Stoops Named to Bryant List

OU mentor again being considered for national honors

Bob Stoops

Nov. 7, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops is among 16 that have been named to the watch list for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award. The announcement was made by the awards committee of the American Heart Association.

Stoops, now in his ninth season with the Sooners, again has his program ranked among the top five nationally. It's an impressive feat considering the fact that OU is operating under a redshirt freshman quarterback and has started just seven seniors during the 2007 season.

Despite that, OU is 8-1 overall, and is leading the Big 12 South with a 4-1 mark.

Stoops has fashioned a record of 94-20 at Oklahoma, including a 52-2 standard at home. His teams have been ranked in 127 weeks and have played for the national championship three times.

Under its current head coach, OU has played in eight bowls, including the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose.

Stoops has been named the consensus Big 12 Coach of the Year three times and has won a total of 10 national coach of the year citations, including the Bryant Award in 2000.

The Bryant Watch List will be narrowed to five to 10 finalists and announced live by Alabama football legend and former NFL player Kenny Stabler during a press conference in Houston on Dec. 12. The finalists will attend an awards dinner on Jan. 17, 2008, where the winner will be announced live.

The winner of the Bryant College Coach of the Year is voted on by members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and is the only college coaching award given after all the bowl games have finished.

The selection committee consists of current and past event chairmen, Bryant family representatives, National Sportscasters & Sportswriters Association representatives and former collegiate players and coaches.

The Bryant Awards honor excellence in coaching while raising funds to fight heart disease and stroke, the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers. Bryant himself suffered a heart attack prior to his death in 1983. Funds raised benefit research, community education and outreach programs of the AHA. For more information, or to purchase tickets or a table for the event, contact Lisa C. Burns at (713) 610-5026 or visit www.americanheart.org/bryantawards

OU inspires champions today and prepares leaders for tomorrow by enabling its student-athletes to achieve their highest academic, athletic and personal aspirations. The OU Athletics Department sponsors 21 varsity sports with more than 600 student-athletes and is completely self-supporting.

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