Rank Stoops' Coaching Performance By Year [Archive]

FaninAma

8/30/2006, 10:40 PM

Best to worst.

2000: No brainer. A magical season culminated in one of the best coached games in recent memory in the Orange Bowl.

1999: Record not that great but Stoops and his staff came in and sold their system to the players and turned the program around leading to the the magical year in 2000.

2001:Awesome defense. Smoke and mirrors on offense. Should have been in the NC game despite offensive weaknesses.

2002:Injuries at QB. Best overall talent on both sides of the ball except for 2003. Dominating at times but prone to let downs. Finished strong in the RB.

2003: Dominating team that deserved all of the accolades heaped upon them early in the year until Mike Stoops left and the end of the year melt-down began in the Big 12 CCG.

2004:Undefeated in the regular season but not as impressive as the year before even though AD ran for 2000 yards and we had 10 future NFL draft picks on the team all made so much worse by the lubless bendover job by USC. Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of an underachieving defense.

The wild card year is the 2005 team. Was it a bad coaching job by Stoops for the way the team came out unprepared or was it one of his better coaching performances for the way the team was able to turn things around and finish strong with a solid win over Oregon?

oupride

8/30/2006, 11:08 PM

This is a great thread. I think you got it about right. Funny how I had already forgotten the departure of Mike Stoops end of year 2003. When I re-read your list the 3 years without Mike Stoops appears as the bottom 3. Could it be possible that the subtraction of Mike could be a better coaching job by Bob? That 2004 BCS game still sticks in my throat like a broken Tostido chip. I feel we were one play from winning that game which if we had would vault that season behind your 2000? The 2004 season was well coached season but the OB performance was..well, disturbing is a word that comes to mind. So, I think you got it about right. Those early years sure looked amazing and the coaching more brillant. Now lets get ready for the next championship!!!

BOOMER!!!!!

TrophyCollector

8/30/2006, 11:16 PM

1. 2000 - Big XII Champs / National Champs
2. 2004 - Big XII Champs
3. 2002 - Big XII Champs

This is Oklahoma, why even talk about anything else.

Octavian

8/30/2006, 11:16 PM

Good question...tough answer.

Other than 2000, I might say that '99 or '05 were his best coaching jobs.

The '99 team was loaded w/ Boo's players who'd looked like the Bad News Bears for years but we were in the position to win every game we played.

The 05 squad was incredibly young and we could've folded after opening day, Pasadena, or Dallas and went 4-7. We got screwed at Tech but still managed to regroup and beat a top10 team in the bowl game....and we finished (FWIW I dunno) w/ the #13 defense in the nation after playing the nation's toughest schedule.

Those were his two least talented/experienced teams and I don't care what anyone says about "Blake's great recruiting." They succed as5 before Bob got here and everyone knows it.

TrophyCollector

8/30/2006, 11:23 PM

The '99 team was loaded w/ Boo's players who'd looked like the Bad News Bears for years but we were in the position to win every game we played.

Uh, were you sitting in the Cotton Bowl that day in 98 when things got so ugly we pulled Eric Moore to be the 3rd guy to try QB. And when that didn't work, we tried throwing passes on the kickoff return. Not really a good position to win.

How about when we went to College Station and Jake Sills handed off 80 plays in a row so Boo could keep the score down to 29-0 in an effort to save his job. Not so much a position to win.

Octavian

8/30/2006, 11:29 PM

Uh, were you sitting in the Cotton Bowl that day in 98 when things got so ugly we pulled Eric Moore to be the 3rd guy to try QB. And when that didn't work, we tried throwing passes on the kickoff return. Not really a good position to win.

Uhh, yes I was. But I said we were in a postion to win every game in 1999...becuase this thread is about the Stoops Era.

sooneron

8/30/2006, 11:32 PM

I don't really remember being in a position to win at CO that year.

HarrisTubbsFan

8/30/2006, 11:33 PM

2000
2002
2004
1999
2001
2003
2005

HarrisTubbsFan

8/30/2006, 11:35 PM

To put a provision the first 12 games of 03 would be near the top. The last 2 we weren't prepared at all.

The other seasons we didn't lose too many games because we were unprepared. Outside of 05.

Octavian

8/30/2006, 11:36 PM

I don't really remember being in a position to win at CO that year.

yeah, that was the only game we didn't have a lead in IIRC...

they played a great game but we missed a lot of chances.

Octavian

8/30/2006, 11:42 PM

TC, my bad...I re-read my first post and I didn't write that very clearly.

Agreed on all your points about the fatso years ;)

Egeo

8/31/2006, 12:08 AM

2000
2003
1999
2002
2001
2004
2005

just a quick list, might edit it later

FaninAma

8/31/2006, 12:12 AM

The 2003 and 2004 teams had a lot of expectations because of all the returning talent so it's a bit unfair to rank them so low but I have to look at coaching as a reason these teams came up short...especially the 2003 team. Bob and the OU staff just flat out got their butts handed to them by Snyder. Worst prepared team under Stoops I've seen for a single game....including the TCU fiasco last year.

2005 has to be ranked as one of Stoops better performances because he and his staff had to coach their @$$es off to keep that team from cashing it in after the Texas game. I had always wondered how Stoops would handle a little adversity and last year's team showed that he really answered thebell in crunch time.

Egeo

8/31/2006, 01:59 AM

see, i think the 2003 team overachieved for 80% of their games...
and last years team, could have been much better imo

the circus at oline, safety and qb was rediculous, imo
but i think we learned from it

King Crimson

8/31/2006, 02:16 AM

yeah, that was the only game we didn't have a lead in IIRC...

they played a great game but we missed a lot of chances.

i was at that game, and some other CU home games in 99 and that was the best game CU played all year--in part because Barney scrapped his regular D gameplan and came after Heupel from the corners--which the previous DC under Neuheisel, AJ Christoff, had recruited talent to do. the ONE time that blitzing the snot out of JH worked. JH beat much better teams, like Snyder and Bennett twice, getting laid out on every play.

my point about Barney and Ricky's recruiting is proved out by the 3-8 year they had the next year. lost a bunch of good players.

King Crimson

8/31/2006, 02:28 AM

Desert Sapper

8/31/2006, 02:43 AM

The O-State game that year stands out to me. It's like we couldn't move the ball on O. OUr defense was great, minus the Rashaun Woods endzone snag. I remember Roy laying Tatum Bell on his a$$ in that game. One of the better hits I've seen. I couldn't find a video of it, but I found this LASooner video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNlXxsfG7Pc&mode=related&search=).

XingTheRubicon

8/31/2006, 07:20 AM

yeah, that was the only game we didn't have a lead in IIRC...

they played a great game but we missed a lot of chances.

Nope, had a lead in every game in '99, '00, and '01. The piece of **** "this is our superbowl" aggies were the first to deny a Stoops Sooner team the lead at any point in the game.

XingTheRubicon

8/31/2006, 07:35 AM

2000 respectfully beat the **** out of 4 top 11 teams
1999 close 2nd IMO, because '99 reintroduced my brain to endorphins
2002 same as '01 but Texas sucked more and the O finally came around
2001 the offensive dropoff from '00 was pretty impressive
2005 monkey ****ing a football, nice stretch run however
2003 tough break with JW being injured but didn't need to fall apart
2004 essentially had a pro defense and had the speed limit dropped on us.

FaninAma

8/31/2006, 02:02 PM

I wouldn't rank 01 very high compared to other years. the dump pass afraid Hybl was gonna make a mistake mentality cost us against OSU. 3rd and 8 swing pass....for 2 yards. ad infinitum.

and the Cotton Bowl. that was a thriller.

But our offense and offensive line were, well...offensive!!! That team overachieved and was a Roy Williams pinky finger from being in the Rose Bowl v. Miami.

Octavian

8/31/2006, 02:10 PM

Nope, had a lead in every game in '99, '00, and '01. The piece of **** "this is our superbowl" aggies were the first to deny a Stoops Sooner team the lead at any point in the game.

Saturady, October 30, 1999.

Oklahoma - FG Duncan 27
Colorado - Stiggers 14 pass from Moschetti (Aldrich kick)
Oklahoma - Littrell recovered blocked punt in end zone (Duncan kick)
Colorado - Green 49 pass from Moschetti (Aldrich kick)
Colorado - Moschetti 1 run (Aldrich kick)
Colorado - FG Aldrich 33
Oklahoma - R Skinner 6 pass from Heupel (Duncan kick)
Colorado - Graham 14 pass from Moschetti (Aldrich kick)
Oklahoma - J Jackson 49 pass from Heupel (Duncan kick)
Colorado - Green 88 pass from Moschetti (Aldrich kick)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/boxscores/1999/10/30/ccn_ooc/

stand corrected.

OU had a lead in every game in 1999, after going five years w/out a winning season. That strengthens my oppinion about Bob's performance in '99.

NormanPride

8/31/2006, 02:10 PM

I'd put '03 and '04 up at the top as well... It's not fair to the players or Stoops to say "well, the wins were because we had such great players, but the losses were from lack of preparation."

I also think '05 was a pretty damn good job of coaching. For goodness' sake, we didn't have the same Oline for 2 consecutive games, did we? :D

Luthor

8/31/2006, 02:51 PM

Stoops is among the best all time football coaches in college, no question. However, there is aparently more to being a HC at this level than just coaching the game. Indications are that he's still learning the job.

The Maestro

8/31/2006, 03:21 PM

My two cents...

2000 - never questionable.
2004 - come on...we faced a great team that night that made EVERY big play possible. Even without the INT's and Bradley's muff we still could have lost due to USC being a lot better that year than last.
2003 - We played one bad game and it was just a crazy set of circumstances. There was no shame in losing to LSU in New Orleans. Plus, we had the game right there with a chance at the end. Great fight to withstand early failures in that game.
2001 - injuries were hard on us that year but our defense still fought like crazy. Again, no shame in losing on the play of the year in college football at Nebraska...OSU was just a fluke night.
1999 - I am not as high on this team as others. Great turnaround, but efforts at Texas Tech and first half mistakes in I-Bowl were mind-boggling. Colorado played well, but we also blew a lead of like 17-0 on Texas and did not tackle an average running Jarious Jackson at Notre Dame. That team lacked the ability to close...not really Stoops fault, but there were disappointing losses, much like the three in a row in 1990. The season seemed very Gary Gibbish, which was a vast improvement from Blake and Captain Kangaroo.
2005 - a young team with a lot of challenges. Still we should have finished no worse than 10-2. I know we got screwed at Tech, but the TCU game was a joke and no team should look that bad out of the gate. We made their QB and the receiver from Tulsa look like AA's. At times at UCLA we were out of control and they proved to be a bit flukey towards the end of the year. Heck, Mike's boys in AZ crushed them!
2002 - sorry...no business losing like we did to aTm and OSU. We DIDN'T cover receivers in those games and to leave Rashaun Woods THAT wide open was a joke. It seemed like very few adjustments. Losing to two teams that were not very good is all that cost us a national title shot. At least in 2003 and 2004 we lost in the national championship game.

ashley

8/31/2006, 03:54 PM

You all remember the old story I am sure. Everyone is an expert at BBQing, sex and football. It is so east everyone ought to be a football coach.

RooseveltRoughRider

8/31/2006, 03:56 PM

WOW...

I am amazed that people think 2005 was a good coaching year. The Sooners either lost or barely won every game except maybe 2 of them. And before anyone gives the "we were young" speech..these are the same guys who most of you think will win or compete for the NC this year...you dont go from barely winning most of your games to probably winning all of your games over one Summer...so, if your Sooners are as talented as you THINK they are, then 2005 just was not Stoops year as a coach.

The Maestro

8/31/2006, 04:27 PM

WOW...

you dont go from barely winning most of your games to probably winning all of your games over one Summer

Uh......you are speaking to fans of the 1999 7-5 OU Sooners and the 2000 13-0 National Champions. 1999--you know, the year we led in all five losses and 2000, you know, the year we brought home the shiny football.

HarrisTubbsFan

8/31/2006, 04:41 PM

No one thought going into 2000 that we were going to win a National Title.

Desert Sapper

8/31/2006, 06:23 PM

No one thought going into 2000 that we were going to win a National Title.

I did. ;)

FaninAma

8/31/2006, 06:30 PM

For a young team, the 2005 team showed a great propensity to make key plays in crunch time. I've see other teams in similiar positions that completely folded their tents. Purdue and Tennesse last year are prime examples.

It took a heck of a coaching job to keep things together so the team had a chance to beat Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.

Some of MackBrown's better coaching jobs were holding his Texas teams together after taking the shellings from OU in 2000 and 2003.

FaninAma

8/31/2006, 06:35 PM

boomrsoonr

8/31/2006, 06:57 PM

Well, as I see it, the bowl games against LSU and again against USC could easily be traced back to the predictable, and sometimes weird, play calling by a certain Offensive Coordinator that shall remain nameless.

And as much as I enjoy some of the comments about Leach and the Red Aggies, I wish he was still here. Could you imagine where we'd be right now with his offense and the defenses we've had? Oh, yeah, sure you can. Look at 2000.

ashley

8/31/2006, 07:31 PM

Talk about spoiled, all this bitching by a buntch of guys that cannot draw up the trap against the split-6 after the last few years and what this staff has done. I thought Tu was bad about a sense of entitlement..We are not the only place with a staff and videos and facilities.

Desert Sapper

8/31/2006, 07:45 PM

NEWSFLASH....

Tommorow there will be another anouncement that 5 more players inclding AD will be thrown off for the same crap at Big Red...

I heard the truth will be revealed tomorrow about the aliens at Area 51. :rolleyes:

Go away.

Desert Sapper

8/31/2006, 07:51 PM

It's funny that the school completed its investigation and didn't kick anybody else off the team...weeks before you came on here to troll. I'm pretty sure you won't come back to apologize tomorrow. Now go away.

sooner94

8/31/2006, 07:56 PM

NEWSFLASH....

please ban me, I am an assclown...

Fixed

Scott D

8/31/2006, 08:04 PM

If I am wrong I will post tommorow a big appology.. If not - I will expect one from you... Information gained from a source that told me about last incident days before it hit the media...

but yet you have never posted until a 10 minute spurt in 3 threads today...yeah....g'bye.

Scott D

8/31/2006, 08:08 PM

oh and Fan, 2003 is a wildcard year also.

Were we as good as all of the hype? No
Was it a very good team? talentwise, probably one of the best OU ever fielded.
Was the Big-12 South weak in 2003? Probably a lot more than we care to admit.

Even with that and getting their asses handed to them by KSU in the CCG, this team was still within inches of at minimum going to OT in the BCS title game if not winning it outright in regulation.

Desert Sapper

8/31/2006, 08:25 PM

Scott D

8/31/2006, 08:27 PM

Wasn't that 10 yards? That we passed 6 straight times to try and get? Just sayin'...;)

two words.... Finger Tips. :mad:

The Maestro

8/31/2006, 11:26 PM

Maestro, my problem with the 04 team is that despite the high level of talent that year the Sooners were pushed to the wire by osu and TAMU....both teams that we should have really taken apart easily. If not for the USC blowout those 2 games might have looked like abberhations and a case of OU being flat. In retrospect they were harbingers of worse things to come.

I would agree with that except we all agree that the 2000 OU team is the best in the Stoops era and I believe a 12-7 win in Stillwater, where we went without a touchdown after a game opening 95+ yard TD drive to start the game. That OSU team sucked worse than the 2004 edition in Stillwater. The Pokes were one jump ball away from beating us that day...much like the play they beat us with the next year.

soonerbub

9/1/2006, 02:56 AM

Since you said coaching performance I gotta go with the overachievers down:

1--2000

2--2003 (gotta give the old man one--here endeth the lesson)

3--2001 our D could've shut down the u but our O didn't get us there

4--2002 trouble with aggies

5--1999 the irish set us back but we were close

6--2004 and 5 sam houston SUCCS

RooseveltRoughRider

9/1/2006, 08:27 AM

Uh......you are speaking to fans of the 1999 7-5 OU Sooners and the 2000 13-0 National Champions. 1999--you know, the year we led in all five losses and 2000, you know, the year we brought home the shiny football.

Thats not the same situation...

In 1999..despite the Sooners 7-5 record
They were undefeated at home..

And were 3 touchdowns away from being 10-2. So it is kind of misleading...just like last years 8-4 team is misleading but in the opposite way. It suggests the teams is betetr than they really were. When the reality is 2005's Sooners only dominated 2 games. The others were either losses or nailbiters.

The 1999 team lost the RRS, to Notre Dame by 4 IN South Bend, and the Bowl game by 2 points. This 7-5 team easily could have been 10-2. Easily. And look at who was on the ROSTER in 1999!! That 1999 Freshman Class is one of the best I have ever seen at OU. Between the redshirts, and the true freshmen from that season...hell, they were more experienced that following year, plus you had a senior QB going in.

I'm sorry, but a Freshman class that included

Griffin, Everage, Strait, Jason White, Roy Williams, & Woolfolk > Malcolm Kelly & Company

but thats just my opinion

goingoneight

9/1/2006, 10:50 PM

2005 was a great coaching job. The conservative offense really kept us from rolling. To me, the obvious Bomar handoff to AD killed us. It allowed plain vision of what was going to happen. Bomar didn't do very good with his bootlegs until OSU and Oregon. The team that played TCU was lazy, young, inexperienced, over-hyped, not a solidified personal relationship among the players yet, and some coaching blunders which are mostly secondary and running Paul Thomson in Jason White's offense.

Say what you want to, but to play against the toughest schedule ever, with the second-youngest D-1 team in America (next to only Arkansas) and those early season bruises, add on more bruises and burn several redshirts to stay alive, there is not another coach in the country who would have whipped that team into a BCS-caliber team. I know we would have handled FSU or ND in the BCS, Oregon was better than they were. If Mack or Pete, or you-name-it was coaching the team that played in the TCU game, TCU, Tulsa, UCLA, Texas, Maybe Kansas since we had to gamble, T Tech and Baylor would have all beaten us. Don't bother listing Oregon, cuz we wouldn't have gone bowling. While these are good coaches, nobody whips something out of nothing like Stoops.