Oklahoma Sooners

Bob Stoops Head Coach 10th Season (1999-2008) 97-22 (.815) at Oklahoma   OU Football Coaching Staff

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 2007. Stoops became the first coach in Big 12 history to place back-to-back conference titles in his trophy case and was one of several teams, in a year of parity, to contend for the national title.

Many called it Stoops' best coaching job, a mouthful of compliment considering the star-studded nature of his accomplishments at OU.

Under Stoops, Oklahoma has won 97 games; the 2000 national championship; spent 88 consecutive weeks in the national rankings; played in nine bowl games, six of the BCS variety; taken part in three national championship games and captured five Big 12 crowns (no other league member has more than two).

Since 2000, he has led a program with more victories (90) than any other college program in America while playing difficult schedules that have resulted in two trips to the Orange and Fiesta Bowls, plus stops at both the Rose and Sugar Bowls, as well.

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 could be mentioned 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, although 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, four 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 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.

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 Accomplishments
• Stoops is 97-22 overall, 64-13 vs. the Big 12, 35-9 vs. the Big 12 South, 28-4 vs. the Big 12 North, 5-1 in the Big 12 title game, 33-9 vs. non-conference opponents, 54-2 at home, 27-11 on the road, 15-9 on neutral fields and 27-11 vs. ranked opponents.
 
• OU has set or tied more than 170 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 six Big 12 South crowns and five Big 12 titles. Oklahoma has spent 22 weeks at No. 1 under its current head coach.