Are Bob Stoops, Landry Jones destined to be back together?
By Chip Rouse
Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and quarterback Landry Jones were last together in 2012, Jones’ final collegiate season. But they could be back together again when the rived XFL returns to action in early 2020.
The newly re-established professional league appears to be the next stop for the former Oklahoma quarterback and his college head coach. Jones became the first player to sign with the new league when he agreed to terms late this week. Earlier this year, Stoops became the first coach signed by the league, agreeing to become the head coach and general manager of the Dallas team when the league officially relaunches in early 2020.
The eight teams that will represent the new XFL have all been identified as have the head coaches. Besides Dallas, the other seven cities are Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle, which will constitute the Western Conference, and New York, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington, D.C., will make up the XFL Eastern Conference.
Seven other quarterbacks are expected to sign with the XFL before the league holds its inaugural player draft in October. Every team head coach will select their team’s quarterback ahead of the draft.
And that’s where it will become interesting. Will Stoops go with Jones, who he coached at Oklahoma between 2009 and 2012 and is the Big 12’s all-time leader in passing yards and total offense? Much depends, of course, on the selection order and the players available in the QB lottery and where Stoops’ will be selecting in the process.
Jones was the fourth-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 115th pick overall, in 2013. He played five seasons in Pittsburgh, seeing limited action as the backup to two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers released Jones earlier this year. He was picked up by the Oakland Raiders, but let go in May.
The two had a good player-coach relationship at Oklahoma, which leads me to believe that if Stoops has a chance to reunite with his former quarterback on board he will.
When Stoops announced his retirement in 2017 after 18 highly successful seasons at OU, he maintained that he was not interesting in returning to coaching. It was also speculated that health issues may have played a part in his decision to retire.
The winningest coach in Oklahoma football history was also fairly adamant that he was not interested in an NFL head coaching job. He also never said never about the idea of doing something else associated with football and perhaps doing it somewhere other than in college or the NFL.
Training camps in the XFL relaunch are currently planned for this November.
Next. Staff roundtable: A dozen questions facing Sooners in 2019. dark
In summary, we’re looking at a relaunch of a previous professional football league that at present has eight teams and eight head coaches, but only one player in the fold so far and no team names. Regardless, Bob Stoops is signed on to be part of it, and so is Landry Jones. It’s a good bet that other former Sooners will take the leap, as well.