Bob Stoops Retirement

[Eric]

Didn't think I would be the first to post. Can't say I saw this coming. Did I miss something?

[LocoAko]

All I've heard is that he's clarified that it isn't health-related.

[SoonerDave]

Absolutely true - and I'm absolutely shocked. I thought surely he wanted one more run with this great recruiting class and *then* hang it up. I'm just stinking speechless. I was looking forward to Stoops vs Hermann in Dallas this year.

Unreal. Absolutely unreal.

[shawnw]

http://kfor.com/2017/06/07/source-ou...ops-to-retire/

[Jake]

Wonder the percentage chance OU will pull an Urban Meyer and "un-retire" in a few years and coach Notre Dame or Miami or something.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Great coach. Going down as a legend and he deserves it. "Bob Stoops is the all-time winningest coach at Oklahoma, compiling a 190-48 record and taking the Sooners to bowl games in all 18 of his seasons"

[chuck5815]

I have it on good authority that he's joining the Golden State Warriors to get another ring.

[NoOceanHere]

Personally, I'd like to see Stoops take the FL job and turn around and beat Meyer in the swamp. I can dream, can't I?

[Eric]

Having been around a high school AD who had a coach leave at a similar point in the year with no notice, this kind of is a dick move UNLESS he had already been working and Lincoln was already identified prior to this announcement. But generally leaving a program in June, not such a nice thing to do.

[adaniel]

Just throwing it out there....he did just buy a house in Chicago.

[OkiePoke]

Wow... Timing is very strange... A couple months before the season starts with a top ranked team and maybe the best player in college football (Mayfield).

[mugofbeer]

I have it on good authority that he's joining the Golden State Warriors to get another ring.

Excellent! LOL

[mugofbeer]

Wow... Timing is very strange... A couple months before the season starts with a top ranked team and maybe the best player in college football (Mayfield).

To ensure Lincoln got the opportunity?

[HangryHippo]

Yep. The timing of this is completely f**ky.

[jerrywall]

Just throwing it out there....he did just buy a house in Chicago.

And the Bears went 3-16 last year...

[mugofbeer]

And the Bears went 3-16 last year...

Another good point

[SoonerDave]

The more I think about it, the more I cannot reconcile the timing of this retirement. I cannot help but wonder if there's another player behavior issue getting ready to surface, and he just didn't want to deal with those issues anymore. Or perhaps there's some sort of NCAA allegations getting ready to come down the pike.

A coach like Stoops, who very much wants/wanted to win a second national title, and with a *really* good team coming back, just doesn't quit 90 days before the season on a whim. I wonder if this has been brewing for a time and it was used as leverage to get some of the more recent/bizarre recruiting flips that have happened in the last month or so.

[jerrywall]

Too soon?

[Martin]

The more I think about it, the more I cannot reconcile the timing of this retirement. I cannot help but wonder if there's another player behavior issue getting ready to surface, and he just didn't want to deal with those issues anymore. Or perhaps there's some sort of NCAA allegations getting ready to come down the pike.

i thought that i read somewhere that stoops would retain some sort of position with the university... assuming that stoops jumped ship to avoid dealing with issues, wouldn't you think that the university would sever ties with him?

[aDark]

All I've heard is that he's clarified that it isn't health-related.

That's strange because I've heard just the opposite.

[FighttheGoodFight]

His official statement:

http://www.oudaily.com/sports/bob-st...692897fa4.html

[jn1780]

Maybe he's just tired of the job and wants to enjoy his millions? I think even a guy like Bob stoops can get tired of doing the same thing every year for 20+ years. Plus, this is a chance to help Lincoln.

[acumpton]

I wonder if it has anything to do with Mike Stoops? I could see them wanting Bob to fire his brother due to performance and he didn't feel comfortable doing so, so he retired instead.

[Pete]

From what I can gather, although he's not in any imminent danger with his health, he does have heart issues and his own father died on the sidelines at age 54. Bob is now 57 and heart trouble runs in his family (as it does mine and I'm about his age, so I know how these things go).

There is never a good time for this sort of thing and for some reason I'm not totally surprised.

18 years at that level in that profession is almost unprecedented in modern college football, and for good reason. It's a super intense 24/7/365 job, always recruiting, always worrying about some bonehead 18 year old college kid.

I also think Lincoln Riley has come along faster than expected, so Bob probably feels comfortable handing off the baton (as he put it).

I'm sad but also somewhat happy for Bob. His twin sons are going away to college, he has more money than he could ever spend, he's accomplished about as much as anyone can... Time to enjoy all that while he is still young and in decent health.

The latter can change overnight, and he knows it.

[d-usa]

They've had his statue for a while, now they can put it up.