Bob Stoops, really?!

[Collier11]

When Joe C. announced who he was hiring to replace Boo, how many of you said this? I only remember being excited that it wasnt Blake but im sure I was skeptical, what were your thoughts?

[Fraggle145]

I liked the cut of his jib.

[Frozen Sooner]

I was slightly disappointed we didn't get one of the Bowdens, can't remember which.

Which means I'm a complete dunderhead.

However, being that I was living in Des Moines at the time and all the Idiots Out Wandering Around thought that there was no way Bob Stoops would turn down his alma mater, I was pretty happy about it.

[SoonerStormchaser]

I still think they made the wrong hire!!!

I mean, jeez, why Joe C. didn't go after Dennis Franchione then is beyond me. :rolleyes:

[Mad Dog Madsen]

I was very pleased. I knew Stoops was the right hire from day one. I just got it like that I guess...

[TheUnnamedSooner]

I was skeptical. We went and hired a D coordinator, when it was our offense that sucked worse. But then came leach and the ninje :D

[oupride]

I was still disappointed we missed out on Mack Brown.

[KantoSooner]

I was completely confused,but my brother-in-law, from Florida, opined that we'd made the deal of the century.

[redpurple]

what happened here? who got fired?

[sooner2b09]

I was sad we couldnt lure Paterno away. I still think that would have been the best for this program :P

[shaun4411]

i was kinda hoping ou would get bob simmons

[BudSooner]

Eh, I thought he might make a run at the Big XII title in about 4-6yrs.

[sooner n houston]

I was like Bob who??? :D

[OUstud]

I distinctly remember "Bob Stoopid" remarks from Ag brethren in 3rd grade. Figures.

[MichiganSooner]

My pharmacist was really excited. He said, "Bob Stoops is going to bring Oklahoma back to the top".

I thought to myself, "yeah, right".

[batonrougesooner]

I remember thinking "Who the heck is Bobby Stoops?" I remember Dean the Dream predicting 70/30 some mafia guy named Dennis Franchione was going to be the coach.

[OUDoc]

I was still disappointed we missed out on Mack Brown.

Me, too. Now I feel all dirty for ever thinking that.

I talked to a Florida fan who was mad we took Stoops and swore he was "the real deal". I told him we'd heard that before with Howard and I'd wait to believe it.
I think Bob might be okay for Oklahoma. ;)

[CobraKai]

I was ****ed we didn't go after Jim Donnan. I was obviously wrong.

[Pricetag]

I was ****ed we didn't go after Jim Donnan. I was obviously wrong.
Yep, that was who I was hoping for. I remember a post on another OU board I used to read from a guy writing a future letter to Donnan thanking him and our star quarterback, Chris Massey, for leading us to number seven.

I will say that any doubt/ignorance I had melted right away after I watched the press conference. I was 100 percent on board after that.

[stoopified]

I was in favor if no other reason than I believed he couldn't possibly be as bad as Boo.I did worry a little about the staff being so PURPLE(M.Stoops,Mangino,Venables).

[OKC-SLC]

I was there at (Evans?) Hall when he was introduced and he said a few words. I came away skeptically impressed, if that makes sense.

[OUDoc]

I did worry a little about the staff being so PURPLE(M.Stoops,Mangino,Venables).

The only thing that annoyed me about his staff is that dumas K-Staters thought they made OU football what it is, not remembering they were the losingest program in D-1 history when I went to OU. Fortunately, they have bigger things to worry about these days.

[SoonerAtKU]

I remember being a little upset that we were losing Rex Ryan. I also remember walking to class and getting pulled over to the press conference by a friend.

[47straight]

My problem was that they all sounded good on paper. Capt Kangaroo had a ring and moxy. Blake was a member of the family and a great recruiter and young. So Stoops sounded good too, but what did I know? The previous two sounded great and stank.

I think this coach hiring thing is def. an art, not a science.

[ouradu]

I distinctly remember "Bob Stoopid" remarks from Ag brethren in 3rd grade. Figures.
:eek: I really have never felt old... til now.

[AlbqSooner]

I was, and had been, living in Florida for several years at the time Stoops was hired. I had seen his success with the Gators and felt VERY confident in the hire. I had no idea he would turn out this good, but I did feel like he could get us headed in the right direction again.

[SleestakSooner]

Glad to admit I was wrong about Stoops. My first thought was "Stoops? Oh that name won't be 'Poked' fun at":rolleyes:

I hated the Spurrier visor... still do.

Then when we lost that bowl game in Shreveport because he went for it late in the first half instead of kicking an easy field goal, I was none to happy. But a year later I was there waiting at Memorial Stadium when the team came home from winning the MNC.

Like I said, glad I was wrong and he can wear that ugly visor as long as he likes ;)

[shaun4411]

if a good coach can turn around the ou program in the state it was in and back into the elite powerhouse it is now, then coaching would appear to be the single most important factor in the success of a program. go ou

[douxpaysan]

My problem was that they all sounded good on paper. Capt Kangaroo had a ring and moxy. Blake was a member of the family and a great recruiter and young. So Stoops sounded good too, but what did I know? The previous two sounded great and stank.

I think this coach hiring thing is def. an art, not a science.

Yea....and Joe C with Dave B's help seem to paint a pretty picture.

[Charla]

Maybe we could of lured Mack our way if more of our kids were on probation.

[n8v_ndn]

I was in my final semester and watched the press conference in person. I didn't put much stock into it, since it was all talk at that point (I remembered Schnellenberger and Boo's words too). I do remember thinking about possible headlines in a few years....OU STOOPS TO NEW LOW. After awhile, I heard more horror stories about what it had been like under Boo (my friend worked in that athletic dept); figured it could only improve from here on out :o)

[12]

My thought was about like most of us, I suppose... "Eh, can't be any worse."

God bless teh Stoops. Certainly above and beyond anything we knew would happen.

[SleestakSooner]

Certainly.

[OUmillenium]

No question

[Ban One Sooner]

I actually new Stoops' background at the time and was hoping for him to get the job ahead of Jim Donnan, Terry Bowden, Watson Brown and others that were being mentioned at the time. I also was pretty impressed with his Stun 'n Dun defense at Florida, which finally gave Steve Spurrier a national title when paired with the Fun 'n Gun offense.

I met him for the first time the day of his press conference and I remember he stood around outside shaking hands and meeting people even after most of the on-lookers left. What I remember most is that he was very energized and excited and you could tell he was happy to be in the position and that things were about to get a lot better.

I was further excited when we got Mike and Mangino to come down off a very good K-State staff and pulled Leach out of Kentucky where he was OC or co/OC and had just gotten Tim Couch drafted in the first round by the Browns before anybody began to know his QB's as "system" QB's. They were also talking to the OC at Syracuse at the time, I believe about joining the staff so it was impressive that he was immediately able to draw quality assistants from other successful programs to me at the time (especially coming off the Joe Dickinson/Dick Winder staff splits and ineffectiveness at managing an offense).

Rex Ryan you knew would be gone shortly, who was about the only decent coach we had on staff, I actually didn't mind that either too much because the 46 is so vulnerable to the pass when the blitz is picked up because, especially with the Buddy Ryan defense, you are always in man coverage and can get put in some really bad match ups with the desire to always play that Doug Cosbie position up all the time so I always saw the Mike Stoops/Venables for Ryan trade as positive for us.