Color me “shocked as hell”.
In what was has to be in the running for “Shocker of the Year”, Bob, aka “Big Game Bob”, Stoops stepped down as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners yesterday. Citing his desire of leaving on his own terms while in good health, it seemed more like a retirement than a force-out of sorts.
Stoops turned over the reigns to offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, leaving the cupboard stacked to the hilt for the new head coach.
Stoops has a 190-48 overall record at the school, and the Sooners have reached a bowl game in each of his 18 seasons. His 190 victories are most all time at Oklahoma.
One more nugget on Stoops: under his watch the Sooners won a national championship in 2000 and captured 10 conference championships.
Even though Stoops left quite a winning legacy at Oklahoma, the fans (and some media pundits) were mixed.
Fans would point out that the Sooners plateaued under Stoops in recent years.
They haven’t gotten over two consecutive ass-kickings by Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal. Those same fans were pissed at their Sooners getting hammered 45-24 by Ohio State AT HOME.
Those same fans seemed to have forgotten how life was before Stoops arrived in Norman. The Sooners were an afterthought thanks to penalties from former head coach John Blake’s stewardship. Stoops basically rescued their program from college football purgatory.
To me, Stoops knew that the heat was on him, even though I didn’t think he deserved it. So he got out while the getting was good.
Look, I don’t know if Riley is going to be a bust or not. Hell his offense is a big reason why the Sooners have been rolling.
But I do think Riley has some big-ass shoes to fill, and it’s not guaranteed that Oklahoma will have future sustained success.
So memo to Sooner fans: y’all may want to be VERY careful for what you wish for…
Categories: college football
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