Bob Stoops
- Head Coach 1999 - Present
- 114-28 (.803) Record at Oklahoma
- Under Stoops OU has won 1 National Championship, 6 Big 12 Titles and 7 Big 12 South Titles. Stoops is 4-6 in bowls, 3-5 in January bowls, 2-5 in BCS games, 75-16 vs. the Big 12, 40-11 vs. the Big 12 South, 34-5 vs. the Big 12 North, 6-1 in the Big 12 title game, 38-12 vs. non-conference opponents, 62-2 at home, 32-13 on the road, 16-13 on neutral fields and 33-16 vs. ranked opponents.
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.
Under Stoops, Oklahoma has won 114 games; the 2000 national championship; spent 86 consecutive weeks in the national rankings; played in seven bowl games, four of the BCS variety; taken part in three national championship games and captured six Big 12 crowns. On a playing field leveled by scholarship limits and parity, this era stares down the Oklahoma standard and does not blink.
The achievement is so brilliant that it dulls the memory of what Stoops 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 categorized with the Land Rush and Dust Bowl.
Stoops has been characterized as a grounded family man, brilliant 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.
During his time, OU has produced record setting passers and receivers, five 1,000-yard rushers, suffocating defense and special teams units that rank among the most dynamic in the land. The Sooners have been nothing if not versatile.
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 Assistant Defensive Coordinator at Kansas State (1991-95). With the Wildcats, he played a key role in their impressive turnaround. During his final four seasons there, K-State was 35-12 with three bowl appearances.
Eventually, he left for Florida and a three-year stint as Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator. In 1996, he was part of a national championship team. It was with the Gators 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 History
| 1999-Present | Head Coach, Oklahoma |
| 1996-1999 | Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach, Florida |
| 1991-1995 | Co-Defensive Coordinator, Kansas State |
| 1989-1990 | Defensive Backs Coach, Kansas State |
| 1988-1989 | Assistant Coach, Kent State |
| 1985-1987 | Volunteer Coach, Iowa |
| 1983-1984 | Graduate Assistant Coach, Iowa |
Coaching Accomplishments
- OU has set or tied more than 171 school records under Stoops, not including bowl bests and marks specific to a particular position (i.e., receptions by a running back). Among those marks under Stoops are passing for a game, season and career; receiving for a game, season and career; and rushing for a season.
- Stoops has authored two of the seven longest winning streaks in Oklahoma history. His 2000 and 2001 teams won 20 straight, while the 2002 and 2003 teams reeled off 14 in a row. Those victories all came against I-A opponents.
- OU won the 2000 national championship, played for two more and captured seven Big 12 South crowns and six Big 12 titles. Oklahoma has spent 23 weeks at No. 1.
- An OU player has finished among the top seven in the Heisman voting six times: Sam Bradford (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).
- OU has had a double-digit lead in 86 of 103 games.
- Oklahoma has played in eight bowl games. Never had an OU coach taken even his first three teams to bowls. Prior to Stoops' arrival, OU had gone four straight years without a bowl, and 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).
- Under Stoops, OU produced 24 All-Americans; two Heisman Trophy Winners (Bradford, White), 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 (Josh Heupel) three O'Brien Award winners (Sam Bradford and Jason White twice); a Maxwell Award winner (White); a Unitas Award winner (White); an Outland Trophy winner (Jammal Brown); one Sammy Baugh Trophy winner (Sam Bradford); one Mosi Tatupu Award winner (J.T. Thatcher).
- OU has had a Butkus finalist in four of the last seven years and a Lombardi finalist in three of the last four. The Sooners also had finalists for the Biletnikoff, Groza, Guy, Hendricks, Mackey and Doak Walker awards. In 1996 and 1997, his Florida defense scored eight touchdowns.
- The 1996 Gators won the national championship and in 1996 and 1997, his Florida defense scored eight touchdowns.
- During his final four seasons in Manhattan, Kansas State posted a 35-12 record and played in three bowl games.
- He assisted K-State to its first 10-win season with a defense that allowed seven or fewer points in six games, including three shutouts. In 1995, his unit led the nation in total defense (250.8 ypg) with four defensive backs named All-Big Eight.
