Bob Stoops retired as Oklahoma’s head football coach on Wednesday after 18 years on the job. His replacement will be his 33-year-old offensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley.
4 things about Bob Stoops’ surprising but fitting exit from Oklahoma football
The coach went out in a way few could’ve.
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
1. This is as effortless a transition for the exiting coach as we’ve ever seen.
“That’s a pretty solid way to go out,” one head coach said.
Is it? To just up and leave a prestige job you’ve been at for 18 seasons?
“No booster tried to fire him. No one in the media talked about it. He didn’t have to coach a season where his status affected the players. And he went out on top. How many games did they win last year?”
Oklahoma won 11 games.
“Pretty damn good, man. That’s as good as it gets today.”
A look at Stoops’ contemporaries backs this up. There was no coup: Mark Richt was fired after 15 years of consistent winning at Georgia. There was no fade: Frank Beamer retired at Virginia Tech after building the program over 29 seasons, but didn’t win more than eight games a year after 2011.
2. Interest in Lincoln Riley might have influenced Stoops.
To be clear: Nothing indicates Stoops was pushed out in any way. But as Stoops and Oklahoma A.D. Joe Castiglione planned his departure and the handover to offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, an uptick in interest for Riley’s services could’ve motivated Stoops.
Riley was a candidate for the University of Houston job this offseason, and as a Texas Tech alumnus, was considered a very likely candidate for the Red Raiders if TTU were to dismiss Kliff Kingsbury after this season. By making a move now and not announcing a transition year between Stoops and Riley or the now-dreaded “head coach in waiting” label, OU eliminated any potential conjecture.
“It’s not surprise that they’re going with Riley considering how well Bob made hires. That’s the real lesson he gives the rest of us, that the key to longevity is making the right coaching hires around you and not being afraid of change,” one head coach said.
3. June coaching changes won’t be a trend. Stoops was a unique situation.
Unless your school suffers an unprecedented scandal, you won’t normally see a change in coaches in the summer months. Stoops’ old boss Steve Spurrier walked away from South Carolina in-season. Vanderbilt’s Bobby Johnson retired in the summer in part to give his offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell a shot at head coach. But by and large, this timeline is unique to a coach who had equity on his side and maintained confidentiality in the process.
4. Stoops was true to his character.
There’s long been a disconnect between Stoops’ disposition with the media (sour at best) and his sterling reputation privately among other coaches. That Stoops wouldn’t gift us with a news cycle to pick apart the state of OU and its future is true to his character, as is the outpouring from rival coaches and former Stoops’ assistants.
He left with no regard to our perception of him, confident in his value among those he truly cared about.
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