An hour with Stoops as curtain falls on OU's season
Published: 12/31/2011 4:02 PM
Last Modified: 12/31/2011 4:02 PM
CHANDLER, Ariz. – Strange place to finish a strange Oklahoma football season, the Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa. That's where Bob Stoops hosted a poolside hour-long chat with beat reporters Saturday morning.
I can't give you a word-for-word account just yet, but here are some highlights you might find interesting:
Topic: Coaches
** He doesn't have a Mike Stoops "timetable." Would he like his younger brother back on staff? "Under the right circumstances. You never know. He has a lot of good opportunities. There's still a lot of uncertainty with jobs out there."
** As for the postgame Gatorade bath that defensive ends coach Bobby Jack Wright took last night, the one prompting some to wonder whether Wright was retiring or moving into a new role at OU… Stoops said Wright got drenched on a bucket meant for him.
** On the whispers that director of football operations Merv Johnson is retiring, Stoops said: "I have not heard that."
** Stoops admitted he never would have believed he would be coaching at OU 14 years (next season is No. 14) when he took the job. But then he never would have believed he'd wind up coaching the Sooners when he took the Florida D-coordinator position in 1996.
** He can't say whether he'll last a full 20 in Norman. "Maybe. Maybe not."
** He is completely satisfied with Josh Heupel's first year of offensive coordinating. Said the injuries made Heupel's job tougher than people realize.
Topic: Quarterbacks
** Stoops couldn't believe Blake Bell was named Insight offensive MVP, just because he wasn't on the field that much.
** He does not envision Bell's role expanding if Landry Jones decides to return for his senior season.
** He said that if Jones had gotten hurt at any point this season, Drew Allen would have replaced him.
** That time Stoops kept Bell on the sideline and Jones in the game at the Iowa 3-yard line? Where Jones threw his first touchdown pass in nearly two months to break Bell's TDs run? Not a favor to Jones, Stoops said. Simply the formation/play called at the time.
Topic: Injuries
** Dom Whaley and Aaron Ripkowski will miss spring ball with injuries. Jaz Reynolds might remain sidelined by his kidney problem.
Topic: Attitudes
** Stoops affirmed he didn't make snap judgments in running off some players since the end of this season. He believes, by and large, he gives troublemakers more chances than he should even to fly straight.
** Stoops anticipates he won't have to run off any more between now and spring ball, although he also said there were players who had to show him they got his message.
** He stands firmly behind strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt, believed by some to be a source of player aggravation. Says he won't be changing the way his program has been doing things for 13 years, even if today's players are softer/touchier/moodier than the ones he brought in back then.
Topic: the Big 12
** Stoops can't tell if West Virginia is going to free itself of the Big East by next season, and realizes the challenge of putting together a nonconference schedule in such a turbulent period.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
