Bob Stoops, one of the three coaching giants of Oklahoma's century-long football excellence, plans to tell his team Wednesday that he will retire after 18 seasons as the Sooner head coach.
An OU source said offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley will take over as head coach.
I really want Lincoln Riley to do well, because this is the one job I feel would most be able to lure Fuente from Blacksburg.
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Boy I hope Riley does well
The Head Coach of the Oklahoma Sooners is 33 years old. Holy. Shit.
so does that mean I'm old or he is young?
The answer's yes.
30 year old head coach of the LA Rams.....Sean McVay
And he went 4-12. I'm not saying it's impossible, that's just not as experienced as Bob fuckin' Stoops.
Who went 4-12?
Meant they, not he. It's like a 28 year old getting hired to coach UVA. Sure someone could do it, doesn't mean they will be good.
Probably couldn't do worse
Actually, he's 0-0.
I suddenly feel incredibly unaccomplished...
Now we have to worry about Buzz & Fuente leaving?!
Fuente is not going to coach Oklahoma. That place made him almost quit football.
I'm thinking the same thing. I know Oklahoma is home for Fuente, but at some point in Fuente's timeline, going to Murray State was a better option than staying at OU.
That doesn't seem like a place he'd go running to.
'twas a joke my friends.
I had hoped the overly dramatic gif would give it away :)
Ummm.... WHY??? This is an absolute baffling time to have him retire. People are saying it isn't health related so what could have driven this?
I'm thinking the same thing. Only thing that comes to mind is some sort of scandal.
Only something along the lines of Pete Carroll would this make sense.
or health.
Or he's had enough of the high stress and long hours and wants to be able to enjoy the fruits of his labors and his family. Don't discount the draw of the old rocking chair on the porch, grandchildren on the knee, a lot more sleep and a lot fewer antacids. Sometimes, you've just peed as high as you can pee on the goalpost, and you zip up, smile and gracefully bow out.
Definitely need to add this phrase to my every day usage.
Recruits are all tucked in and coach in waiting is all lined up.
And now the assistant coaches know they have a high probability they will all be searching for jobs in 9 months. That can't be a good feeling going into the season.
Maybe maybe not, Riley was OC there already so he may keep someone on.
Maybe it's like that time Urban Meyer retired..?
via GIPHY
That came out of no where. Reports claim he says it's not medical but I can only assume it's medical. Who leaves their team in June?
If it isn't health, it has to be a scandal. The man is only 57. Nowhere near the time to retire even if he has enough money.
Maybe he's wealthy enough to retire and doesn't want to grind out 70 hour weeks anymore? Most of America would retire at 57 if they could afford to, what makes Stoops any different?
Because coaching at a HOF level isn't one of those jobs you walk away from. People that have the drive to reach that level don't typically call it quits. How many HOF coaches retire like this?
I don't buy that at all. You either walk away from it or you get forced out. Maybe he wants to save/maintain his legacy, and be the only long tenured coach to leave willingly. Also, I wouldn't call this 'quitting' - He won a national championship and TEN Big 12 championships. What else is left to accomplish?
Two National Championships.
Are you counting the one in '05 that USC and Pete Carroll had to vacate?
No i'm saying what's left to accomplish after winning One Nat. Champ? Two.
Ah, yeah that makes more sense
He also won all the major bowls
If Fuente ever does leave, if I were Whit, I'd make sure Stoops' number is one of the first I'd dial.
The truth will likely come out eventually, but it could very well be a family oriented decision. Being a head football coach for any D1 program is incredibly demanding on one's schedule. Someone in his family could be sick, or he could simply want to spend more time with his wife and children.
If this is the case, then he is the smartest man in America today, and I envy his wisdom.
Maybe he heard there was an opening for HC at Ohio State. /s
This is the only one I am worried about.
What the hell?!?
what I'd like to see is Riley grab Ruffin from LOLUVA and watching them panic...
on a lighter note, I realized Lincoln Riley's ascension to head coach kills the Sooner lineage of football coaches whose first name begins with a "B (Bennie, Bud, Barry, Bob)."
It doesn't have to...
You don't pay no toll......we don't get no rolls.....
Did you say [Abe] Lincoln???
Any chances might have to do with a certain running back?
You guys can tell me not to worry all you want, I do not feel comfortable with a true blue blood job opening up in Fuente's home state until that job is filled with a known, stable coach that isn't Fuente.
The job is filled.
I don't consider a 33 year old OC with no HC experience a "known stable coach." For a program like Oklahoma, they are one disappointing season from looking for an upgrade like Fuente.
These no longer exist, let's be honest here.
For right now that is. I do wonder how short of a leash Riley is on if he has a disastrous (by Oklahoma standards) 2017 campaign and the job seems too big for him. How much time does he get?
As for Fuente, from everything he's said and I've heard, he loves Blacksburg. He's a small town guy, and the Burg is a great spot to raise his family. He has complete control of the program and administrative support. However, it's hard to turn down a bluechip program, especially one where there's a family connection. We're nowhere near the point of Fuente leaving, but the Oklahoma situation is certainly one to keep an eye on over the next couple of years.
I don't expect any coach to have a Frank Beamer type run at Tech again. And as long as Whit keeps hiring good coaches, bigger fish will try to poach 'em. That's the downside with having such a stellar AD.
thoughts on dabo ever leaving Clemson? why do I never hear him mentioned when jobs come up is it just a known that he isn't leaving Clemson. end of story. with the success hes had in his first head coaching gig I just find it odd that I don't find him to be the first rumored when "blue chip" programs have jobs open up.
Clemson is on the precipice of becoming a bluechip program, largely because of Dabo. Also, he's at or near the top of every list to replace Saban at Alabama.
Even if they offered, would Dabo give up the Clemson dynasty for inheriting the Bama one? I've got to believe that being the HC at Clemson is better in almost every way than being at the helm in Tuscaloosa. Lower expectations (barely), less insane fan base (barely), easier path to the playoffs (at least that's the perception), certainly enough money for him and the program at Clemson (even if Bama could top it, at that much, does an increase really make that much of a difference?), and, lastly, Clemson is his legacy instead of being expected to continue Saban's.
I'd take the Clemson job any day over Bama.
He is a Bama alum and former football player so the pull would be mighty strong.
Kevin Dresser on line 1.
Riley will get 2/3 years so let's see what happens.
He'll get one season if he wins 5 games.
I count six gimmes on the schedule.
Two, if one of those wins is Texas.
Fuente would want a ton of apologies from a lot of people down there to even remotely consider the job, he did not leave on good amends.
What's the backstory on his departure from OU?
Bitter did a good article on Fuente last summer. Jump to the section "So long, Sooners" for the backstory.
There is no one still at Oklahoma that was part of Justin leaving the program. He left because they changed offensive systems and he did not get along with the new head coach. Neither of these things are an issue any longer.
Fun fact, the coach that did not speak to Fuente near the end of his final season ended up as a coach at UNC at had to resign due to receiving cash from an NFL agent.
This is interesting.
Well I guess if you're promoting from within and planned on it all along this is a pretty good time to make the switch.
Yeah, it's prime beach season.
Couldn't this run into nepotism allegations since OU is public? Doesn't sound like anyone else was interviewed.
I don't know how that kind of stuff works in Oklahoma, or even with athletic programs at state universities. However, I know a little about how state jobs in Virginia work. Generally, a job opening is not posted until after the person leaves. Then, the hiring process begins. If you're lucky, it only takes six months (and that's not counting the training time).
However, there are often exceptions for some of the higher positions. For example, when the Deputy Superintendent of the Virginia State Police retired last year, his replacement was announced immediately with no interview process happening. I think it fell under the "appointment" category.
I guess better examples to consider would be cases like Bill Stewart replacing RichRod at WVU or Dabo's interim job turning permanent at Clemson. Were there any interviews conducted there (other than Stewart's performance in the bowl game or Dabo's half season record)?
Even formal interview process are just a formality the higher up you get in state government.
TIL that the radio voice of the Boston Red Sox shares the same name with the Oklahoma's AD
This gif was my exact reaction. It is very appropriate here.
I bet stoops stays out about two years then comes back at Maryland or somewhere near Ohio
RIP my favorite college coach nickname. No more Big Game Bob.
I thought it was Big Game Boob as he lost all the big games.
I always liked it because about 90% of the time they would lose the big game. That's what made it so great.
I thought he beat the crap out of SEC in bowl games?
Stoops was 60-30 against Top 25 teams in his career.
Good thing OU is our competition on Gervin!
Is this the curse of Joe Mixon?
Now only 4 active head coaches with a National Championships.
This stat is bananas
Bob Stoops was a good dude, this is pretty shocking and kind of sad.
This is surprising, but not shocking.
From the tweets, it looks like OK has been grooming Riley for this. I didn't expect that, nor did I expect this to happen now.
But there is a chance that this was a Bobby Bowden/Jimbo Fisher type scenario, but that OK learned how badly that went and pulled a Beamer/Fuente. It's possible that Stoops was told that this was going to happen now, and that he had the option of making it hard or making it an easy and smooth transition.
I'm reading tea leaves here, I obviously have no inside knowledge. Coaches around the county have been quoted as saying that if they had an option who would coach their kid, they would almost universally choose Bob. That speaks to his character, and, the occasional problematic player aside, I would think that he deserves a salute from all of us, since we know what it is like to have a beloved coach step aside.
Congrats on the career, Bob. Best of luck to you. Let's get OK on the schedule.
Side note, is there an OK version of TKP out there? Anyone know? I'd like to drop in on them.
EDIT: It looks like http://www.landthieves.com/ is the OK board, reminds me of ElevenWarriors, and uses vBulletin!
I'm wondering if something wasn't uncovered recently behind the scenes that immediately moved up his retirement date. That while Joe Mixon situation was just bad.
I had a discussion about the Mixon thing with a coworker today. We agreed that it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be.
It wasn't good, but ...
To be fair, up in state college, you certainly have some, shall we say, "perspective"
Definitely recommend The Football Brainiacs.
I wonder if Lincoln will go out and get himself a real DC now?
The media coverage of Herman vs Riley as first year HC's to their teams is going to be crazy leading up to the Red River Rivalry, I bet.
EDIT: Removed image. Was a paysite screen shot.
EDIT 2: http://kfor.com/2017/06/07/ive-fulfilled-my-purpose-here-at-ou-bob-stoop... Stoops' direct response.
Stoops was diagnosed with a heart condition a month ago and his father died while coaching at a similar age.
So it was medical. Enough said, he did a good job there and will be remembered fondly by Sooners.
Interesting. Sucks that it had to happen that way, but I completely understand.
At least the transition was smooth, ....lets hope Riley does great for the next few years. ...for reasons that are...completely unselfish.
I bet he returns in the near future.
Wouldn't be surprised if he takes over the Notre Dame job once/if Brian Kelly gets the axe after another potentially subpar season.
Big name coach with ability to get to the big time games, seems like a fit for ND.
NO
Stop that! I want them to keep rolling through incompetent coaches for the rest of their existence. The college football landscape is so much more pleasant to enjoy when they're not at or near the top of it.