Is Stoops on thin ice as Oklahoma football coach?
I want to throw a thought out to our college football followers, as talk of preseason rankings and contenders begins to once again heat up.
Though I will understandably be called crazy, out of my mind and insane by many for this idea, it is very true from a unbiased standpoint. Here's the question I pose to you:
Has Bob Stoops been put on the hot seat at Oklahoma?
All programs have certain standards that their coaches must meet, and they differ from school to school. At Oklahoma, it should be clear as crystal.
Win the Red River Rivalry with Texas. Win the Big 12 regular season and championship game. Win national championships.
Stoops has accomplished each of these program goals, though he hasn't done each in the same season since 2000. He's lost his last five of six Bowl Championship Series games, with the last win coming in 2003 in Pasadena. Since then, the Sooners have dropped four straight BCS bowl games, including losses to Boise State and West Virginia.
Stoops won his first and only title in his second season after his Sooners downed Bobby Bowden and Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Since, he's struggled in the spotlight. The Sooners dropped two consecutive championship games in the 2003 and 2004 seasons by an average of 21.5 points to LSU and USC, respectively.
Aside from the BCS drought for the better part of the decade and essentially his entire career in Norman, Okla., Stoops has dropped three of the past four to coaching rival Mack Brown and his Texas Longhorns. The average margin of defeat in those losses: 20.3 points.
This past season, Oklahoma was given a shot at redemption after losing the Red River game when the BCS Selection Committee chose them instead of Texas to face Florida for the glass football . Although it was just a 10-point margin when the clock hit zero, there was no doubt Brandon Spikes and Co. were too fast, too strong and too prepared for the Sooners. Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman winner Sam Bradford was picked off twice, and the Sooner defense surrendered 480 yards to the Gators.
Say all you want about the plethora of speed, athleticism and competition in the Southeastern Conference and how Oklahoma was outmatched.
A contender from the Big 12, whose players competed in two BCS games in a row and scored 60-plus points five straight times to close out the season, should put up a better performance.
There is no question Stoops is a quality coach and motivator, but the "it" often referred to in sports has seemed absent in recent years. We saw it with Lloyd Carr at Michigan as his career came to an end. His Wolverines went 0-3 in the Rose Bowl the 2003, 2004 and 2006 seasons. Two of those losses were double-digit blowouts to USC.
The loss to mid-major Boise State at the conclusion of the 2006 season wasn't enough to put Stoops on the hot seat. Sometimes, it just happens teams have an off-game at the worst time. But two more BCS losses, with one coming in the title game? Time to wonder.
