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***OFFICIAL OKLAHOMA SOONERS FOOTBALL - SEC 12 - 0 *** (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter SHIZNITTTT
- Start date
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Thomas should transfer to East Tennessee State. Hunnicut should be drawn and quartered.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Lol at "feeling bad for him." He's awful.
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
Well it is what it is. Nothing can really explain it? Oh well here is to next year!
Wonder what the OU coaches bonus checks and raises will look like at the end of this season?
Wonder what the OU coaches bonus checks and raises will look like at the end of this season?
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Fire him and OU is back to the 90s version. So stupid and predicable.
Moe.
Footballguy
Fire who?
Fire him and OU is back to the 90s version. So stupid and predicable.
Moe.
Footballguy
He had a bad year no doubt. Hard to believe there isn't a better option or at least a better way to deploy him. He repeatedly got destroyed in 1on1 coverage.
Apparently the sophomore QB who's coached by a bunch of idiots.Fire who?
Fire him and OU is back to the 90s version. So stupid and predicable.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Yes moron, that's what I meant. You apparently missed all his passes tonight,Apparently the sophomore QB who's coached by a bunch of idiots.Fire who?
Fire him and OU is back to the 90s version. So stupid and predicable.
Yet he had a better completion percentage and QBR than the OSU QB.Yes moron, that's what I meant. You apparently missed all his passes tonight,Apparently the sophomore QB who's coached by a bunch of idiots.Fire who?
Fire him and OU is back to the 90s version. So stupid and predicable.
The only moron here is the guy blaming the QB rather than the coaches.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
at better QBR than the Okie State guy.
Instinctive
Footballguy
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
Good thread. Wish I had checked in earlier.
Moe.
Footballguy
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
We forgive and forget pretty quick, don't worry.
####ty loss today, worst of the year IMO. At least the other three teams were in the top 10 today and we should have easily beat K-state, and probably should have beat TCU also.
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
John E. Hoover: Mike Stoops finally gets defensive
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Columnist | Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2014 12:00 pm
NORMAN — Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops finally got defensive on Thursday.
Stoops' defense has struggled mightily this season as the Sooners have fallen from playoff lock to 8-4 also-bowled.
Out of 128 Bowl Subdivision teams, OU ranks 53rd nationally in total yards allow, 10th in rushing yards allowed, 115th in passing yards allowed and 47th in points allowed. The Big 12 Conference rankings in those respective categories are fifth, first, ninth and fifth.
Sooner fans have grown increasingly frustrated this season as Stoops has figuratively shrugged his shoulders loss after loss.
Following a 37-33 loss to TCU, he said the game — the second of two straight road games, with an open date in between — “didn’t set up great for us … on the schedule.”
After losing 31-30 to Kansas State — at home — Stoops complained about officials not calling K-State for a penalty on a long touchdown.
After a 48-14 loss to Baylor — also at home — he said the Sooners simply were not a good matchup for the Bears.
And after blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and losing 38-35 to Oklahoma State — yes, at home — Stoops said giving up a late touchdown pass was “disappointing, but that’s life.”
In its four defeats, OU allowed an average of 446 yards and 39 points per game. That includes 303 yards per game passing and touchdowns of 39, 43, 33, 62, 29 and 39 yards.
At the end of a group interview on Thursday, in a one-on-one setting, I asked Stoops (who also coaches OU defensive backs coach) to grade his performance in three seasons as the Sooners’ defensive coordinator, why he thought fans were unhappy with the defense, and if he had brought back an edge to Oklahoma. I also asked if, from one year to the next, the OU defense had improved, and what needed to happen from here for things to get better.
His replies were hardly as colorful as those of fellow Youngstown, Ohio, native Bo Pelini in his final meeting with Nebraska players, but did include a few expletives.
All of which may be encouraging for OU fans. Several writers who have attended all of Stoops’ media interviews this year said Thursday’s session was the most passion he’s shown all season.
Q&A with Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops
Q: Can you give yourself a grade after three years back?
A: Oh, I don’t look at it that way.
Q: You’re getting killed on social media, fans, radio, etc. Why do you think that’s happening?
A: I don’t know. Gotta be better. That’s how I look at it. You’re never satisfied where you’re at. So, you know, we are where we’re at. But the kids are working hard to improve, so I don’t worry about that.
Q: When you came back, there was a presumption that you’re gonna bring back that old edge to the defense. Has that happened?
A: Well, listen, we just came off a Sugar Bowl win. What do you want me to say? We just beat Alabama. So that isn’t good enough for them? Or you? You’re bringing all this up — I could care less what social media says. They’re not — you know what I mean? — what are they to me? I don’t listen to that. You gotta bring it up and tell me? Why?
Q: You don’t listen to it?
A: No. Why would I?
Q: But it’s OU fans (that are sounding off on social media).
A: Yeah. That ain’t gonna make me feel good. Do you think it would? Do you want me to feel like (crap)? I’ll feel like (crap). I mean, that’s — that hurts. You know what I mean? I take it personal. Yeah, I’m not satisfied with anything.
Q: That’s why I’m asking, so you can tell everyone you’re not satisfied either.
A: Of course not. Who’s saying they are? You know what I mean? Who said anything relatively close to that? We’ve said we’ve got to get better. A lot better. I’ve never said anything but that.
Q: So have you seen progress from Year 1 to Year 2 to Year 3? Are you getting better?
A: Well, we were No. 1 in total defense a year ago, is that not right? Is that right or wrong?
Q: In the Big 12, yes, you were No. 1.
A: In the Big 12, we were the No. 1 defense. It hasn’t changed. Maybe it isn’t what we expected this year. It’s not anything we’re satisfied with. I mean, we’re disappointed it wasn’t better. But I mean, (crap), no one feels worse than we do. Or me. I don’t get that. It’s just — it’s personal, and that’s hurtful. They can say whatever they want. I — again, I’m my worst critic. Always have been. Always will be. That’ll never change.
Q: So what do you do from here? How do you get better? This year you’re 53rd nationally and gave up the most passing yards in school history. How do you get better from there?
A: Gotta get better. Schematically, personnel, improve in a lot of areas. But there’s only so much you can — you know what I mean? — player-wise, you can do. You’ve got to improve your players. You’ve got to improve your situation.
Q: So recruiting, it starts there?
A: Yeah, exactly.
Q: After three years, is this harder than you thought it was gonna be, football in the Big 12?
A: That’s the way football is. When you’re No. 1 in run defense, people are probably gonna stop running it and throw it. So we’ve got to find a balance. Is that — are we not the leading rush defense in the (Big 12)?
Q: This year? Yeah, I guess (No. 2 actually).
A: What are we, in the top 10 (No. 10 nationally) in rush defense?
Q: Well but isn’t it true that if people can really throw it on you then they have no reason to run it?
A: Exactly. M-hm. So last year we were No. 1 (in the Big 12) in pass defense.
Q: And this year you’re No. 10 (in the Big 12), I think?
A: Or No. 9, whatever, I don’t know. So, it’s finding balance.
Q: And you have a lot of the same players?
A: No. We lost what would have been a No. 1 draft pick in Aaron Colvin, had he not hurt his knee.
Q: But you knew Colvin was graduating.
A: That’s what I’m saying. What’s changed? The two guys we lost were in the secondary. We lost two seniors. We lost Gabe Lynn, who played for us for four or five years, and same with Aaron Colvin. Those are the two guys we missed. So, again, you know, they’re talented and we miss those guys. And you’re replacing them with freshmen.
Q: So what about up front?
A: Pass defense is everybody. It’s not just the secondary guys. You know what I mean? It’s pressure, it’s underneath coverage, it’s everybody. It’s not just the four guys in the back.
Q: The No. 1 complaint I hear about your defense this year is that (Eric) Striker might be the best pass rusher in the country, the best pure pass rusher, and he doesn’t pass rush enough; he drops in pass coverage too much. Why is that?
A: He’s rushed over 70 percent of the snaps. So where did you …
Q: I’ve seen every one of your games but I don’t count the plays …
A: OK. Trust me, I know that. And we probably rush him too much.
Q: Really? A lot of people think you drop him in coverage too much, he’s four yards off the ball, he’s flying out to cover the flat — I’m no coach, but that’s why I’m asking, because I want to know. You’re saying he’s rushing as much as he did in the Sugar Bowl?
A: Yeah. At least. Maybe more.
Q: Hmm. Myth busted, I guess.
A: Yeah. So that’s silly. Who’s saying this?
Q: People on radio, message boards …
A: Yeah, well, do they know? Tell ‘em to get their facts straight. If you’re gonna say something, if they want to say that I stink, then tell me I stink. Don’t tell me — get their facts straight. They can say whatever they want about me. But don’t tell me about who’s rushing, who’s doing this. That’s foolish. Look at the tape then.
Q: What about Geneo Grissom?
A: What about him?
Q: Is he rushing as much as you want, like he did in the Sugar Bowl?
A: You can only rush — if you’re gonna rush four or five, one of ‘em’s gonna rush and one of ‘em’s gotta drop. Or you’re gonna be — you know what I mean? Or you can bring ‘em both. Which we do. We bring both of ‘em, we bring five. So you bring three, four, five, whatever it is. So Geneo, if we bring Striker, we’re not bringing Geneo. If we bring Geneo — yeah, exactly, it’s a defense that’s balanced by the two outside linebackers. And a lot of times we bring both, you know, 10-15 percent of the time.
Q: There’s a big, big difference in this example, but it’s just an example. When Bill Blankenship brought in his son to be the quarterbacks coach at Tulsa, everybody asked, ‘Why in the world would you do that?’ A lot of people are asking the same about Bob bringing back his brother.
A: Well, we played pretty well last year. Sugar Bowl’s not good enough? Beating Alabama?
Q: Yes, but the team did not win a Big 12 championship.
A: Well, I mean, we missed by one game. What are you gonna do? We tied the year before. That’s not good enough? If that ain’t good enough, that ain’t good enough. I can’t — that’s hurtful. If co-champs and losing by a game a year ago and beating (Alabama in) the Sugar Bowl isn’t good enough and tying what Baylor did — you know what I mean? — if that’s not good enough, then I’m sorry. You know what I mean? I work hard and try hard to do my best. I can’t please everybody.
Q: So you’re saying the complaints about nepotism are baseless?
A: My record speaks for itself. That’s a foolish question.
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Columnist | Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2014 12:00 pm
NORMAN — Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops finally got defensive on Thursday.
Stoops' defense has struggled mightily this season as the Sooners have fallen from playoff lock to 8-4 also-bowled.
Out of 128 Bowl Subdivision teams, OU ranks 53rd nationally in total yards allow, 10th in rushing yards allowed, 115th in passing yards allowed and 47th in points allowed. The Big 12 Conference rankings in those respective categories are fifth, first, ninth and fifth.
Sooner fans have grown increasingly frustrated this season as Stoops has figuratively shrugged his shoulders loss after loss.
Following a 37-33 loss to TCU, he said the game — the second of two straight road games, with an open date in between — “didn’t set up great for us … on the schedule.”
After losing 31-30 to Kansas State — at home — Stoops complained about officials not calling K-State for a penalty on a long touchdown.
After a 48-14 loss to Baylor — also at home — he said the Sooners simply were not a good matchup for the Bears.
And after blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and losing 38-35 to Oklahoma State — yes, at home — Stoops said giving up a late touchdown pass was “disappointing, but that’s life.”
In its four defeats, OU allowed an average of 446 yards and 39 points per game. That includes 303 yards per game passing and touchdowns of 39, 43, 33, 62, 29 and 39 yards.
At the end of a group interview on Thursday, in a one-on-one setting, I asked Stoops (who also coaches OU defensive backs coach) to grade his performance in three seasons as the Sooners’ defensive coordinator, why he thought fans were unhappy with the defense, and if he had brought back an edge to Oklahoma. I also asked if, from one year to the next, the OU defense had improved, and what needed to happen from here for things to get better.
His replies were hardly as colorful as those of fellow Youngstown, Ohio, native Bo Pelini in his final meeting with Nebraska players, but did include a few expletives.
All of which may be encouraging for OU fans. Several writers who have attended all of Stoops’ media interviews this year said Thursday’s session was the most passion he’s shown all season.
Q&A with Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops
Q: Can you give yourself a grade after three years back?
A: Oh, I don’t look at it that way.
Q: You’re getting killed on social media, fans, radio, etc. Why do you think that’s happening?
A: I don’t know. Gotta be better. That’s how I look at it. You’re never satisfied where you’re at. So, you know, we are where we’re at. But the kids are working hard to improve, so I don’t worry about that.
Q: When you came back, there was a presumption that you’re gonna bring back that old edge to the defense. Has that happened?
A: Well, listen, we just came off a Sugar Bowl win. What do you want me to say? We just beat Alabama. So that isn’t good enough for them? Or you? You’re bringing all this up — I could care less what social media says. They’re not — you know what I mean? — what are they to me? I don’t listen to that. You gotta bring it up and tell me? Why?
Q: You don’t listen to it?
A: No. Why would I?
Q: But it’s OU fans (that are sounding off on social media).
A: Yeah. That ain’t gonna make me feel good. Do you think it would? Do you want me to feel like (crap)? I’ll feel like (crap). I mean, that’s — that hurts. You know what I mean? I take it personal. Yeah, I’m not satisfied with anything.
Q: That’s why I’m asking, so you can tell everyone you’re not satisfied either.
A: Of course not. Who’s saying they are? You know what I mean? Who said anything relatively close to that? We’ve said we’ve got to get better. A lot better. I’ve never said anything but that.
Q: So have you seen progress from Year 1 to Year 2 to Year 3? Are you getting better?
A: Well, we were No. 1 in total defense a year ago, is that not right? Is that right or wrong?
Q: In the Big 12, yes, you were No. 1.
A: In the Big 12, we were the No. 1 defense. It hasn’t changed. Maybe it isn’t what we expected this year. It’s not anything we’re satisfied with. I mean, we’re disappointed it wasn’t better. But I mean, (crap), no one feels worse than we do. Or me. I don’t get that. It’s just — it’s personal, and that’s hurtful. They can say whatever they want. I — again, I’m my worst critic. Always have been. Always will be. That’ll never change.
Q: So what do you do from here? How do you get better? This year you’re 53rd nationally and gave up the most passing yards in school history. How do you get better from there?
A: Gotta get better. Schematically, personnel, improve in a lot of areas. But there’s only so much you can — you know what I mean? — player-wise, you can do. You’ve got to improve your players. You’ve got to improve your situation.
Q: So recruiting, it starts there?
A: Yeah, exactly.
Q: After three years, is this harder than you thought it was gonna be, football in the Big 12?
A: That’s the way football is. When you’re No. 1 in run defense, people are probably gonna stop running it and throw it. So we’ve got to find a balance. Is that — are we not the leading rush defense in the (Big 12)?
Q: This year? Yeah, I guess (No. 2 actually).
A: What are we, in the top 10 (No. 10 nationally) in rush defense?
Q: Well but isn’t it true that if people can really throw it on you then they have no reason to run it?
A: Exactly. M-hm. So last year we were No. 1 (in the Big 12) in pass defense.
Q: And this year you’re No. 10 (in the Big 12), I think?
A: Or No. 9, whatever, I don’t know. So, it’s finding balance.
Q: And you have a lot of the same players?
A: No. We lost what would have been a No. 1 draft pick in Aaron Colvin, had he not hurt his knee.
Q: But you knew Colvin was graduating.
A: That’s what I’m saying. What’s changed? The two guys we lost were in the secondary. We lost two seniors. We lost Gabe Lynn, who played for us for four or five years, and same with Aaron Colvin. Those are the two guys we missed. So, again, you know, they’re talented and we miss those guys. And you’re replacing them with freshmen.
Q: So what about up front?
A: Pass defense is everybody. It’s not just the secondary guys. You know what I mean? It’s pressure, it’s underneath coverage, it’s everybody. It’s not just the four guys in the back.
Q: The No. 1 complaint I hear about your defense this year is that (Eric) Striker might be the best pass rusher in the country, the best pure pass rusher, and he doesn’t pass rush enough; he drops in pass coverage too much. Why is that?
A: He’s rushed over 70 percent of the snaps. So where did you …
Q: I’ve seen every one of your games but I don’t count the plays …
A: OK. Trust me, I know that. And we probably rush him too much.
Q: Really? A lot of people think you drop him in coverage too much, he’s four yards off the ball, he’s flying out to cover the flat — I’m no coach, but that’s why I’m asking, because I want to know. You’re saying he’s rushing as much as he did in the Sugar Bowl?
A: Yeah. At least. Maybe more.
Q: Hmm. Myth busted, I guess.
A: Yeah. So that’s silly. Who’s saying this?
Q: People on radio, message boards …
A: Yeah, well, do they know? Tell ‘em to get their facts straight. If you’re gonna say something, if they want to say that I stink, then tell me I stink. Don’t tell me — get their facts straight. They can say whatever they want about me. But don’t tell me about who’s rushing, who’s doing this. That’s foolish. Look at the tape then.
Q: What about Geneo Grissom?
A: What about him?
Q: Is he rushing as much as you want, like he did in the Sugar Bowl?
A: You can only rush — if you’re gonna rush four or five, one of ‘em’s gonna rush and one of ‘em’s gotta drop. Or you’re gonna be — you know what I mean? Or you can bring ‘em both. Which we do. We bring both of ‘em, we bring five. So you bring three, four, five, whatever it is. So Geneo, if we bring Striker, we’re not bringing Geneo. If we bring Geneo — yeah, exactly, it’s a defense that’s balanced by the two outside linebackers. And a lot of times we bring both, you know, 10-15 percent of the time.
Q: There’s a big, big difference in this example, but it’s just an example. When Bill Blankenship brought in his son to be the quarterbacks coach at Tulsa, everybody asked, ‘Why in the world would you do that?’ A lot of people are asking the same about Bob bringing back his brother.
A: Well, we played pretty well last year. Sugar Bowl’s not good enough? Beating Alabama?
Q: Yes, but the team did not win a Big 12 championship.
A: Well, I mean, we missed by one game. What are you gonna do? We tied the year before. That’s not good enough? If that ain’t good enough, that ain’t good enough. I can’t — that’s hurtful. If co-champs and losing by a game a year ago and beating (Alabama in) the Sugar Bowl isn’t good enough and tying what Baylor did — you know what I mean? — if that’s not good enough, then I’m sorry. You know what I mean? I work hard and try hard to do my best. I can’t please everybody.
Q: So you’re saying the complaints about nepotism are baseless?
A: My record speaks for itself. That’s a foolish question.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
They don't look like they want to be there, worst execution I've seen from them, maybe ever under Stoops. Clemson looks like they are playing for something, OU left it all on the field against Okie State.
fasteddie_21
2006 NM Poker Champ
BOOMER!
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
fasteddie_21
2006 NM Poker Champ
Just trying to get you fired up for the important game later tonight. Sorry, just messin with ya.I just turned the game on, so wtf happened? Stoops on the hot seat after this season and today?
Last edited by a moderator:
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Time to line up behind Michigan and Penn State for a once proud football program in the dumpster.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
Well I wonder if this game is going to force Bob Stoops to make some changes?
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Team was young, Knight obviously wasn't right, and everything that could go wrong did this year.
Give it one more year and then I might accept your declaration. I think they are gonna be good next year though.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Clemson was awesome, already said that.Sounds a lot like what Bama fans said after the Sugar Bowl last year.
HellToupee
Footballguy
link John E. Hoover: It’s time for Bob Stoops to goORLANDO, Fla. — It’s not a popular topic, but it needs to be said.
It’s time for Bob Stoops to go.
It’s time for Joe Castiglione to find that Little Black Book that he tucked away years ago in some drawer, the one with all the compelling names of men he thinks might be good candidates to take over as head football coach at Oklahoma, and start formulating a plan.
Castiglione won’t fire Stoops, of course. He can’t.
How can you fire a man who has done so much for a university, a man who’s won a national championship, filled a trophy case, become the program’s all-time wins king, rebuilt and now — soon, hopefully — rebuilt again a stadium, resuscitated a proud program and, frankly, buoyed an entire athletic department?
You can’t.
But Monday — a miserable and embarrassing 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl — is a painfully clear indication that whatever mojo Stoops had when he started at Oklahoma is long, long gone.
The Sooners were outclassed from the opening kickoff and trailed 40-0 to a team that had been ridiculed this season for offensive inadequacies.
This OU team was not some trendy pick to make it to college football’s first playoff. It was a virtual lock. Instead, the Sooners finish 8-5, matching the worst season under Stoops since his first year. Only this year was worse: three home losses, including a blowout to Baylor and the head coach himself coughing up a loss to Oklahoma State.
This isn’t Oklahoma football.
“It’s isn’t something we’re used to,” Stoops said.
Actually, that is the first reason it’s now time for Castiglione to dig out that short list. Getting blown out in a bowl game is something Sooner Nation has become all too used to.
Starting with a 55-19 loss to USC in the 2004-05 Orange Bowl, this is the fourth time in the past decade that Stoops’ team has been utterly destroyed in a bowl game on an historic level. That list includes the 48-28 loss to West Virginia in the 2007-08 Fiesta Bowl and the 41-13 loss to Texas A&M in the 2012-13 Cotton Bowl.
There also was a 43-42 overtime loss to Boise State in the 2006-07 Fiesta Bowl — the game that allowed Boise to become Boise.
All four of the biggest bowl losses in OU history happened on Stoops’ watch. Bowl games are supposed to be fun and all, sure, but losing like this is unacceptable for a program of this pedigree.
But hey, there’s always Alabama.
List the mounting blowouts for Stoops and he regurgitates the Sooners’ 45-31 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year.
OU fans have begun regurgitating something else every time he mentions it, but Stoops and his staff defiantly cling to their 2013 finish like it was last week.
“We had the same type of plan,” Stoops said. “So it worked then, and it’s worked in a lot of other bowl games. You named the ones that we lost. Name the ones we won, also.”
Simple enough.
In the past decade, OU’s bowl wins are Oregon in the Holiday Bowl, Stanford in the Sun Bowl, Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl, Iowa in the Insight Bowl and Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Yuck.
Let’s face it. That’s one good bowl win in the past 10 years. Oregon was in the BCS hunt but had been stricken with quarterback maladies. Stanford was average and also lost its QB. Connecticut was below average, and Iowa was below that.
And as long as we’re offering up hard truths, let’s be real. What Nick Saban said about his team’s disinterest last year in New Orleans may not have sat well with Sooner fans, but it looks more and more like he was right. The Crimson Tide, coming off a surreal loss to rival Auburn that knocked it out of the national title game, didn’t give a flip about being in the Consolation Bowl.
Now, that’s on ’Bama, not Oklahoma. But this time it was OU that was clearly disinterested.
“Everyone’s doing the best they can,” Mike Stoops said, “and for whatever reason, this season didn’t go as expected.”
Bob Stoops said the Sooners were prepared — a three-and-out on the first offensive possession and a 65-yard touchdown on the first defensive play proves otherwise — but said “we weren’t able to come up with the play to make it happen.”
Oklahoma football has come to this. Each week this season, OU was favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to win. And because they weren’t able to come up with plays — you know, interceptions returned for touchdowns, chip-shot field goals, tackles — they lost five games.
Some suppose Castiglione may ask Stoops only to make changes to his staff, but he’s already tried that, firing fired four assistants and letting a fifth one, Clemson defensive wizard Brent Venables, take another job.
No. If meaningful change is going to happen in Norman, this repair needs to be bigger than just sacrificing a few lieutenants.
Stoops is a young 54. The game hasn’t passed him by. But this year, thanks to a $700,000 appreciation bonus just for staying, he’ll make $5.4 million.
It’s a hard thing to say, but it is time for Castiglione to find Stoops a cushy job on campus.
Clearly he’s done all he can do as head football coach at Oklahoma.
Read John E. Hoover’s blog
tulsaworld.com/johnehoover
It’s time for Bob Stoops to go.
It’s time for Joe Castiglione to find that Little Black Book that he tucked away years ago in some drawer, the one with all the compelling names of men he thinks might be good candidates to take over as head football coach at Oklahoma, and start formulating a plan.
Castiglione won’t fire Stoops, of course. He can’t.
How can you fire a man who has done so much for a university, a man who’s won a national championship, filled a trophy case, become the program’s all-time wins king, rebuilt and now — soon, hopefully — rebuilt again a stadium, resuscitated a proud program and, frankly, buoyed an entire athletic department?
You can’t.
But Monday — a miserable and embarrassing 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl — is a painfully clear indication that whatever mojo Stoops had when he started at Oklahoma is long, long gone.
The Sooners were outclassed from the opening kickoff and trailed 40-0 to a team that had been ridiculed this season for offensive inadequacies.
This OU team was not some trendy pick to make it to college football’s first playoff. It was a virtual lock. Instead, the Sooners finish 8-5, matching the worst season under Stoops since his first year. Only this year was worse: three home losses, including a blowout to Baylor and the head coach himself coughing up a loss to Oklahoma State.
This isn’t Oklahoma football.
“It’s isn’t something we’re used to,” Stoops said.
Actually, that is the first reason it’s now time for Castiglione to dig out that short list. Getting blown out in a bowl game is something Sooner Nation has become all too used to.
Starting with a 55-19 loss to USC in the 2004-05 Orange Bowl, this is the fourth time in the past decade that Stoops’ team has been utterly destroyed in a bowl game on an historic level. That list includes the 48-28 loss to West Virginia in the 2007-08 Fiesta Bowl and the 41-13 loss to Texas A&M in the 2012-13 Cotton Bowl.
There also was a 43-42 overtime loss to Boise State in the 2006-07 Fiesta Bowl — the game that allowed Boise to become Boise.
All four of the biggest bowl losses in OU history happened on Stoops’ watch. Bowl games are supposed to be fun and all, sure, but losing like this is unacceptable for a program of this pedigree.
But hey, there’s always Alabama.
List the mounting blowouts for Stoops and he regurgitates the Sooners’ 45-31 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year.
OU fans have begun regurgitating something else every time he mentions it, but Stoops and his staff defiantly cling to their 2013 finish like it was last week.
“We had the same type of plan,” Stoops said. “So it worked then, and it’s worked in a lot of other bowl games. You named the ones that we lost. Name the ones we won, also.”
Simple enough.
In the past decade, OU’s bowl wins are Oregon in the Holiday Bowl, Stanford in the Sun Bowl, Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl, Iowa in the Insight Bowl and Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Yuck.
Let’s face it. That’s one good bowl win in the past 10 years. Oregon was in the BCS hunt but had been stricken with quarterback maladies. Stanford was average and also lost its QB. Connecticut was below average, and Iowa was below that.
And as long as we’re offering up hard truths, let’s be real. What Nick Saban said about his team’s disinterest last year in New Orleans may not have sat well with Sooner fans, but it looks more and more like he was right. The Crimson Tide, coming off a surreal loss to rival Auburn that knocked it out of the national title game, didn’t give a flip about being in the Consolation Bowl.
Now, that’s on ’Bama, not Oklahoma. But this time it was OU that was clearly disinterested.
“Everyone’s doing the best they can,” Mike Stoops said, “and for whatever reason, this season didn’t go as expected.”
Bob Stoops said the Sooners were prepared — a three-and-out on the first offensive possession and a 65-yard touchdown on the first defensive play proves otherwise — but said “we weren’t able to come up with the play to make it happen.”
Oklahoma football has come to this. Each week this season, OU was favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to win. And because they weren’t able to come up with plays — you know, interceptions returned for touchdowns, chip-shot field goals, tackles — they lost five games.
Some suppose Castiglione may ask Stoops only to make changes to his staff, but he’s already tried that, firing fired four assistants and letting a fifth one, Clemson defensive wizard Brent Venables, take another job.
No. If meaningful change is going to happen in Norman, this repair needs to be bigger than just sacrificing a few lieutenants.
Stoops is a young 54. The game hasn’t passed him by. But this year, thanks to a $700,000 appreciation bonus just for staying, he’ll make $5.4 million.
It’s a hard thing to say, but it is time for Castiglione to find Stoops a cushy job on campus.
Clearly he’s done all he can do as head football coach at Oklahoma.
Read John E. Hoover’s blog
tulsaworld.com/johnehoover
HellToupee
Footballguy
Now a more level headed take on things
OU football: Bob Stoops won't say it, so I'll say it for him: EmbarrassingCOMMENTARY — Oklahoma lost 40-6 to Clemson not because of the little things that tripped the Sooners against TCU and Kansas State. It lost because of big things like differences in talent, defensive scheme and quarterback play. In doing so, a disappointing season ended on disasterous., Fla. — Clemson scored a touchdown on its first snap of the Russell Athletic Bowl and had a 40-point lead in the third quarter. The Sooners had 2 1/2 times as many turnovers (five) as third-down conversions (two).
Trevor Knight, OU’s Sugar Bowl-hero quarterback, completed less than 50 percent of his passes and averaged 2.8 yards per throw. Not per completion. Per throw. Meanwhile, Cole Stoudt, Clemson’s beleaguered, banished quarterback, completed 24 of 33 for 305 yards through three quarters.
Mike Stoops, the blood brother Bob Stoops chose to coordinate his defense had no answers. Brent Venables, the spiritual brother Stoops chose to push all the way to Clemson, built an impenetrable wall.
The Sooners, favored in all 13 games this 2014 season, won just eight. For the fourth time in the last 10 calendar years, OU lost a bowl game by at least 20 points. This one was 40-6 Monday night in a game not as close as the score indicated.
Many words spring to mind. The most accurate is embarrassing.
Bob Stoops still doesn’t want to say it, because he’s a proud and defiant man, bless his heart, but others said it for him.
“This is embarrassing,” said linebacker Eric Striker. “This is not the way we play football.”
As Clemson stormed to a 27-0 halftime lead, then dominated the third quarter, Stoops had to feel the same.
“I’m not going to give you headline words,” Stoops said. “Obviously, it doesn’t feel good. It isn’t something we’re used to. You can use the words. I don’t need to.”
Stoops is right. He doesn’t have to say embarrassed for everyone to know he is. Which is why you know changes are coming to Norman. Staff. Scheme. Playing surface. Nothing is off the table. Nor should it be.
Stoops could be mad enough at coordinators Josh Heupel and Mike Stoops to fire line coaches Bill Bedenbaugh and Jerry Montgomery. If the Sooners hadn’t already waded into the alternate-uniform world, he might have OU wearing horizontal stripes for the season opener against Akron in eight months.
Stoops would cop to none of that, no surprise. He drove down Grindstone Boulevard.
“I’m not going to discuss any of that,” Stoops said. “I’m pretty good at not throwing any knee-jerk reactions. I’ll take stock of everything and continue to evaluate what we’re doing.
“Gotta keep recruiting, keep developing the players we have. We’ve got to analyze what we’re doing as coaches. So all of us need to improve. I need to do a better job, first and foremost, and coaches after me, players after that.”
This Sooner season went from disappointing to disastrous. OU was 4-5 after September, and the two late losses (Bedlam, then the bowl) have sent the program into disarray, with most everyone on the inside and outside questioning what the heck is going on.
“I was expecting more from this team,” Mike Stoops said. “I think we all were. It’s just disappointing. Everyone has to evaluate themselves. Players, coaches, across the board, and figure out where we’re going, because this is not what Oklahoma football is all about.”
Oh, but it is. At least twice in 2014. These Sooners lost three games because of little things, but they lost to Clemson and Baylor because of big things. Talent discrepancy. Defensive scheme. Quarterback play. Those are not fine lines. Those are big ol’ fat lines.
[stoops] doesn’t have to say embarrassed for everyone to know he is. Which is why you know changes are coming. Tweet this
A play here or a play there would have made no difference in the Junior Citrus Bowl. Clemson was far superior. The Tigers couldn’t run the ball on OU and yet still found a way to mortally wound the Sooner defense. The Sooners ran the ball decent against Clemson’s sabertooths but never so much as threatened to score until the game got out of hand.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Striker said. “We didn’t see it coming. We just didn’t come out with that edge. We didn’t come out on fire. This year’s been a series of unfortunate events for us. Nothing’s been easy. It’s just been tragic. When something bad happens, it’s been really, really bad. When it rains , it pours.”
It flooded Monday night, and Clemson routed the Sooners.
Barry Switzer’s final game came on this same field against this same foe. If you’re looking for a Twilight Zone angle, the Sooners also played Clemson in 1963 and 1972, both in Norman. Notice the parallel? Bud Wilkinson’s final season and Chuck Fairbanks’ final season.
The legions are growing of those wanting this to be Stoops’ final season. Fat chance.
Is he still the guy to lead the Sooners? “I’ve always been that guy,” Stoops said.
Embarrassment doesn’t chase the defiance.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@opubco.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/berrytramel.
OU football: Bob Stoops won't say it, so I'll say it for him: EmbarrassingCOMMENTARY — Oklahoma lost 40-6 to Clemson not because of the little things that tripped the Sooners against TCU and Kansas State. It lost because of big things like differences in talent, defensive scheme and quarterback play. In doing so, a disappointing season ended on disasterous., Fla. — Clemson scored a touchdown on its first snap of the Russell Athletic Bowl and had a 40-point lead in the third quarter. The Sooners had 2 1/2 times as many turnovers (five) as third-down conversions (two).
Trevor Knight, OU’s Sugar Bowl-hero quarterback, completed less than 50 percent of his passes and averaged 2.8 yards per throw. Not per completion. Per throw. Meanwhile, Cole Stoudt, Clemson’s beleaguered, banished quarterback, completed 24 of 33 for 305 yards through three quarters.
Mike Stoops, the blood brother Bob Stoops chose to coordinate his defense had no answers. Brent Venables, the spiritual brother Stoops chose to push all the way to Clemson, built an impenetrable wall.
The Sooners, favored in all 13 games this 2014 season, won just eight. For the fourth time in the last 10 calendar years, OU lost a bowl game by at least 20 points. This one was 40-6 Monday night in a game not as close as the score indicated.
Many words spring to mind. The most accurate is embarrassing.
Bob Stoops still doesn’t want to say it, because he’s a proud and defiant man, bless his heart, but others said it for him.
“This is embarrassing,” said linebacker Eric Striker. “This is not the way we play football.”
As Clemson stormed to a 27-0 halftime lead, then dominated the third quarter, Stoops had to feel the same.
“I’m not going to give you headline words,” Stoops said. “Obviously, it doesn’t feel good. It isn’t something we’re used to. You can use the words. I don’t need to.”
Stoops is right. He doesn’t have to say embarrassed for everyone to know he is. Which is why you know changes are coming to Norman. Staff. Scheme. Playing surface. Nothing is off the table. Nor should it be.
Stoops could be mad enough at coordinators Josh Heupel and Mike Stoops to fire line coaches Bill Bedenbaugh and Jerry Montgomery. If the Sooners hadn’t already waded into the alternate-uniform world, he might have OU wearing horizontal stripes for the season opener against Akron in eight months.
Stoops would cop to none of that, no surprise. He drove down Grindstone Boulevard.
“I’m not going to discuss any of that,” Stoops said. “I’m pretty good at not throwing any knee-jerk reactions. I’ll take stock of everything and continue to evaluate what we’re doing.
“Gotta keep recruiting, keep developing the players we have. We’ve got to analyze what we’re doing as coaches. So all of us need to improve. I need to do a better job, first and foremost, and coaches after me, players after that.”
This Sooner season went from disappointing to disastrous. OU was 4-5 after September, and the two late losses (Bedlam, then the bowl) have sent the program into disarray, with most everyone on the inside and outside questioning what the heck is going on.
“I was expecting more from this team,” Mike Stoops said. “I think we all were. It’s just disappointing. Everyone has to evaluate themselves. Players, coaches, across the board, and figure out where we’re going, because this is not what Oklahoma football is all about.”
Oh, but it is. At least twice in 2014. These Sooners lost three games because of little things, but they lost to Clemson and Baylor because of big things. Talent discrepancy. Defensive scheme. Quarterback play. Those are not fine lines. Those are big ol’ fat lines.
[stoops] doesn’t have to say embarrassed for everyone to know he is. Which is why you know changes are coming. Tweet this
A play here or a play there would have made no difference in the Junior Citrus Bowl. Clemson was far superior. The Tigers couldn’t run the ball on OU and yet still found a way to mortally wound the Sooner defense. The Sooners ran the ball decent against Clemson’s sabertooths but never so much as threatened to score until the game got out of hand.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Striker said. “We didn’t see it coming. We just didn’t come out with that edge. We didn’t come out on fire. This year’s been a series of unfortunate events for us. Nothing’s been easy. It’s just been tragic. When something bad happens, it’s been really, really bad. When it rains , it pours.”
It flooded Monday night, and Clemson routed the Sooners.
Barry Switzer’s final game came on this same field against this same foe. If you’re looking for a Twilight Zone angle, the Sooners also played Clemson in 1963 and 1972, both in Norman. Notice the parallel? Bud Wilkinson’s final season and Chuck Fairbanks’ final season.
The legions are growing of those wanting this to be Stoops’ final season. Fat chance.
Is he still the guy to lead the Sooners? “I’ve always been that guy,” Stoops said.
Embarrassment doesn’t chase the defiance.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@opubco.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/berrytramel.
Tick
Footballguy
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
There has to be a ton of tension between administration and the football coaching staff. Tough changes have to happen and I wonder if Bob is going to make them, or does his brother and other assistants do Bob a solid and resign?
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
What needs to change is the players they are getting. They simply don't have enough good ones, and the amount of guys they've put in the NFL lately us proof.
Last edited by a moderator:
Joe Mixon
Trey Metoyer
Brandon Williams
What do these guys have in common? OU's 5 star recruits for the last 3 years. Nowhere to be found.
OU has signed 51 4 & 5 star recruits over the last 5 years. By my count, almost half have failed to make any impact whatsoever.
So maybe not a "get" but develop/keep/attitude problem.
Last edited by a moderator:
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Most def
Moe.
Footballguy
Hopefully he doesn't declare too. He's already said he'll be back but you never know.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
The problem as it had been for many years, is the secondary. I have no idea how it can be so bad. That said, Sanchez is definitely a pro too.
He's a tweener/situational guy. Phillips has a chance to be a real player at the next level.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
NORMAN, Oklahoma -
There's nothing to be learned from a bowl game. A bowl game is a singular event that doesn't always shine a light on reality. It's one game, almost a month after the regular season where almost anything can happen.
Case in point is last year's Sugar Bowl, when Oklahoma took down Alabama. However, Monday's embarrassing 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl was not an anomaly—it was a final picture of a disappointing season that saw the Sooners go from virtual College Football Playoff lock to 8-5.
Changes have to be made if the Sooners don't want 8-5 to become the norm and that's where OU coach Bob Stoops is going to be tested. For years, Stoops' loyalty has been his defining characteristic. Until after the 2011 season, he had never fired an assistant coach. Then he fired four in two seasons. Now he may have to get rid of the two coaches he is closest to in order to get the Sooners back on track.
Those two coaches are his coordinators, Mike Stoops and Josh Heupel. They're close to Stoops for obvious reasons—Mike Stoops is Bob's brother and Heupel was the quarterback on Stoops' national championship team in 2000.
College football is about winning and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Sure, there are virtuous aspects of the sport, but it's all about the wins and losses, especially at a college football factory like Oklahoma. Simply put, the Sooners aren't doing enough winning right now, and a lot of that falls on the shoulders of their coordinators.
Both oversaw painfully inconsistent units this season, although the defense was more consistent than the offense—in a negative sense, though.
Perhaps Bob was trying to rekindle some early-2000s magic on defense when he brought Mike back in 2012. Suffice to say, that hasn't happened. If anything, it seems Mike is completely outmatched by the speed and versatility of today's offenses.
Offensively, it seems Heupel tends to call games like he would play them as a quarterback rather than catering the game plan to the personnel he has at his disposal. How else can you explain trying to make Trevor Knight a pocket passer when he is clearly not? Or having Cody Thomas throw 17 first half passes at Texas Tech, one of the worst run defenses in the country?
In addition to that, the Sooners could never figure out what they wanted their identity to be on offense. Just when you thought they'd figured it out with a 510-yard rushing performance against Iowa State, the next week against Baylor, Samaje Perine touched the ball five times.
It's never easy to fire someone you personally hired, implying you thought they were the best man for the job in the process. It's even harder when it's your brother and a former player who won you a title. But if Stoops wants to stick around Norman for a while, he has to make these moves.
The Sooners need a defensive coordinator who understands how to stop—or at least limit—the variety of offenses in college football today. Mike Stoops does not appear to be that guy. OU also needs an offensive coordinator that is going to establish an identity based on personnel and won't change that from game to game like Heupel has.
Regardless of what decisions Stoops makes on the coaching staff (and changes are guaranteed to come), it's going to test Stoops' most admirable characteristic. And the changes that need to be made the most involve those he's closest to.
Loyalty is a great attribute to be known for, but it's not the most important thing in college football—winning is. If Stoops wants the Sooners to be national contenders, he'll put winning before his loyalty.
There's nothing to be learned from a bowl game. A bowl game is a singular event that doesn't always shine a light on reality. It's one game, almost a month after the regular season where almost anything can happen.
Case in point is last year's Sugar Bowl, when Oklahoma took down Alabama. However, Monday's embarrassing 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl was not an anomaly—it was a final picture of a disappointing season that saw the Sooners go from virtual College Football Playoff lock to 8-5.
Changes have to be made if the Sooners don't want 8-5 to become the norm and that's where OU coach Bob Stoops is going to be tested. For years, Stoops' loyalty has been his defining characteristic. Until after the 2011 season, he had never fired an assistant coach. Then he fired four in two seasons. Now he may have to get rid of the two coaches he is closest to in order to get the Sooners back on track.
Those two coaches are his coordinators, Mike Stoops and Josh Heupel. They're close to Stoops for obvious reasons—Mike Stoops is Bob's brother and Heupel was the quarterback on Stoops' national championship team in 2000.
College football is about winning and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Sure, there are virtuous aspects of the sport, but it's all about the wins and losses, especially at a college football factory like Oklahoma. Simply put, the Sooners aren't doing enough winning right now, and a lot of that falls on the shoulders of their coordinators.
Both oversaw painfully inconsistent units this season, although the defense was more consistent than the offense—in a negative sense, though.
Perhaps Bob was trying to rekindle some early-2000s magic on defense when he brought Mike back in 2012. Suffice to say, that hasn't happened. If anything, it seems Mike is completely outmatched by the speed and versatility of today's offenses.
Offensively, it seems Heupel tends to call games like he would play them as a quarterback rather than catering the game plan to the personnel he has at his disposal. How else can you explain trying to make Trevor Knight a pocket passer when he is clearly not? Or having Cody Thomas throw 17 first half passes at Texas Tech, one of the worst run defenses in the country?
In addition to that, the Sooners could never figure out what they wanted their identity to be on offense. Just when you thought they'd figured it out with a 510-yard rushing performance against Iowa State, the next week against Baylor, Samaje Perine touched the ball five times.
It's never easy to fire someone you personally hired, implying you thought they were the best man for the job in the process. It's even harder when it's your brother and a former player who won you a title. But if Stoops wants to stick around Norman for a while, he has to make these moves.
The Sooners need a defensive coordinator who understands how to stop—or at least limit—the variety of offenses in college football today. Mike Stoops does not appear to be that guy. OU also needs an offensive coordinator that is going to establish an identity based on personnel and won't change that from game to game like Heupel has.
Regardless of what decisions Stoops makes on the coaching staff (and changes are guaranteed to come), it's going to test Stoops' most admirable characteristic. And the changes that need to be made the most involve those he's closest to.
Loyalty is a great attribute to be known for, but it's not the most important thing in college football—winning is. If Stoops wants the Sooners to be national contenders, he'll put winning before his loyalty.
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