Five Oklahoma football story lines as 2017 training camp commences
By Chip Rouse
Will the Sooner defense be better in 2017, and is Mike Stoops a short-timer as defensive coordinator?
Some people speculated that when Bob Stoops retired as the Oklahoma head coach that his brother, Mike, might choose to leave as well. That proved to be false. In fact, Mike says he had no intention of stepping aside as the team’s defensive coordinator.
The Sooners are converting from a 3-4 defensive front seven to a 4-3 alignment, which is expected to tighten up the OU run defense in 2017 and hopefully allow the OU front seven to put more pressure on the quarterback.
Several college football analysts, as well as a couple of leading preview magazines (Athlon Spots and Phil Steele’s 2017 College Football Preview) project the Oklahoma defense to be improved this season. That is largely attributed to stability in returning starters in the secondary and at linebacker. Senior linebacker Ogbonnia “Obo” Okoronkwo and senior cornerback Jordan Thomas are the leaders on the OU defensive unit. Both are on the 2017 preseason watch list for several major national awards.
Mike Stoops has been the defensive coordinator for the Sooners for 10 seasons over an 18-year time period. He joined brother Bob when he became the Sooner head coach in 1999. Following the 2003 season, Mike took the head coaching job at Arizona, where he remained for eight seasons. He was fired at Arizona after the 2011 season, and rejoined the OU coaching staff in his old position, beginning with the 2012 season.
The Oklahoma defense has had its problems in recent seasons, particularly against teams with a dual-threat quarterback and teams with the ability to throw the ball deep.
Mike Stoops, like his brother Bob, is considered one of the best defensive minds in college coaching. Mike has been in the same job at Oklahoma for a long time by college-coaching standards, and he no longer has his brother by his side on the sidelines. It is curious to me why Mike has not pursued, or been considered for, another head-coaching job somewhere. Was he even considered for the Oklahoma job when Bob retired?
New assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill was Lincoln Riley’s boss and head coach at East Carolina and was an assistant at Texas Tech when Riley was a player there and later served on the Red Raider coaching staff. McNeill’s background is as a defensive coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech for two seasons under Mike Leach.
McNeill is serving as a right-hand advisor and mentor to Riley. He is also coaching the OU defensive line. With McNeill’s strong relationship and history with Riley, and his defensive background, you’ve got to wonder how long Mike Stoops.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this is Mike’s last season with the Sooners, especially if the defense continues to have problems giving up large yardage totals and getting defensive stops more consistently.