Tom Osborne sucked...

[soonerfan28]

from 1988 to 1993 in bowls. He lost 4 Orange, 2 Fiesta and a Citrus before he had arguably the greatest teams of all time in 1994 and 1995. I would still rather be in these games and losing then be in the Independence, Cotton or Holiday. We will be back in this game and win it. I pray it's Florida and us next year in the NC.

[Jay C. Upchurch]

This is a story I wrote for the OK Gazette back in Sept. 2008, and it gives another example of futility by a hall of fame coach other than the one Soonerfan28 writes about... All great coaches, even the most legendary ones, are subject to slumps and head-scratching moments over the course of their careers... read below how one of the greatest coaches of all time almost got run out of town for failing to win a bowl game for EIGHT straight seasons....

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Stoops’ success helps put Sooners in league of their own

By Jay C. Upchurch

Contrary to popular belief, at least among Oklahoma football fans, Bob Stoops is a mere mortal. He is flesh and bone, and bleeds Sooner crimson.

Any stories being circulated about the coach’s ability to walk on water have been exaggerated. A couple of bowl loses in recent years are proof of that.

But Stoops, in his 10th season at OU, is as competitive as they come. He is driven to succeed and he is without a doubt one of the best college football coaches on the planet. The evidence behind that fact is overwhelming.

Just look at last Saturday’s contest in Seattle, a 55-14 romp over Washington. It was the 122nd game of Stoops’ head coaching career — all at OU — and it produced his 100th victory. That ties him with Penn State legend Joe Paterno as the 10th fastest coach to reach that milestone.

It also calculates into an .820 winning percentage.

Amazingly enough, that winning percentage only ranks as the third-best all-time at Oklahoma, behind both Barry Switzer (.837) and Bud Wilkinson (.826). If the Sooners, as many believe they will, go undefeated this season and win the national title, Stoops would move ahead of Wilkinson at .834.

But there are still 11 games left this fall and lots of hurdles to be met before anyone starts talking seriously about national titles.

Stoops reaching the 100-win plateau makes the University of Oklahoma the only school to have four different coaches with at least 100 career victories -- Switzer (157-29-4), Wilkinson (145-29-4) and Bennie Owen (122-54-16)

As for picking up his 100th win, Stoops redirected most of the attention to his surrounding cast, including the OU administration, his assistant coaches and his players.

“I’m not concerned with that. I’m just glad to win one more this week,” said Stoops after the game.

While Stoops was more focused on the Sooners’ successful road trip to the Pacific Northwest, his track record at OU should get the credit it deserves. Let’s face it, the only active coach to reach 100 wins as quickly is the legendary Joe Paterno at Penn State.

The company at the top doesn’t get much better than that. And there is little doubt Stoops’ belongs along-side the greats who have coached at this level.

In his first nine seasons as a head coach, he guided the Sooners to five Big 12 Conference titles and one national championship. More importantly than that, he breathed life back into OU football and rejuvenated its fanbase beyond anyone’s imagination.

As for the recent bowl disappointments, well the truth is, all programs have their disappointments. It’s part of the game. It’s called football.

No one hates to lose more than Bob Stoops. You can bet he’s lost his share of sleep over those games.

But those losses will not define his career. Stoops is too smart and too talented to let that happen. He’ll have the Sooners back on top, sooner than later. Maybe this coming January.

So OU has hit a little bowl slump. So what? It happens to the best of them.

During one stretch of Bear Bryant’s legendary career at Alabama, his teams failed to win a bowl game eight straight seasons. That’s right, the Crimson Tide went 0-7-1 in the postseason from 1967-73.

You can imagine how ’Bama fans were fit to be tied. They were certain the game had passed Bryant by and even joked how he couldn’t win the big games any longer.

But as football fans know, Bear Bryant went on to win three more national titles at Alabama over the next seven seasons.

Oklahoma will win its share of bowl games -- make that big BCS bowl games -- under Stoops in the coming months and years.

Take it to the bank.

[olevetonahill]

Great article Jay . And we needed to Read that .:D

[JPNSKER]

from 1988 to 1993 in bowls. He lost 4 Orange, 2 Fiesta and a Citrus before he had arguably the greatest teams of all time in 1994 and 1995. I would still rather be in these games and losing then be in the Independence, Cotton or Holiday. We will be back in this game and win it. I pray it's Florida and us next year in the NC.

Yep. I stated the same thing, as well. TO learned what changes had to be made and sampled a little bit of everything from all the successful coaches and teams of that time.

I don't care how talented a team is, you still need that special chemistry between players, coaches and heck, even the water boys, to go undefeated and win a NC.

Stoops is a helluva coach and he'll find those "intangibles". No question about it.

[Sabanball]

Wow, an OU writer giving us cred for the '73 NC that OU fans rail against and make fun of us Bama fans for taking credit for...Hmmmm..

Two completely different situations, if you ask me. Osborne was(allegedly) juicing his players and ran a power I offense 85% slanted to the run in a weak sister Big 8 conference. The dynamics of the new big 12 have changed dramatically since then and thus I don't think it's a fair comparison. Nonetheless, anything's possible and I still think you guys have some great years ahead of you. And yes, I think Stoops will definitely win another NC...

[Crucifax Autumn]

Wow, an OU writer giving us cred for the '73 NC that OU fans rail against and make fun of us Bama fans for taking credit for...Hmmmm..

OK fine...it is officially taken back and you get no credit!

Better? lol

[PLaw]

At the end of his career, I just hope they don't use Bob name in the same sentance as Bo Shembechler.

BOOMER

[Jay C. Upchurch]

If it was AP or UPI in the 1970s, then it was considered a legitimate national title.... it's all of those "other" bogus national titles Alabama claims to have won that Oklahoma fans (along with everyone else) tend to dispute....

A quick rundown of Bama's so-called 12 titles...

1925.... totally bogus, they claim a title under a system that didn't exist until two years later. OU could claim two more national titles (1915 and 1938) under the same guidelines.

1926.... absurd, same system that still didn't exist when they claim to have shared title with three other teams... pure fantasy

1930.... a joke -- Notre Dame was consensus champ in five of six polls, except for one the that said Bama was No. 1. Seems legit, don't ya think?

1934.... Again, supposedly shared with two other teams in several split polls

1941.... the biggest farce of all... Bama was ranked No. 20 by the AP... that's right 20th! The Tide finished third in the SEC and there were 14 teams in the country with better records. Yet, somehow the folks at Bama claim this baby?

1961.... OK, finally, a real NC. No dispute here.

1964.... AP champs.

1965.... AP champs.

1973.... UPI poll did come out before bowl loss to Notre Dame... this was UPI's final season to name its NC before the bowl games due to the criticism it received for naming Bama No. 1.

1978.... AP champs.

1979.... AP, UPI champs.

1992.... Unanimous champs.

So basically out of Alabama's supposed 12 national titles -- seven can actually be viewed as legitimate.

[JPNSKER]

Two completely different situations, if you ask me. Osborne was(allegedly) juicing his players and ran a power I offense 85% slanted to the run in a weak sister Big 8 conference. The dynamics of the new big 12 have changed dramatically since then and thus I don't think it's a fair comparison.

We're not comparing strength of conferences here. Were comparing situations. TO lost a lot of bowl games and the fans were getting upset. Kinda sounds like what's going on with the Sooners, huh? Try to keep up S.

BTW, it is extremely funny that "allegations" are coming from an Alabama fan! Seriously!?!? Do we need to go and count up the amount of sanctions against either team in the last 10, 20, 30, even 40 years?:rolleyes:

As for the conference, there were four major players in the late 80's and three in the 90's. Colorado, K State, OU and NU.

[soonerspudman]

Uh, back to the subject of this thread.

I remember the classless "Loser in Lincoln" cover story SI ran when TO was having big game challenges. This was back when the media was trying to manufacture the made-for-TV big east and hated the fact that TO used to come out every year to New Jersey and other east-coast locals and recruit away their top talent.

I alway liked and respected TO and the NU program he ran and was thrilled when he racked up three NC's. Nothing says "bite me" better than just going out and winning, this is what Bob will continue to do.