Stoops and Jeffcoat: Interview, Internet — what's the difference?
Published: 1/18/2010 2:58 PM
Last Modified: 1/18/2010 2:58 PM
My American Heritage Dictionary defines "interview" — as it pertains to a job opening — as "a formal, face-to-face meeting, esp. one arranged for the assessment of the qualifications of an applicant, as for employment or admission."
But then again, this is the same dictionary I had in college — freshman year, I think.
Missing from the previous page, where you might find it in a more recent publication between "internee" and "interneuron" is a more recent addition to the English language that each of us uses every day.
Internet.
My point is this: The Internet, apparently, has changed the meaning of the Interview.
Take Monday, for instance.
Bob Stoops has interviewed University of Houston assistant Jim Jeffcoat for Oklahoma's opening of defensive assistant coach. So says the Internet, particularly a popular Web site called FootballCoachScoop.com.
No, says OUInsider.com, Stoops hasn't interviewed Jeffcoat. They have, however, had an informal telephone conversation about the job — maybe even a Web cam-type interview over the Internet.
Hmm.
Stoops isn't returning messages about the subject — he never does, not when it comes to hiring coaches — so what's a reporter to do?
Blog, of course. That's why the Internet is here, after all, so readers can pore over information (i.e., rumors), steep themselves in facts (i.e., speculation) and spread their knowledge (i.e., presumptions) to the rest of the world.
Anyway, it seems a strong possibility that Stoops could hire Jeffcoat, whose son, Jackson, is a five-star defensive end prospect in Plano, Texas, as his new defensive ends coach. Jackson is undecided on his college choice, but reportedly has OU in his top five.
The source of my latest speculation? Tom Dienhart, a long-respected journalist with Sporting News and now Rivals — ahem, Rivals.com — said today that he has been told that Stoops will interview Jeffcoat. Said so on his Twitter page.
Twitter, believe it or not, is in my 28-year-old dictionary:
"Verb—1. To utter a succession of light chirping or tremulous sounds, as a bird. 2. To tremble with nervous agitation or excitement. 3. To utter or say with a twitter (she twittered her greeting). Noun—1. The light chirping sound made by certain birds. 2. Light tremulous speech or laughter. 3. A state of agitation or excitement; flutter. 4. One who twits."
— John E. Hoover
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John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
