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Part 1: Led by a no-nonsense head coach, new and determined Sooners staff ready to conquer the world
Thanks to a new and determined coaching staff, OU players knew things were changing in 1999. Read here to get a sense of what they were thinking and feeling as Stoops and staff began to turn OU around.
Bob Stoops on the impact of the '99 team
“I think everyone immediately, and naturally, goes right to the 2000 national championship team. But I’ve said on multiple occasions that that all begins with those guys in ’99.” — Bob Stoops
Related: Read Part 1: Led by a no-nonsense head coach, new and determined Sooners staff ready to conquer the world
Brandon Daniels on the coaches
“Guys just wanted to be coached hard. We responded well to it. We knew we had the ability. We just needed the right guy to get it out of us.” — Brandon Daniels, receiver/kick returner
“There were some things that (former coach, John) Blake put up with that Stoops definitely did not. He didn’t play favorites or he didn’t care who you were. You were gonna do what you needed to do and be accountable. A lot of guys respected that.” — Daniels
Related: Read Part 1: New staff, a new attitude
Rocky Bright on proper coaching
“Belief is heck of a thing. Proper coaching is a heck of a thing. That’s what all came together in 1999.” — Rocky Bright, defensive lineman
“They brought a ‘failure is not an option’ attitude and self-accountability each and every play. That’s what it took.” — Bright
Related: Read Part 1: Led by a no-nonsense head coach, new and determined Sooners staff ready to conquer the world
Mark Mangino on the early days
“It was kind of like the college football version of Animal House, only without women. We’d all sit in the same suite, and for some reason Bob designated my suite as the staff hangout. So we’d call recruits and pass the phone around to Bob and the coordinators and the position coaches. In between that we laughed and joked and smoked cigars.” — Mark Mangino, offensive line coach
Related: Read Part 1: New staff determined to return OU to former glory days
Chris Hammons on getting rid of 'random people'
“When Coach Stoops came into the Red Room, I can remember Jerry Schmidt walking around and asking certain folks to leave. I always thought it strange under John Blake that there was a lot of people in our team meetings. It never felt that they should be there. Just random people all the time that were kind of clinging to the team, so to speak. The looks on their faces when Schmitty politely asked them to leave the room ... At that moment I thought, ‘It’s gonna be a lot different around here.’ Sure enough it was.” — Chris Hammons, tight end
Related: Read Part I: Stoops came in with these "geniuses at these positions"
Bary Holleyman on Stoops' determination
“Coach Stoops wasn’t worried about whether you liked him, he was worried about whether you did what you were supposed to. It was similar to ‘Remember the Titans’ with Denzel Washington. ‘I will win. I’m going to win. You’re either with me or not.’” — Bary Holleyman, defensive lineman
Related: Read Part I: Stoops came in with these "geniuses at these positions"
Roy Williams on the major impact of Mike Stoops
“Mike rode me every day, every hour, every minute it felt like. He used to tell me to my face that I wasn’t basically s--t. That I would never be Jarrod Cooper from K-State, the best safety he ever coached. I couldn’t hold his shoulder pads or his cleats … It took me dropping my pride and ego. Once I got past that and started spending time with him and understanding his terminology and why he’s calling certain plays and why he wants to put me in certain positions…
“Now I tell people I was probably was Coach’s Picasso. I’m serious. He formed and molded me into the player he wanted me to be. That’s the truth about the situation. He got me where I dreamed of being.” — Roy Williams, defensive back
Related: Led by a no-nonsense head coach, new and determined Sooners staff ready to conquer the world
Trent Smith on belief
“They believed in us before we ever believed in ourselves, I guess, is the best way to put it.” — Trent Smith, tight end
Related: Many want to transfer, but Trent Smith urges players to stay, saying: 'Let's go be part of history'
Hammons on the personal impact of the OU coaches
“My dad was in prison at the time. I didn’t have a lot of fatherly figures. Between Coach Stoops, Schmitty and Jonathan Hayes, those guys probably kept me from going to jail. I was floundering around. Honestly, man, I could have easily gone down a different path without those guys to lean on and say, ‘There’s a guy I can look up to right there. That’s how you’re supposed to do things.’ Coach Hayes is one of those guys who changed my life for the better.” — Hammons
Related: Read Part I where Hammons said he could have "easily gone down a different path"
The impact of Josh Heupel
We got out to those first throwing practices in the summer, and I can remember Josh being, ‘Hey, get over here!’ Just bossing everybody around. All of a sudden you go, ‘Oh. I guess this is the guy.’ He took over. He had that command.” — Hammons
“‘Heup’ got his ass kicked during workouts. He was a terrible athlete as far as his times. But he was in the trenches with us, and it was so cool to see from our leader." — Damian Mackey, receiver
Related: Read Part 2: Nate Hybl looked like "John Elway" while Heupel didn't look like much at first glance
Roy Williams on his disdain for Texas
“Texas came back in ’99 when they put Major Applewhite in. That’s one moment in OU-Texas history I will never forget. When they came back and won and his little punk ass was taunting us going back up the tunnel. I literally said that day, ‘Never f---ing again am I going to lose to Texas.’” — Roy Williams
Related: Losing to Texas left bitter taste in '98, but it was motivation for next season
Stoops on the impact of the A&M win
“The biggest turning point of my career. They’d been kicking the crap out of us the previous two years (29-0 and 51-7). I had taken note of that early in the week leading up to the game. Sunday and Monday, I remember going to team meeting and saying, ‘Look, this ain’t happening anymore at Oklahoma. Look at the scores of the last few years. We need to finally make a stand here.’” — Stoops, whose team beat No. 13 A&M 51-6
Read Part 4: A sometimes frustrating year, did show promise for very bright future
Williams on the lasting impact of the '99 team
“I mean, there were so many special moments in ’99 that led you to believe, ‘In 2000 it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. ’We’re so on the cusp of doing something special.’” — Williams
Related: Read Part 4: Going to Shreveport for a bowl game every year is not the goal at OU
Remembering the 1999 Oklahoma Sooners
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The one-of-a-kind football coach did not disappoint his one year on Oklahoma's staff
