Mike Stoops returning to OU (this week, that is)
Published: 10/18/2011 9:39 AM
Last Modified: 10/18/2011 9:39 AM
NORMAN — Every year a small faction of Sooner fans wonder out loud if or when Mike Stoops will ever return to the OU sideline.
This week, they’ll finally get their wish. Sort of.
Stoops will roam the sideline as a guest of his big brother Bob. Or, he’ll be up in Bob Stoops’ luxury box, watching the Sooners take on Texas Tech.
To be perfectly clear: Mike Stoops won’t be coaching. Not a bit.
“He’s not allowed to,” Bob Stoops said. “That’d be an extra coach.”
NCAA rules permit only nine full-time coaches, plus graduate assistants. No one else, whether it’s quality control aides or football operations directors or strength coaches or recruiting coordinators or little brothers, is allowed to provide football instruction to the student-athletes.
Then again, Mike could stand next to Bob and shout over the headsets his insight about Texas Tech’s defensive fronts or coverage schemes or combo blocking, couldn’t he?
“He’s not gonna do that. What’s that gonna do? I know my team better than he knows my team,” Bob Stoops said. “We’ve been managing all right ourselves.”
In reality, Mike is just getting some family time he couldn’t before he was fired last week from his head coaching duties at Arizona. His daughter, Payton, and son, Colton, will be in tow.
“We love seeing him. It’ll be good,” Bob Stoops said. “My kids are excited to see his kids coming.”
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
