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2006 was Great Job by Stoops but 2000 was Better
Published: 1/1/2007 6:57 PM
Last Modified: 1/1/2007 6:57 PM

With all due respect to the job Bob Stoops did at Oklahoma this season, we still believe his greatest coaching year was 2000.
Yes, this team overcame some tremendous hurdles. Losing quarterback Rhett Bomar was a devastating blow.
So was the injury to Adrian Peterson.
And, the loss to Oregon wasn't a loss.
Getting the Sooners back to a BCS bowl games, despite all of those hurdles, was remarkable.
It took a steady hand from Stoops, to make the Sooners believe Paul Thompson could and would be more than capable at quarterback.
When Peterson went down with an injury in game six, it appeared Oklahoma might lose at least twice and perhaps more in the final six games.
Instead, Oklahoma ran it just as well and won road games.
To get in position to win the Big 12, Oklahoma had to win at Missouri, at Texas A&M and at Oklahoma State. None of those were easy and there was no room for error. A loss in any of those games and Texas, even though it lost its last two games of the year, would have been in the Big 12 title game.
A loss anywhere along the road over their last eight games would have sent OU into a minor bowl somewhere.
Instead, Oklahoma was perfect and found itself back in the BCS in the Fiesta Bowl against unbeaten Boise State.
Yes, this was a remarkable coaching job.
But when you say this was the best coaching year of Stoops' career, don't forget about 2000.
The Sooners didn't figure to be a contender in the Big 12. Texas, Nebraska and Kansas State figured to fight it out for the title.
However, the Sooners beat those three during a magical October and went on to one of the most unlikely national titles among the seven won by Oklahoma.
All of this came in Stoops' second season in Norman.
The Sooners, just two years removed from five seasons without a winning year, were still learning to win.
They learned their lessons well.
My vote as Stoops' top season remains 2000. But he gets special mention for 2006.



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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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