Stormin in Norman
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Bob Stoops did it his way, and he’s going out the same way

By Chip Rouse

Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops runs onto the field prior to action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops runs onto the field prior to action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s been 24 hours since the Bob Stoops bombshell was dropped on Norman, Okla., and spread like an enormous backdraft throughout the college football universe, and the after effects are still both shocking and sentimental.

Former college and NFL coach Steve Spurrier may have put it the best, when he described the announcement of his friend and former assistant’s retirement as “a surprise, but not a complete shock.”

Eighteen years as a college football head coach at the same institution is extremely rare, particularly in this day and age when there is so much pressure on head coaches to win. With the exception of Bill Snyder at Kansas State, who has coached the Wildcats in two separate stints for a total of 25 seasons, Stoops’ 18 years on the Oklahoma sidelines was the longest at one school among active Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches.

Not only is the 56-year-old Ohio native the winningest coach in the Sooners’ renowned football history, but his 18 years also makes him the longest tenured in an illustrious coaching line that includes some of the biggest names in college football coaching. A family line that includes the legendary Bud Wilkinson, credited as the head coach that put Oklahoma football in the national spotlight, and Barry Switzer, who won 157 games at Oklahoma in the ’70s and ’80s and, like Wilkinson, delivered three national championships.

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Bob Stoops’ nearly two decades as head football coach at Oklahoma are clearly an accomplishment. But it was the championship culture and winning tradition that he instilled at OU and sustained for 18 seasons that will be his legacy and a most difficult act to follow.

The longtime Sooner head coach is clearly going out on a high note. His team has won two consecutive Big 12 championships and is fresh off a Sugar Bowl victory over Auburn, the second best team in the Southeast Conference, considered the strongest in college football.

But more than that, Stoops never had a losing season while at Oklahoma, and that’s amplified by the fact that in the three years before he became OU’s 21st head football coach, the Sooners won a total of 12 games and were a deplorable 8-24 against Big 12 opponents. To put that into even greater perspective, Stoop’s Oklahoma teams won 11 or more games in 12 of his 18 seasons.

Oklahoma played in 18 consecutive postseason bowl games under Stoops and appeared in four national championship games, winning it all in his second season at the helm, in 2000, going undefeated in 13 games and bringing home the school’s seventh national championship trophy.

Stoops was named Big 12 Coach of the Year six times, and he was honored as National Coach of the Year twice.

The question of how long Stoops would stay in his coaching job at Oklahoma has been a frequent topic of discussion and debate the past few years. The popular answer has been: “As long as he wants to,” or “When he chooses to leave.” Every college coach in America would like to have that kind of say about their future.

The time is now for Robert Anthony Stoops. A spot is clearly reserved for him on the Mount Rushmore of Oklahoma football history.

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