Oklahoma Sooners


SoonerSports.com
 
Bob Stoops

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

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.
 

 
 The Stoops File
 Birthdate September 9, 1960
 Hometown Youngstown, Ohio
 High School Cardinal Mooney, 1978
 College Iowa, 1983
 Family wife, Carol
daughter, Mackenize
twin sons, Isaac and Drake
 

 Coaching History
 1999-2008, Oklahoma - Head Coach
 1996-1998, Florida - Asst. Head Coach & Def. Coord.
 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
 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

• An OU player has finished among the top seven in the Heisman voting five times: 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 98 of his 119 games.
 
• Oklahoma has played in nine 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 has produced 24 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 (Josh Heupel); two O'Brien Award winners (Jason 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).
 
• OU has had a Butkus finalist in four of the last seven years and a Lombardi finalist in three of the last six. The Sooners also had finalists for the Biletnikoff, Groza, Guy, Hendricks, Mackey and Doak Walker awards.
 
• Through his first eight seasons in Norman, Stoops saw 32 of his players drafted by NFL Franchises for an average of four per year. The Sooners have produced a first-round selection in six consecutive seasons.
 
• In 1996 and 1997, his Florida defense scored eight touchdowns. The 1996 Gators won the national championship.
 
• 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.
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