No, Bob Stoops is not the answer for Oklahoma's next athletic director

Every time Oklahoma has a hire to make, one name is always mentioned throughout Sooner Nation: Bob Stoops. At least this time, Stoops is not the answer, nor does he even want to be.

OU has started a search for its next athletic director after Joe Castiglione officially announced his plans to retire during a press conference on Tuesday. As soon as the news broke Monday morning, social media was flooded with pleas from Sooner Nation to hire Stoops, the Sooners' winningest football coach, to replace Castiglione as OU's athletic director.

Bluntly: that would be a bad move and is a pipe dream.

Bob Stoops or any former football coach as AD is the wrong idea

Stoops retired as OU's football coach just before the 2017 season, which should have been enough to signify he was done with the demands of such a high-stress position in athletics. He briefly stepped up as OU's interim coach to lead the Sooners in the 2021 Alamo Bowl after his successor, Lincoln Riley, left overnight to USC. It was one game and a few practices, but was still enough to convince some fans that Stoops was willing to do anything for the university.

Since retirement, Stoops has landed gigs as a college football analyst with FOX and head coach of the Arlington Renegades in the United Football League. He has responsibilities with low expectations that allow him to still be around OU during football season when he wants to be and also pursue whatever business idea he conjures up.

Because of all the cries for Stoops to have his most stressful job yet, the topic was brought up on "The Stoops Preview," his radio show on The Ref.

"There's a lot of things I want to do in my life, but being an athletic director isn't one of them," Stoops said as everyone else on air chuckled at the idea.

Stoops basically said the same thing when SoonerScoop's Carey Murdock also asked him about the thought after Castiglione's press conference.

"Oh no, no, no, no. If I wanted another job I'd be a head coach again. At a university or somewhere. No, no. That job would never have been for me," Stoops told Murdock.

A football coach elevating to athletic director used to be common practice. They went from leading the most demanding program to the entire athletic department. But a lot has obviously changed in college athletics.

Old football coaches like Stoops wouldn't even want to be a head coach today because of all the extras that position now includes with NIL, constantly changing rosters and inconsistent rules. Never back then would those head coaches-turned-athletic directors imagine college football programs needing general managers. And the responsibilities of an athletic director have only multiplied even more so.

An athletic director today isn't just about knowing sports and making hires. There's hiring, marketing, business, laws, compliance, infrastructure, and the list goes on. There are entire degrees dedicated to the profession, and even that education isn't enough to prepare athletic directors for what they're navigating today.

Stoops was an incredible football coach, but he will never be an athletic director. And that has nothing to do with Stoops. Barry Switzer or Nick Saban or any other great coach somewhere else isn't prepared for the role of athletic director either. Gone are the days of coaching being a pipeline for athletic directors.

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