Bob Stoops Says Some NFL Coaches Might Like to Have His Job

As one of college football’s most successful head coaches, OU head football coach Bob Stoops’ name comes up often when high- profile college positions come open. He’s also been approached in the past about positions at the next level in the NFL.

Stoops has been at Oklahoma for 16 seasons, and over that time has become the winningest coach in the Sooners’ acclaimed football history. Since 1999, Stoops has won a total of 168 games and against just 44 losses.

Dec 29, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops reacts as the Clemson Tigers beat the Oklahoma Sooners 40-6 in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl at Florida Citrus Bowl. Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma was Stoops’ first head coaching job. With the success he has had in Norman, it is natural to expect that he would be on the short list for other college coaching opportunities, and even in consideration to become a head coach in the NFL.

The Oklahoma head coach has indeed had those opportunities, yet he remains firmly in place at OU. Stoops does not like to talk about or entertain reporters’ questions concerning job inquiries, but he did acknowledge to ESPN.com writer Chris Lowe this week that he had seriously considered at least one NFL offer (although he was not specific).

Stoops told Lowe that his job at Oklahoma was too good to walk away from. He then proceeded to turn the question around: “I say this in a respectful, humble way. Sometimes, some of those NFL guys might rather have my job.”

Not too many people probably thought Stoops would stay that long at Oklahoma, including Stoops himself. Sooner fans feared he would and could be lured away if the job opened up at Florida, which is where he came from, as the Gators defensive coordinator under head coach Steve Spurrier, when OU athletic director Joe Castiglione hired him.

The Florida job did open – three times, in fact (in 2005, 2011 and 2015) – and on each occasion Stoops said he was not interested.

“I never looked at this job as a stepping stone…that you do well here and go get a better job.” —Bob Stoops

Asked by Oklahoma City Oklahoman sportswriter Jason Kersey if he thought he would be at OU this long, Stoops said, “No, but I never thought I’d be here a short while either.

“I never looked at this job as a stepping stone job, that you do well here and go get a better job. I looked at this as a job that you could be here a long time, and fortunately I have.”

Does this mean that Stoops plans to make a career out of the OU head job? That would be a stretch. One thing that is fairly certain, however, is, at this point in time, the job is Stoops’ as long as he wants it. This is not to say that some Sooner fans aren’t running thin on patience over OU’s recent run of inconsistent performance on the gridiron and believe that Stoops’ may have become too complacent in the job.

The fans are clearly entitled to their fickle, ebb-and-flow opinions, but the reality is that OU officials are pleased with and solidly behind their head football coach, and Stoops is quite content where he is as well.

Perhaps the best course of action currently is to leave well enough alone.