Never mind how Mike Stoops fixes OU's defense, just that he does
Published: 8/23/2012 6:47 AM
Last Modified: 8/23/2012 6:47 AM
Mike Stoops is going to fix Oklahoma's defense by simplifying it
Or reorganizing it.
Or inspiring it.
This is what you read/hear heading into the 2012 season. That Stoops is going to take Brent Venables' playbook and turn it into The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He's changing safeties into corners, linebackers into safeties, ends into tackle and veal into filet mignon. Or he's going to breathe so much fire into his players that they sneeze smoke.
The truth is, I've talked to players and coaches about Stoops since last spring, and while they're all sure he's going to make a difference, they're can't quite put a finger on precisely how. Most likely, it will be some kind of combination of all of the above. The Sooners don't much care, as Mike's big brother might say.
They aren't so much concerned with how exactly Stoops returns the defense to its past glory. Only that he does.
You have to defend the pass nowadays to have success, yes? Well, take a look at OU's pass defense national rankings from 2000-03, when Stoops was coaching the secondary and coordinating the defense:
9th in 2000
11th in 2001
25th in 2002
2nd in 2003
Now, those same rankings after Stoops bolted for Arizona:
48th in 2004
56th in 2005
41st in 2006
59th in 2007
99th in 2008
20th in 2009
51st in 2010
79th in 2011
Did Big 12 offenses hit warp speed after Stoops' departure? Sure. But remember that Texas Tech had the nation's top passing offense in '02, and the top total offense in '03.
Texas had top-15 passing and total offenses during that period. Colorado was top-20 in passing. Nebraska, Kansas State and Oklahoma State had nationally-ranked offenses.
Florida State, who the Sooners beat for the '00 title, had the top-ranked passing and total offense. Washington State, who OU defeated in the '03 Rose, was 13th in passing.
It's not like Stoops was gameplanning against the Kegs N Bacon intramural champs.
Something else: OU defensive backs earned postseason honors nine times over the past eight years. Quinton Carter was named an All-American. Six others were All-Big 12. All of that recognition, and yet look again at those statistics. Something was getting lost in translation.
So Stoops is simplifying.
Or he's reorganizing, especially in a secondary where safety Aaron Colvin is now a corner, corner Gabe Lynn is now a nickel and free safety Tony Jefferson isn't being counted on to double as a linebacker.
Or he's inspiring, like when he walked into his media day press conference and kept using the word "redemption."
You want to try to figure out specifically how Stoops is working his old magic, good luck. It's a little more complex than you think, particularly when you consider the fast break offenses in the Big 12.
Just know that however he does it, he'd better be working some of that magic. The statistics bear that out. There's nothing subjective about them.
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
