Head Football Coach Bob Stoops Responds To Fans' Questions

July 26, 1999

Q: Offensive identity. (R. Chris Underwood)
Coach Stoops: It all comes down to having a plan and making sure everyone understands that plan. We have a great offensive coordinator in Mike Leach and I have witnessed the kind of trouble his offense can cause a defense. Mike has done a great job of communicating his offensive scheme to our players and they picked it up fairly quickly in the spring. In time, they will get even more familiar with it and run it better than they are presently. As far as running it when Mike is no longer here, let's just get through one season before we have to address that."

Q: Level of Talent at OU compared to Florida? (Chris Murphree)
Coach Stoops: "Our talent level isn't as bad as what everyone makes it out to be, but it's not quite to the level of Florida either. At Florida, we had the advantage of having everyone in place and strong relationships with high school coaches. That is something that we're doing here, and in time, it will pay off for us. As far as competing on their level, I expect us to compete on the highest level right now. I wouldn't schedule Florida right now, but if we played them, we would have our guys ready to compete."

Q: Number of seasons to produce mostly wins? (Melinda Leigh Cherryhomes Green)
Coach Stoops: I would like to say that it won't take long at all, but times are different now and those teams of the '70s weren't exactly talent free. I tell our players every day that I expect to win every game that we play. If I say that we'll finish 8-3, then I have already given up on three games. I can't do that and I don't want our players doing that. No one has higher expetations than me, but we are working hard this summer to ensure that we live up to the expectations of our fans and supporters. As far as a running game, I think you and the rest of our fans will be happy with the way we work the run and pass game in this offense. However, remember that important things are controlling the ball and scoring touchdowns. We plan to do both.

Q: Strength of the team (Bill Young)
Coach Stoops: There are several areas that could turn out to be our strength -- offensive line, defensive line, secondary. However, we're not very deep and injuries could change that. I'll have a better idea once we start practicing with the freshmen and juco players this fall. I expect many of them to have an impact on our season.

Q: Redshirting Jason White (Jerry Baker)
Coach Stoops: We want Jason to come in here and show us what he can do. If he picks up the offense quickly and shows that he can make the right decisions, we might play him if we have to. It is very hard for a true freshman to come in and play right away because of the difference between high school and college football. It can happen, but it's hard. If he isn't ready, then we won't play him. If Josh was to get hurt, then we would put our best guy out there.

Q: Biggest adjustment between head coach and defensive coordinator? (Scott Stephens)
Coach Stoops: "Probably managing my time has been the biggest challenge. I also have more media requests and speaking engagements than I've had in the past. I also have to get used to not coaching on the field day-in and day-out. I'll get involved with players on the field, but not always the same ones. I'm looking at the offense, the defense and special teams all at the same time. It used to be that I'd work with the same 24 or 25 guys each day."

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Head Football Coach Bob Stoops Responds To Fans' Questions

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