Oklahoma football: Bob Stoops praises conference he once loved to hate

Former Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops has been an outspoken critic of the Southeastern Conference in the past, particularly that conference’s claim to college football supremacy.

In the early part of the past decade, the Sooner head coach fired a shot over the bow directed at SEC football, publicly commenting that the SEC’s best-of-the-best reputation was based on only a few teams at the top of the conference, and that just because the SEC produces the best team in the country every year doesn’t necessarily make it the best conference.

This coming from a legendary college head coach, I might add, who spent three seasons (1996-98) as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier at Florida.

Stoops now has reversed field a bit and is one who is applauding Oklahoma’s move to become part of the SEC, as everyone in the state of Oklahoma should, he says.

In a guest op-ed piece published in The Oklahoman on Tuesday, Stoops wrote:

"“There’s been extensive discussion in the state of Oklahoma about OU and Texas moving from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference.“Let’s set the record straight: OU’s move to the SEC is what’s best for Oklahoma.“I believe this is a good and necessary move for our school and football program. I disagree with any claims asserted that OU’s decision is ‘to the detriment of the State of Oklahoma’ and that OU made it without ‘engagement and transparency.'”"

Stoops comments about assertions that the Sooners have ambushed and done harm to the state of Oklahoma and its citizens by leaving the Big 12 are in direct reference to remarks by Oklahoma State president Dr. Kayse Shrum, who expressed extreme disappointment at the alleged lack of engagement and communication by OU officials.

"“The advantages are many,” Stoops wrote, “greater financial opportunities, better exposure, stronger recruiting and better competition. Oklahoma will be competing at the highest level of college football, which is exactly where we should be.”"

Hard to argue with that logic. Unless, of course, you are one of the schools impacted by Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC.

Stoops said conferences are more important now than ever and there are limited spots available in the strongest conferences. Oklahoma would not have been able to join the SEC, he said, if it would have required that Oklahoma State be allowed to join as well.

Stoops, the winningest head coach in the Sooners’ illustrious football history (190 wins in 18 seasons, an average of 10.6 wins per season), can support his claim questioning the overall superiority of the SEC with a winning record during his time at OU against teams from that conference. Stoops’ OU teams were 7-4 against teams from the SEC.

Unfortunately, two of Oklahoma’s four losses in the Stoops era were in games with national championship implications: to LSU, 21-14, in the 2003 BCS national championship game, and to Florida, 24-14, in the 2008 BCS national championship contest.

Among Stoops’ seven wins over SEC teams was a 3-0 record against Alabama, although two of those wins were against far-less talented Bama teams that were not nearly what the Crimson Tide is today.

Nearly two-thirds of a year after Stoops’ verbal attack of the SEC, however, Oklahoma went out and shocked No. 3 Alabama. The Sooners, a 16-point underdog, lit up the scoreboard and stunned the Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide with a 45-31 victory in the Sugar Bowl.

Lincoln Riley’s record against SEC teams since taking over the OU head-coaching reins in 2017 are not nearly as positive as his former boss. Riley is just 1-3 against the SEC, and all three losses were in the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff (to Georgia, Alabama and LSU in consecutive years). The one loss was a 55-20 blowout over a seriously depleted Florida team in last season’s Cotton Bowl Classic.

Stoops ended his guest editorial summarizing:

"“With this move, OU is taking control of its own destiny. And all Oklahomans — no matter who they root for — can trust that when the state’s flagship university makes a decision, it always puts Oklahoma’s (the state) interests first.”"