Oklahoma fans immediately have one hopeful guess after Bob Stoops’ recent retirement

Oklahoma legend Bob Stoops on Monday announced his retirement from coaching after leading the Dallas Renegades of the XFL and UFL for three years. Other than spending more time with family, Stoops did not specifically say in his statement what is next for him, but many OU fans immediately thought of a future need the Sooners have that they want Stoops to fill.

In July, Joe Castiglione announced his plans to retire from his full-time role as OU's athletic director by the end of this academic year. He will still be around as an Emeritus Athletics Director before fully retiring in 2028, but OU still has to hire a new AD this year and has already began that search. Stoops is actually on the 12-person search committee in charge of finding the Sooners' next AD.

Even back when Castiglione made the announcement in July, OU fans immediately thought of Stoops as an option to be the next AD, so his abrupt retirement only fueled that speculation on Monday as fans on X, as well as comments on Facebook and group messages all around, hopefully suggested that was in Stoops' future plans.

Fans question if Bob Stoops will replace Joe Castiglione as OU's athletic director

However, as hopeful as some fans are of this happening, it would be even more shocking than Stoops' retirement announcement on Monday. First, it's the wrong move for Oklahoma, especially with the state of college athletics today, and second, Stoops also wants no part of the job.

Stoops is 65 years old, so this likely was his real retirement from any full-time job in sports. He also said back in July that athletic director has never been a title he's wanted, and it's unlikely he completely changed his mind since.

"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 then during "The Stoops Preview," his radio segment on The Ref.