History is one tough customer at Oklahoma. The tradition,
so rich and so long-standing, is as daunting as it is
impressive. To be among the best at Oklahoma is to be
among the best in college football.
Such dramatics are lost on Bob Stoops. The Sooner head coach
befriended the would-be albatross of OU's successful past from his first
day on campus and remains steadfastly focused on tomorrow and the
championship it holds.
It falls then to long-time observers and experts of the game to define
Stoops' impact. Rarely have the pundits had it so easy.
That was true again in 2010 when Oklahoma won its seventh Big 12
title, all of which have come under the current head coach. Stoops didn't
arrive at OU until the Big 12 was three years old, but already he has
coached the program to more than twice as many championships as any
other school in the league.
Stoops won a national crown in 2000, just his second season in Norman,
and has led the Sooners to 12 consecutive bowl games, a school record,
including seven of the BCS variety.
Along the way, he has picked up 17 coach of the year citations including
eight on the national level (only five coaches nationally have won more
conference coach of the year awards), and watched five assistant
coaches move into Football Bowl Subdivision head coaching positions.
In 12 seasons under Stoops, Oklahoma has been a fixture on the
national stage. The brilliance dulls the memory of what he inherited.
When he arrived in Norman, the proud Sooner program was five years
removed from a winning record, four from a postseason appearance.
Those atypical days of angst are so forgotten now that they might as well
be mentioned with the Land Rush and Dust Bowl.
Today, the school reflects on 129 victories (Stoops reached 100 victories
faster than any coach in college football history), an average of 10.8
per season, during this coach's tenure, including a 41-16 mark against
opponents ranked among the Associated Press top 25.
Two Heisman winners and five Heisman finalists have been
characteristic of the talent Stoops and his staff have attracted. The
offenses have been among the best in college football history (the 2008
team was the first to score 60 or more points in five straight games).
The defense has been stingy and is the only program to produce two
players who won the Thorpe and Nagurski Awards in the same season.
Stoops has been characterized as a grounded family man, big-game
coach, relentless recruiter, strong leader and a person with uncommon
perspective.
His success emanates from a disciplined style true to his roots in the
Steel Valley of Ohio, but he is far from inflexible. The principles to which
he holds are the tried and true axioms of the sport mixed with cutting edge
strategy and an appreciation for the calculated risk.
The son of a coach, Stoops was a four-year starter at Iowa. He began his
coaching career in 1983 as a volunteer in the Hawkeye program under
Hayden Fry, working through the ranks until he became co-defensive
coordinator at Kansas State (1991-95). There he played a key role in
one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football history while
serving on Bill Snyder's staff.
Eventually, he left for Florida and a three-year stint as Steve Spurrier's
defensive coordinator. It was with the Gators, and a national
championship team in 1996, that the spotlight found Stoops and made
him one of the hottest names in the profession.
His hiring at Oklahoma
was one for the ages.
COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS
 Stoops is 129-31 entering his 13th season. He is 84-19 vs. the Big 12,
46-13 vs. the Big 12 South, 38-6 vs. the Big 12 North, 7-1 in the Big 12
title game, 45-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 72-2 at home, 35-16 on
the road and 22-13 on neutral fields.
OU has set three NCAA records and set or tied 112 school records
under Stoops, not including bowl bests and marks specific to a particular
position. Among those marks are passing for a game, season and
career; receiving for a game, season and career; rushing for a season
and all-purpose yards for a career.
Stoops has authored two of the seven longest winning streaks in Oklahoma history. His 2000
and 2001 teams combined to win 20 straight, while the 2002 and 2003 teams combined to reel
off 14 in a row. Those victories all came against FBS opponents.
|
|
| Coach Stoops |
| Hometown |
Youngstown, Ohio |
| High School |
Cardinal Mooney, 1978 |
| College |
Iowa, 1983 |
| Family |
wife, Carol
daughter, Mackenzie
twin sons, Drake and Isaac
|
| Coaching
History |
| 1999-Present |
Oklahoma - Head
Coach |
| 1996-1998 |
Florida - Asst. Head Coach/DC |
| 1991-1995 |
Kansas State - Co-Def. Coord. |
| 1989-1990 |
Kansas State - Defensive
Backs |
| 1988-1989 |
Kent State - Assistant Coach |
| 1985-1987 |
Iowa - Volunteer Coach |
1983-1984
|
Iowa - Graduate Assistant
|
| Coaching
Record |
| Year |
School |
Title |
Record |
| 2011 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
10-3 |
| 2010 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
12-2 |
| 2009 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
8-5 |
| 2008 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
12-2 |
| 2007 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
11-3 |
| 2006 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
11-3 |
| 2005 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
8-4 |
| 2004 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
12-1 |
| 2003 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
12-2 |
| 2002 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
12-2 |
| 2001 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
11-2 |
| 2000 |
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
13-0 |
1999
|
Oklahoma |
Head Coach |
7-5 |
| 1998 |
Florida |
Def. Coord. |
10-2 |
| 1997 |
Florida |
Def. Coord. |
10-2 |
| 1996 |
Florida |
Def. Coord. |
12-1 |
| 1995 |
Kansas State |
Co-Def. Coord. |
10-2 |
| 1994 |
Kansas State |
Co-Def. Coord. |
9-3 |
| 1993 |
Kansas State |
Co-Def. Coord. |
9-2-1 |
| 1992 |
Kansas State |
Co-Def. Coord. |
5-6 |
| 1991 |
Kansas State |
Co-Def. Coord. |
7-4 |
| 1990 |
Kansas State |
Def. Backs |
5-6 |
| 1989 |
Kansas State |
Def. Backs |
1-10 |
| 1988 |
Kent State |
Asst. Coach |
5-6 |
| 1987 |
Iowa |
Vol. Asst. |
10-3 |
| 1986 |
Iowa |
Vol. Asst. |
9-3 |
| 1985 |
Iowa |
Vol. Asst. |
10-2 |
| 1984 |
Iowa |
Grad. Asst. |
7-4-1 |
1983
|
Iowa |
Grad. Asst. |
9-3 |
Oklahoma owns the nation's longest current home field winning streak at 36. That's also
the best in school history, topping a 25-in-a-row string that ended in 1953. Stoops also has
fashioned two other streaks of 19 straight.
OU won the 2000 national championship, played for three more and captured eight Big 12
South crowns and seven Big 12 titles. Oklahoma has spent 24 weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll
and a national-leading 20 weeks atop the BCS standings.
Oklahoma has held a double-digit lead in 131 of Stoops' 160 games.
Oklahoma has played in 12 straight bowl games under Stoops. Never had an OU coach taken
even his first three teams to bowls. Prior to Stoops' arrival, OU had not played in one of what is
now a BCS game since the 1988 Orange Bowl (1987 season). Stoops, in his second season,
led OU to the 2001 Orange Bowl (2000 season).
An OU player finished among the top seven in the Heisman voting six times on Stoops' watch:
Sam Bradford (No. 1 in 2008), Adrian Peterson (No. 2 in 2004), Jason White (No. 3 in 2004),
Jason White (No. 1 in 2003), Roy Williams (No. 7 in 2001) and Josh Heupel (No. 2 in 2000).
Under Stoops, OU has produced 35 All-Americans; two AP Players of the Year (Heupel,
White); two Nagurski Award winners (Williams, Derrick Strait); two Thorpe Award winners
(Williams, Strait); two Butkus Award winners (Rocky Calmus, Teddy Lehman); one Bednarik
Award winner (Lehman); one Lombardi Award winner (Tommie Harris); one Walter Camp
winner (Heupel); three O'Brien Award winners (Sam Bradford and White twice); a Maxwell
Award winner (White); a Unitas Award winner (White); an Outland Trophy winner (Jammal
Brown) and one Mosi Tatupu Award winner (J.T. Thatcher).
All 74 games of Stoops tenure have been sold out and the stadium capacity has been
increased by some 9,000 seats since his arrival. In a state of 3.5 million people and two other
FBS programs, attendance in Norman routinely exceeds 84,000.
In 1996 and 1997, his Florida defense scored eight touchdowns. The 1996 Gators won the
national championship. During his final four seasons at Kansas State, the Wildcats were a
35-12 and played in three bowl games.
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