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Bob Stoops returning to college football, but not as a coach

By Chip Rouse

AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 1: Head coach Bob Stoops of the Oklahoma Sooners coaches from the sidelines in the second half of play against the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium on November 1, 2014 in Ames, Iowa. The Oklahoma Sooners defeated the Iowa State Cyclones 59-14. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 1: Head coach Bob Stoops of the Oklahoma Sooners coaches from the sidelines in the second half of play against the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium on November 1, 2014 in Ames, Iowa. The Oklahoma Sooners defeated the Iowa State Cyclones 59-14. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
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Bob Stoops is returning to college football, but not as a coach.

Several national media sources reported on Monday that the former Oklahoma head coach is replacing Urban Meyer on FOX Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff” college football program

Meyer served in the FOX studio role for two seasons before accepting the job  in January as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Oklahoma’s winningest football coach, with 190 wins in 18 seasons as the Sooners’ head man, will join Brady Quinn, a pair of USC alums in Reggie Busch and Matt Leinart, and host Rob Stone as part of the Big Noon Kickoff studio crew.

Stoops retired as the Sooners’ head coach in 2017 and was replaced by Lincoln Riley, who he had hired two seasons before that as the team’s offensive coordinator.

During the Stoops era at OU, the Sooners won 10 Big 12 championships and a national championship. On his watch, Oklahoma played in four BCS national championship games (2000, 2003, 2004 and 2008) and appeared in one College Football Playoff (2015).

Stoops was named to the College Football Hall of Fame earlier this year. He was a six-time Big 12 Coach of the Year and was Walter Camp National Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003.

The former OU head coach, now 60, remained away from football for several years after his retirement, but was lured back into coaching, accepting the head coach’s job for the new XFL Dallas Renegades in 2019. The XFL lasted just one season, shutting down in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After stepping down as the Sooners’ head coach, Stoops worked as a special assistant to OU athletic director Joe Castiglione. One of his sons, Drake Stoops, is a wide receiver on the Oklahoma football team.

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