FlatheadSooner
1/6/2007, 09:37 PM
A reminder to consider the entire year before you cast your votes.
:pop:
Cheers, not jeers, for OU's assistant coaches
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
1/5/2007
View in Print (PDF) Format
A small party of Oklahoma athletic department officials gathered in a Phoenix restaurant last week to privately celebrate the gratifying 2006 football season the Sooners had put together.
It was athletic director Joe Castiglione's classy way to thank several people who had found their professional skills pushed to the limit over the previous four months. They not only survived but thrived during one of the most raucous, challenging and stressful seasons in OU's history.
There was much to celebrate that evening in late December. OU had pulled off the totally unexpected and won the Big 12 Conference championship, which earned the Sooners a coveted BCS bowl invitation.
Stories were swapped, congratulations offered and toasts made.
An emotional toast, according to excellent sources, was offered by an assistant coach who raised his glass and spoke about how fortunate everyone on Bob Stoops' staff felt about working for OU's head coach.
That type of spontaneous speech isn't commonplace in college coaching. Like many professions outside of sports, it's an ego-driven business where assistants far too often become scapegoats for their boss's failures.
For example, Stoops is the antithesis of new Alabama coach Nick
Saban, whose mean-spirited, degrading style has earned him the nickname "The Nictator" by some.
Like any coach under tremendous pressure to consistently win big, Stoops can also be driven and demanding. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said last week that the coaches would take a brief break after the bowl game before starting the process over again for the 2007 season.
Venables wasn't complaining. He knows how fortunate he is to work for someone like Stoops, someone who is sensitive to an assistant's personal life and the importance of spending quality time with family during the season.
But more than anything, it's Stoops' loyalty that makes excellent coaches line up to apply whenever there's an opening at OU. That loyalty is also what prompts men to lift their glasses high in appreciation for the way Stoops treats them.
A few days after that dinner in the desert, of course, OU lost its final game of the season. An underdog Boise State team hung a 43-42 overtime shocker on the Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl.
The knee-jerk reaction from many corners after the historic upset was that Stoops' loyalty to his staff would finally be tested over the next few weeks. Surely he would have to shake things up after a mid-major school stunned his proud OU program on a major stage, right?
No. Stoops is unique in that he has never fired or forced an assistant out of a job in his eight seasons at OU. And I don't see any reason for him to start now.
Some assistants could leave for personal reasons or what they perceive as better opportunities. Stoops has lost a number of staff members who have either moved on to the NFL or taken on their own programs.
But who on this current OU staff deserves to get sacked? Take the entire season into consideration before you start firing off names.
Hey, if offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson had called one more fade-route pass in the end zone during the Fiesta Bowl, I may have gagged.
Had Wilson forgotten that the best receiver he had for that play, Malcolm Kelly, was injured? And that his replacement, Quentin Chaney, had one pass reception the entire season?
But Wilson is also the guy charged with holding OU's offense together after the starting quarterback was booted off the team and when their All-American tailback broke his collarbone.
Criticism has also been directed at Venables for putting OU in a prevent defense during Boise State's final drive during regulation. What the pundits missed was that the defense had worked well enough to put the Broncos in a fourth-and-18 situation before striking magic with a gadget play.
Several Boise players said the hook-and-lateral they scored on never worked in practice, but it worked perfectly when they needed it most.
And how about giving the other coaching staff some credit? Boise State coach Chris Petersen was brilliant in his game calling, but he also enjoyed some of the same luck Stoops has had in the past with trick plays.
Riddle me this: How was it the fault of OU's coaching staff that quarterback Paul Thompson tossed three interceptions and lost a fumble? Thompson acknowledged that he was pressing too much to make the big play, but Stoops couldn't yank him because he was the Sooners' best option.
And Venables' defense, which led the Big 12 against the pass, was solid once it settled down. It didn't surrender a single first down in the third quarter, which let Thompson to regroup and finish strong.
So two options remain: You can remember one loss in which the Sooners had absolutely nothing to gain by winning, or you can embrace the big picture and remember the Big 12 title run and several pressure-packed wins.
I propose that you charge your glasses and we toast the latter. And while OU officials are at it, they should give every one of Stoops' loyal assistants a raise for a season's worth of excellent work.
:pop:
Cheers, not jeers, for OU's assistant coaches
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
1/5/2007
View in Print (PDF) Format
A small party of Oklahoma athletic department officials gathered in a Phoenix restaurant last week to privately celebrate the gratifying 2006 football season the Sooners had put together.
It was athletic director Joe Castiglione's classy way to thank several people who had found their professional skills pushed to the limit over the previous four months. They not only survived but thrived during one of the most raucous, challenging and stressful seasons in OU's history.
There was much to celebrate that evening in late December. OU had pulled off the totally unexpected and won the Big 12 Conference championship, which earned the Sooners a coveted BCS bowl invitation.
Stories were swapped, congratulations offered and toasts made.
An emotional toast, according to excellent sources, was offered by an assistant coach who raised his glass and spoke about how fortunate everyone on Bob Stoops' staff felt about working for OU's head coach.
That type of spontaneous speech isn't commonplace in college coaching. Like many professions outside of sports, it's an ego-driven business where assistants far too often become scapegoats for their boss's failures.
For example, Stoops is the antithesis of new Alabama coach Nick
Saban, whose mean-spirited, degrading style has earned him the nickname "The Nictator" by some.
Like any coach under tremendous pressure to consistently win big, Stoops can also be driven and demanding. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said last week that the coaches would take a brief break after the bowl game before starting the process over again for the 2007 season.
Venables wasn't complaining. He knows how fortunate he is to work for someone like Stoops, someone who is sensitive to an assistant's personal life and the importance of spending quality time with family during the season.
But more than anything, it's Stoops' loyalty that makes excellent coaches line up to apply whenever there's an opening at OU. That loyalty is also what prompts men to lift their glasses high in appreciation for the way Stoops treats them.
A few days after that dinner in the desert, of course, OU lost its final game of the season. An underdog Boise State team hung a 43-42 overtime shocker on the Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl.
The knee-jerk reaction from many corners after the historic upset was that Stoops' loyalty to his staff would finally be tested over the next few weeks. Surely he would have to shake things up after a mid-major school stunned his proud OU program on a major stage, right?
No. Stoops is unique in that he has never fired or forced an assistant out of a job in his eight seasons at OU. And I don't see any reason for him to start now.
Some assistants could leave for personal reasons or what they perceive as better opportunities. Stoops has lost a number of staff members who have either moved on to the NFL or taken on their own programs.
But who on this current OU staff deserves to get sacked? Take the entire season into consideration before you start firing off names.
Hey, if offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson had called one more fade-route pass in the end zone during the Fiesta Bowl, I may have gagged.
Had Wilson forgotten that the best receiver he had for that play, Malcolm Kelly, was injured? And that his replacement, Quentin Chaney, had one pass reception the entire season?
But Wilson is also the guy charged with holding OU's offense together after the starting quarterback was booted off the team and when their All-American tailback broke his collarbone.
Criticism has also been directed at Venables for putting OU in a prevent defense during Boise State's final drive during regulation. What the pundits missed was that the defense had worked well enough to put the Broncos in a fourth-and-18 situation before striking magic with a gadget play.
Several Boise players said the hook-and-lateral they scored on never worked in practice, but it worked perfectly when they needed it most.
And how about giving the other coaching staff some credit? Boise State coach Chris Petersen was brilliant in his game calling, but he also enjoyed some of the same luck Stoops has had in the past with trick plays.
Riddle me this: How was it the fault of OU's coaching staff that quarterback Paul Thompson tossed three interceptions and lost a fumble? Thompson acknowledged that he was pressing too much to make the big play, but Stoops couldn't yank him because he was the Sooners' best option.
And Venables' defense, which led the Big 12 against the pass, was solid once it settled down. It didn't surrender a single first down in the third quarter, which let Thompson to regroup and finish strong.
So two options remain: You can remember one loss in which the Sooners had absolutely nothing to gain by winning, or you can embrace the big picture and remember the Big 12 title run and several pressure-packed wins.
I propose that you charge your glasses and we toast the latter. And while OU officials are at it, they should give every one of Stoops' loyal assistants a raise for a season's worth of excellent work.