what will be weird is if Lincoln Riley shakes up a good amount of the coaching staff. I can't see it happening, but you never know.
Mike Stoops' defense have up at least 30 pts give times last season. There is no way he was going to be HC.
He's 190-48, 121-29 at Oklahoma.
National championship in 2000.
10 conference titles.
Yeah I know, facts.
Yes, but they did earn the moniker of Chokelahoma there in the mid-2000s by losing a number of big time bowls
sounds similar to bo...both still outstanding coaches
Maybe Lloyd Carr. Bo never won a championship.
I would much rather lose 3 national title games than not make them at all...do you not remember the Lllloyd Carr jokes?
Not that it matters but I believe that was his 2nd year there and he won with the previous staffs players. In 5 of his first 6 years at Okie he won 12 games or more. 13-0 his 2nd year @ Okie and won the natty versus Oregon. I guess that's when he got the moniker "Big Game Bob"
Stoops and OU beat FSU in the BCS title game to win the NC.
A national championship and Ten Big 12 titles in 17 years is overrated?
The guy has more conference championships(10) than home losses(9) in his career at Oklahoma.
it was Stoops 2nd year, so he won a title kids already in the program. Not to say he wasn't a better coach than Blake, but it should be noted that he never finished higher than 3rd, in nearly 20 years at a premier program. Especially with Texas being down.
He was a good coach, definitely top 10 (current as of 9 am) in my opinion, however he did do a poor job a few times in big games. And a .500 bowl record at OU is decent, but not great.
Any time you say a coach is in the top 10, that automatically disqualifies the notion that he is overrated.
I know, I know, it's horrible to say something bad about Bo... But oh well, here goes.
Bo was 5-12 in bowl games.
Could Stoops have won another natty? Maybe. But he's a really damn good coach.
We haven't even won a conference title since 2004.
For any fans of their team to idolize their guys and diminish others.
Bob Stoops really reminds me of Lloyd. Did extremely well but we did not appreciate at the time. Oklahoma fans whine every season about Stoops and finding someone new.
He's a really good coach and history will remember as such.
Indeed. And people seem to forget how bad Oklahoma was when Stoops got there. The seven seasons prior to his arrival, the Sooners were 5-4-2, 8-4, 6-6, 5-5-1, 3-8, 4-8 and 5-6.
I remember watching a crappy Northwestern team run them off the field in '97.
Bob Stoops has accomplished a lot more than Lloyd, just saying.
10 conference titles, 7 when you couldn't share them when Texas and Mack Brown were good as well but only won 2. Kansas State was real good too a couple of years. 4 National title appearances, a playoff appearance, and a national championship. If Harbaugh accomplished that I would be overjoyed.
He did lose the NC game against the Urban Meyer/Tim Tebow gators, so he came pretty close to winning a 2nd
If I remember correctly, that game was tied in the fourth quarter and Oklahoma was on the wrong end of a couple of goal-line stands, so it could have gone either way.
Hey when you are making $5 mil a year who cares. He should be worth at least $20 million plus his real estate. Yea he won some Big 12 games but irrelevant on the national stage since 2000.
Made the playoffs but haven't been relevant nationally since 2000? I guess that means Michigan hasn't been relevant since '97
As good as OU has been during his time there, they've been playing great teams in their bowl games. Winning half isn't so bad. I can't get on board with the idea that he's not a great coach because he didn't win more national championships. The vast majority of coaches never win one.
But possibly good timing to get back in with T.J. Pledger?
He also gets a $700,000 bonus each June 1 that he remains coach.
Whoa.
Lincoln Reilly is the reported replacement, per CBS
56 y/o is young. He could hang out in the booth this fall and take his pick of jobs in Nov/Dec.
It seems like one of those "step down now so my chosen coach fills the interim job" moves.
That's what I'm thinking - leave Riley with the job and a senior QB after taking him through spring ball to give him the best chance to keep the job next year.
Lincoln Riley has only been on the Oklahoma staff since 2015. If Stoops' brother Mike or some longtime assistant was getting the job, I could see that. But it doesn't really make sense for Lincoln Riley, a Mike Leach disciple.
Little connection maybe, but I'm sure you don't know about his loyalty, unless you are secretly Mrs. Carol Stoops, Bob's wife and longtime MGoBlog poster. You are overlooking the possibility that maybe Stoops just thought Riley was best for the program, despite being together only a short time.
56 is a weird age to retire for a school legend, so I'm not saying this is the explanation for sure, but you can't dismiss the idea that Stoops thinks Riley should be the coach just because they've only been together for 2.5 years. Stoops did bring Riley to Oklahoma, after all.
There is no reason to go to these lengths to get Lincoln Riley the job. If Riley were that talented, he would have probably gotten the job at the end of the year when most coaches normally retire. And that is the point. There is no long-term relationship to explain this especially when his own brother is the defensive coordinator and one of his longest serving assistants.
Who knows. His brother might not want the HC job and is willing to pick up and move to brother Bob's next stop in a similar capacity.
Maybe little brother didn't want the job? Not many succeed as the immediate successor to a long time legend. See immediate successors to Bo, Woody, Barry, Tom, etc...
Even if Bob doesn't rate 'legend' status, he is still a very successful, long term coach that will be difficult to follow.
Donors would stop giving out of anger if Bob's brother was named the head coach. He is not liked at all down in Oklahoma.
Was doing fine coaching football. His incident in the restaurant did him in, but his teams were fine.
Bob isn't much for timing. He wrecked K-State's MNC chance in 1998 by pilfering the staff just before the B12 championship game. Fuck you Bob.