Has Mike Stoops’ time as defensive coordinator run its course?
By Chip Rouse
A prime factor in the successful head-coaching transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley was the retention of all the assistant coaches. Among those was assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Mike Stoops.
The last three seasons, Oklahoma has won a total of 34 games games, lost just six and played in two College Football Playoffs and a New Years Six Bowl. That was largely the result of offensive superiority and having one of the country’s best quarterbacks. Over that same time, the Oklahoma defense has been the subject of great criticism.
Were it not for the Sooners’ sheer ability to outscore opponents, it is safe to safe to say that in the just-completed season alone, Oklahoma could easily have lost four more conference games, which would have made the difference between an 8-1 league record and 4-5. Given the latter outcome the Sooners would not have been bowl eligible.
Many Sooner fans have been calling for Mike Stoops’ head for the better part of two seasons now. The Oklahoma defense ranked 87th in total defense in 2016. This season, the Sooners were 57th among FBS teams in total defense, and that included a marked improvement over the last third of the regular season.
After the defensive no-show by OU against Georgia in the College Football Playoff, it seemed fait accompli that Mike Stoops’ time at Oklahoma would be at an end. He would either elect to step aside on his own, or be asked to do so.
Lincoln Riley, for one, is not in agreement with that sentiment, at least not at this time. Not so fast, said the Sooner head coach just one day after Oklahoma’s Playoff loss to Georgia.
Riley gave his defensive coordinator a vote of confidence in discussing the Sooners’ situation going forward with a small gathering of reporters in California on Tuesday.
"“All of us are taking a beating right now,” Riley said. “The good thing is, people can say it (talking about replacing Stoops), but I don’t have to listen to it.“Mike is a really good coach. I have a lot of confidence in him as I do (in) our whole staff. To do what this staff and this program did this year with all the changes…people better remember that too.”"
The Oklahoma head coach has the right to change his mind, but for right not, it appears that Mike Stoops will be back for the 2018 season unless he chooses, of his own volition, to go in a different direction.
Bob’s younger brother is on his second stint as the Oklahoma defensive coordinator. His 14 seasons at OU serve as book ends for an eight-year stopover as the head coach at the University of Arizona.
In the younger Stoops’ first five seasons at Oklahoma, the Sooners boasted one of the country’s strongest defensive units, not all that surprising considering that both Bob and Mike were defensive-minded coaches. The Sooners defense also was highly respectable upon Mike’s return to the Sooner sidelines.
During Mike’s absence, Brent Venables was in charge of the Oklahoma defense. Upon the return of the younger Stoops, however, Venables departed for the same position at Clemson, where he has continued to be highly successful.
Oklahoma entered the College football Playoff semifinal round as the only one of the four teams not to have a top-10 defense.
It reared its ugly head a good part of this season – and once again in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Defensive adjustments are imperative before the 2018 season. Where, how and by whom remains to be seen.