Bob Stoops was the longest-tenured coach in college football and it seemed as if he’d be coaching the Oklahoma Sooners for many years to come. Today, we learned the shocking news that he will be meeting with his team this afternoon to inform them that he is retiring after 18 seasons, according to The Oklahoman.
Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley will be named head coach.
Stoops led the Sooners to the 2000 national championship, beating Florida State 13-2 in the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl in his second year at the helm in Norman.
2000 Oklahoma Sooners (National Champions)
This was the first video OU asked to play on their jumbotron (SoonerVision) that I had made. Previously they played computer animations I made for touchdowns, sack, field goals, etc. This was the first video that had a beggining, middle, end feel to it.
His teams won 10 Big 12 titles and had reached double-digit wins in 14 seasons, including a 11-2 mark in 2016. He guided the program to appearances in the 2004, 2005 and 2009 national championship games, where they lost to LSU, USC and Florida respectively.
“When I accepted this job, I knew it wasn’t a stepping-stone job, where you do well here and get a better job,” Stoops told ESPN prior to the 2016 season. “I thought all along this was the best job.”
Stoops is the winningest coach in OU history with a 190-48 record and has taken the Sooners to bowl games in every one of his 18 seasons. He was hired in December 1999 after serving as Steve Spurrier’s defensive guru at the University of Florida for three years.
Stoops was a four-year starter at defensive back for the University of Iowa. His first coaching position was as a volunteer coach and graduate assistant for the Hawkeyes, followed by gigs as an assistant at Kent State, Kansas State and Florida, where he was part of the Gators’ national championship team in 1997.
