Great ESPN.com article on Sooners by Gene Wojciechowski

[OU_PhD]

STORY (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2539913)

GREAT READ!!

[Harry Beanbag]

J.D. "Footnote" Quinn

heh

[Octavian]

OKLAHOMA WILL BE OK
Stoops Moves on Quickly, so do Sooner Faithful
NORMAN, Okla. -- The first four Oklahoma fans arrived outside Gate 7 -- weird, that was Rhett Bomar's jersey number -- of Memorial Stadium at 1:30 Friday morning. By 10:30 a.m., when the "Meet The Sooners" autograph day officially began, the line just to see OU running back Adrian Peterson stretched the length of nearly three football fields.


By then the sun was on rotisserie-chicken setting and sales of bottled water were doing boffo business at the concession tent. OU fight songs blared over the practice field loudspeakers. Children in Sooner unis happily raced across the artificial turf.


In all, an estimated crowd of 12,000 spent the allotted 90 minutes rubbing shoulders and Sharpies with Oklahoma players and coaches. Most left with the autographs they wanted. About 200 were turned away from Peterson's line simply because it was already too long and the morning too short.


Anyway, so much for OU's football program and its followers being curled in the fetal position. In fact, school officials say "Meet The Sooners" attendance was up about 2,000 from this time last year. And call it whatever you like -- moving forward, delusional thinking, a leap of faith -- but nobody here seems to need a hug from Dr. Phil.


Sure, two days ago, when starting quarterback Bomar and starting offensive lineman (and roommate) J.D. "Footnote" Quinn were dismissed permanently from the team, there was the appropriate hysteria. You could hear the screams from here to Oklahoma City. Bomar and Quinn had tried to go all Ocean's 12 on OU and the NCAA by pulling off a work scam at a local car dealership. They got pinched and then they got booted. Two perfectly good OU playing careers ruined by greed and brain freezes.


But that was then. Now that the two cautionary tales have been expunged from the OU roster, the conversation is almost always steered toward tomorrow, toward the Sept. 2 opener against Alabama-Birmingham, toward the players who are still here, not the ones who just left. The steering, of course, is being done by OU coach Bob Stoops, who looks like he ate some very bad fish whenever asked to discuss what is arguably the biggest story of the college football offseason.


Stoops is a football coach, and an honorable one, too. But like most coaches, he craves order, control and calm. There is nothing orderly or calming about players who accept thousands of dollars they didn't earn, about the likelihood of an NCAA investigation, about having to defend a program you rebuilt from near scratch.


The Bomar/Quinn controversy not only has compromised OU's championship hopes, but even worse, it has caused some observers to question Stoops' ability to oversee his team. You can question -- after all, this incident comes on his watch -- but you can't truly doubt.


Stoops won't or can't say it, but Bomar wasn't exactly beloved by his teammates. That might have made it slightly easier for him to dismiss his starting quarterback and replace him with senior Paul Thompson. But if you know Stoops, he would have done the same to the great Peterson ... to his own mother ... to the team chaplain. You commit an NCAA felony, you're history.


With all due respect to those trying to connect the scandal dots of the Barry Switzer Era to the Bomar dots of the Stoops Era, there's no comparison. It's not apples/oranges, it's Uzis/BB guns. Switzer remains a legendary Sooner figure (he's featured prominently in an OU-produced promotional video), but he treated the NCAA rules book the same way he treated, say, Kansas State: with indifference. Bomar might still be on the roster if Switzer were the coach.


This isn't to say the OU program couldn't be more vigilant. Peterson drove a late-model Lexus for weeks -- from the same dealership who employed Bomar and Quinn -- even though he hadn't arranged financing or finalized the sale. He later returned the car because of yet unexplained reasons ("We were gonna purchase the car, but the payments were gonna be too high, so we took the car back," his mother said in April; the dealership has been sold to a new owner). OU insists no rules were broken, but it feels murky, vague and, yeah, suspicious.


Stoops is a proud, smart and, at times, combative guy. The former All-Big Ten defensive back occasionally looks as if he wants to use reporters for team nutcracker drills. One more question about Bomar and he's going to forearm shiver himself.


Stoops says he's fine, but there's no way this past week didn't leave some bruise marks. Ask him if any of his players have, well, tried to console him, and he grabs the sides of the podium even tighter.


"They know they don't need to do that," he said Friday during a pre-fanfest interview with the media. "I'm good. Believe me, they know that."


Taped to each side of the walls in the team meeting room is a small sign:

Losers assemble in little groups and bitch about the coaches, the system and other players in other little groups. Winners assemble as a team.

Stoops isn't going to bitch about a thing. An evening earlier, at a "Sooner Caravan" dinner at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, about 900 OU boosters gave him a rousing standing ovation.


"It must be football season," Stoops said to the $25-per-plate crowd. "Y'all wound up, aren't you?"


They were. They wanted ... needed ... reassurance. Stoops gave it to them.


"I promise you, I'm going to address this for the last time tonight," he said.


"This" was the Bomar/Quinn thing. "I'm pretty black and white," he said, explaining his decision-making process. "Cut and dry. I make it and I'm done."


More cheers. In fact, Stoops was so done with Bomar that he didn't refer to him by name. Instead, it was, "The guy Paul is replacing only played one year." The guy.


By the end of the night you would have thought you were at an OU revival meeting. Every so often you'd hear someone yell, "Boom-er!" Someone would answer, "Soon-er!" Another yell: "Texas?" Followed by: "Sucks!"


Oklahoma will be OK. So will Stoops. That's because if a single incident can be one of the worst and finest moments of a program, this is it. Worst, because of the greed of two players who knew better. Finest, because Stoops didn't hesitate to act.


The trick now is to make sure it never happens again.

.

[umberto]

That article is a nice counterbalance to the negative tide of some hack reporters on TV and the Internet. I think Stoops did more than most coaches would have, including the golden boys the press love so much. Could you imagine any of the other top 10 programs dismissing their returning starter? I can't.

[BOOMERBRADLEY]

HAHA ....nice

[RADsooner]

"looks as if he wants to use reporters for team nutcracker drills."

cracked me up.

[StoopTroup]

The guy Paul is replacing only played one year." The guy.

Here's my reasoning for making RB... "The QB of who we shall not speak of..."

[Jimminy Crimson]

Kudos, Gene!

[Dio]

Here's my reasoning for making RB... "The QB of who we shall not speak of..."

actually, he has already been dubbed "The Idiot"

[StoopTroup]

actually, he has already been dubbed "The Idiot"
Both work IMO...

Since I have been drinking since this was announced...:D

Well lets just say I was trying clam myself down and let this story be addressed by The University before rampant speculating went out of control.

So...

I may be a little late on the moniker / labeling.

Sorry.

[Dio]

Both work IMO...

Since I have been drinking since this was announced...:D

Well lets just say I was trying clam myself down and let this story be addressed by The University before rampant speculating went out of control.

So...

I may be a little late on the moniker / labeling.

Sorry.

No worries- just didn't want you to be behind the curve. ;)

[OKC-SLC]

nice article by gene w.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Good stuff. Especially for the Eternally Sooner Puking-on Network.

[OU_PhD]

Yeah, after about 24 hours of panic, shock and anger, i'm blindly optimistic. Something tells me things will work out somehow--they always do.

[Snrfn4ever08]

dude, you beat me to it. i was coming on here to post it:( . that's cool, just as long as somebody gives everyone here a chance to see this. this story is awesome. finally, after hearing all of the OU ripping on ESPN lately, i'm glad to see a member of the national media say we're just fine. wednesday and yesterday, i decided i never wanted the football season to get here. today, i couldn't be more pumped up to make that drive down to norman, walk through all of the crowds and step into the great atmosphere that is ou football

can a man get a

BOOOOOOOMER!!!!!!!

[soonersweetie]

SOOOOONNNEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

[BoomerJack]

"Y'all are wound up."

The first time I've heard of a Youngstown, Ohio yankee say "y'all".

The article didn't say if he said "mayonaisse". You know, "mayonaisse" a lot of people here tonight.

[colleyvillesooner]

actually, he has already been dubbed "The Idiot"

I like "the guy" better than "The Idiot" The idiot sounds childish. Plus, that's how we should feel about Bomar now, he's just "that guy". He's not worth calling a name over.

[TUSooner]

I enjoyed that. It's a good example of what happens when a journalist actually observes and thinks before he shoots off his mouth or his keyboard.

[PDXsooner]

was there ever any doubt? we are OU

[wheatonsooner]

no there wasn't any doubt

[GDC]

OU's Kevin Wilson perseveres despite hardship
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
8/5/2006

View in Print (PDF) Format


NORMAN -- Obviously, there is no comparison between losing your close friend to a heart attack and losing your starting quarterback to a case of stupidity.

Still, it takes someone with something special inside to handle the devastating personal and professional setbacks Kevin Wilson experienced with aplomb over a five-week period this summer.

To watch Wilson during that difficult time is to understand why I'm convinced the timing of Wilson becoming Oklahoma's offensive coordinator couldn't be more perfect.

What's that special something inside Wilson? Well, here's how one admirer who knows Wilson extremely well describes him.

"Kevin Wilson is the toughest SOB that I know," said the OU employee, who requested not to be named.

Times at OU got tough this week when quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive guard J.D. Quinn were permanently dismissed by coach Bob Stoops after they violated an NCAA rule.

That's why the Sooners are extremely fortunate to have someone with Wilson's inner toughness. He'll need it to guide a young offensive unit that has been rocked by the loss of two starters.

Sooner supporters reacted with dismay and a "why us" attitude when they learned the two players had accepted

money for work they didn't perform at a Norman car dealership.

It would have been understandable if Stoops had to talk Wilson down off a ledge once the news broke. After all, just weeks before he gets his first opportunity to run the Sooner offense, Wilson has lost a marvelously talented quarterback and a lineman he had counted on to steady a perilously thin and inexperienced front.

Instead, Stoops knew what he'd find when he walked down the hall of the Switzer Center to see Wilson. There, inside his office, Wilson was already scheming and dreaming up ways he can make Paul Thompson into the quarterback the Sooners need to keep their championship hopes alive.

"Kevin will relish in this (challenge)," Stoops said at Friday's Media Day. "It's just like him to be that way."

Sadly, Wilson no longer can reach out to the man who taught him how to deal with difficult situations. The one coach Wilson often sought out for advice as he climbed the coaching ladder.

Northwestern coach Randy Walker, Wilson's former boss and close confidant, died June 29 of a heart attack. Wilson, who appeared to be in excellent physical shape, was just 52 years old.

"He was a dear friend," Wilson said. "He was my mentor. I was very lucky to have been around him for 19 years, which is a pretty good deal."

See, typical Wilson. He has the mental strength to turn a sad situation into a positive. Even though the loss remains deeply painful, Wilson can talk with happiness about Walker, who he worked for at Northwestern and Miami (Ohio).

"It's unfortunate to lose coach Walker," Wilson said. "But I was very blessed to have a pretty strong mentor."

Walker would undoubtedly be proud of how his star pupil has handled the loss of Bomar and Quinn. It's what he taught Wilson, who left Walker's staff after the 2001 season to join Stoops.

Wilson shrugs off any compliments about his ability to remain calm, confident and in charge while chaos seems to be breaking all around him this week. It's been a way of life for the North Carolina native.

"I was a walk-on player who always had to overcome things," Wilson said of his college career at North Carolina. "I don't walk around with a chip on my shoulder. But it seems like all my life I've had to prove myself."

Wilson has more than proved himself to Stoops. That's why OU's coach didn't hesitate to promote Wilson when offensive coordinator Chuck Long left last December to take over the San Diego State program.

Wilson often shared play-calling duties with Long and was heavily involved in game planning. He also installed a more potent running game after OU had depended heavily on the passing attack of Long and former offensive coordinator Mike Leach.

Many OU insiders were overjoyed when Wilson replaced Long. They predict he will be open to more ideas than Long, who was wed to the vertical passing game.

Stoops said as much this week when he revealed that Thompson would return to quarterback to replace Bomar. Stoops hinted that Thompson might not have lost the starting job to Bomar last season and moved to wide receiver had Long adapted to Thompson's running skills instead of remaining in an offense that had been a huge success with quarterbacks who threw first and ran only when necessary.

"Kevin is a guy who has great flexibility," Stoops said. "He's coached in multiple sets in offenses and understands them all."

And now Wilson has a month to figure out which set will take full advantage of the versatile Thompson. He also must restore the confidence in an offense that was tossed for a loop with this week's developments.

"A lot of people go through life and only hit fast balls," Wilson said. "But the really good ones can hit a curve.

"Whether it's personal or professional, life is going to throw you some curves. The guys who are really successful can handle the curve."

And how did Wilson handle curve balls back in the day when he played high school baseball?

"The last time I saw a curve," Wilson said, "I hit a double."

OU's worried fans now hope he can hit a home run. If toughness counts, don't be surprised if Wilson makes it a grand slam..