"We aren't going away," the Sooners' coach said in a recent telephone interview.

Stoops' defiant stance will be breaking news to those forecasting both short- and long-term doom for the Sooners following a series of events last month.

The January negativity surrounding OU started with the Fiesta Bowl loss to West Virginia. It grew louder when some recruiting services dropped OU's class out of their top 10, and became a roar after three of the Sooners' best underclassmen announced they were forgoing their senior seasons to enter the NFL Draft.

Most figured wide receiver Malcolm Kelly wouldn't be back for the 2008 season. But the early departures of linebacker Curtis Lofton and cornerback Reggie Smith were as stunning as OU's 48-28 bowl loss on Jan. 2 to the Mountaineers.

The alarmists went to work when word of Lofton and Smith joining Kelly came out within days after the Fiesta Bowl. They were quick to predict that the Sooner Magic that former coach Barry Switzer created and Stoops rekindled was about to pull a vanishing act.

Twain, who famously and happily refuted reports of his death as being "greatly exaggerated," gained a kindred spirit in Stoops when the Sooners' boss heard and read the dire comments.

"Are we going away because of all of this? Are you kidding me?" asked Stoops, who then promptly

The fortune of OU's future took another positive turn last week when the NCAA announced it had granted a hardship waiver to OU defensive end John Williams.

The 6-foot-5, 229-pound Williams' injury-plagued career bottomed out in last season's fourth game. Williams, who had battled his way back into the lineup after numerous injuries, was playing at a high level when he suffered a torn left Achilles tendon against Tulsa.

Some of Williams' teammates broke into tears on the sideline of H.A. Chapman Stadium when they learned the popular senior was lost for the season. But those tears gave way to smiles last Tuesday when Williams learned the NCAA had awarded him a rare sixth year of eligibility.

Those dark January days will be pushed even further aside this week when Stoops holds his first press conference since immediately after the loss to West Virginia.

Stoops is scheduled to meet the press on Wednesday to discuss recruiting. That's the first day those players who have made verbal commitments to schools can make it official by signing letters of intent.

While the naysayers dwelled on OU's fourth straight BCS bowl loss, the three juniors bolting early for the NFL, and reports of a recruiting slippage, Stoops and his staff had rebounded nicely by late Jan uary with another crop of highly regarded prospects.

The Rivals.com recruiting service ranks OU's class at the best in the Big 12 and fifth nationally. That rating could climb if another blue-chip prospect or two decides in these final days to sign with the Sooners.

Stoops appears to have addressed both immediate and future needs with this class. He answered the departure of Kelly, Lofton and Smith by signing quality prospects at all three positions.

"Of course it was a blow to lose those (juniors)," Stoops said. "The places we're most thin are at linebacker and in the secondary, so those guys leaving definitely made it tough on us.

"But we have other good players, and we'll work even harder (this spring) to get them more snaps and get them ready to play. That's what makes it exciting."

Instant help could be on the way with three junior-college linebackers in J.R. Bryant of Garden City (Kan.); Mike Balogun of Lackawanna (Pa.); and Butte (Calif.) safety David Sims.

Stoops has also attracted high school prospects at the three positions vacated by the early departures. Along with the junior-college signees, the incoming freshmen will join an OU squad that already has several candidates primed to compete for the jobs vacated by Lofton, Kelly and Smith.

"Those three guys would have helped make us strong," Stoops said. "But that's OK; we'll still have 11 guys available on both sides of the ball when we line up.

"And in the end, we'll be fine. Trust me, we are not going away."