Sooners Name Stoops New Coach

Bob Stoops, who built a defense at Florida that eventually led to a national championship, was named the new coach at troubled Oklahoma Tuesday.

Stoops, the defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier, is the 21st coach in Sooners' history, replacing John Blake, who was fired on Nov. 22.

"I found a person that has incridible pedigree, bloodlines to some of you old-fashioned people," said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. "This person, at every level, excelled. Bob as a player and coach has been involved in success at every level. As I talk to people around the country, they know of Bob Stoops."

Stoops was introduced in an extravagant conference outside in front of a group of media, fans and current and former players, among others.

"My wife and I certainly feel that it is an honor and privilege to be the next head coach at Oklahoma," Stoops said. "There is great tradition here with the championships and coaches. As a young guy growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, I rooted for Oklahoma. In ninth grade I painted a pair of shoes silver to play in a game because I loved Joe Washington."

The 38-year-old Stoops, who also spent seven seasons on Bill Snyder's coaching staff at Kansas State, was asked by Spurrier to take over the Gators' defense following an embarrassing 62-24 loss to Nebraska in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl.

In his first season in Gainesville, Stoops' defense surrendered just 16.7 points per game and shut down Florida State in a 52-20 Sugar Bowl victory that earned Florida its first national title.

Blake was fired after presiding over the worst three-year run in school history, which included a 5-6 mark this season. The storied Sooners program last won a national title in 1985 but has been in a steady tailspin ever since.

"We'll embrace the great expectations," Stoops said. "It's a program with championships that should expect championships. There are no excuses. Wha we'll try and do is constantly improve from day-to-day, from year-to-year. I believe that drive and that pursuit will help us compete for a Big 12 championship and hopefully a national championship.

"Our players will enjoy their fight to return as a Big 12 power. We will have a system in place that will be exciting to watch. I'm not one to set limits on time, but I don't think it should take long to compete for that Big 12 championship. With our players, we won't talk about rebuilding, we'll talk about refocusing and rededicatinig."

Ousted Auburn coach Terry Bowden was mentioned as a possible replacement, as had former Notre Dame coach and CBS commentator Lou Holtz and former OU coach Barry Switzer, who was fired by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys after the 1997 season, but led the Sooners to their last title, the school's sixth.

Switzer was among those in attendance.

A series of off-field incidents, including a quarterback being arrested on drug charges and other players arrested for a gang rape, led to Switzer being forced out in 1988.

The Sooners, a perennial national championship contender for most of the previous four decades, have not made a postseason appearance since Gary Gibbs led them to the Copper Bowl in 1994 and have not had a winning record since going 9-3 under Gibbs in 1993.

Stoops, a 1983 graduate of the University of Iowa, spent four seasons as a graduate assistant-volunteer assistant with the Hawkeyes before becoming an assistant for one season at Kent. He was said to be interested in the Iowa job vacated by the resignation of long-time coach Hayden Fry, but he apparently never was contacted by Iowa administrators.

When Snyder took over at Kansas State following an 0-11 season in 1988, he hired Stoops as secondary coach and after two seasons promoted him to co-defensive coordinator. As Stoops' involvement in the defense became more pronounced, KSU became more successful.

In 1991, Kansas State won seven games, its most in 37 years. In 1995, Stoops' final season on the staff, the Wildcats won 10 games for the first time since 1910.

Stoops has been the Gators assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and secondary coach for three seasons, during which the team has gone 31-5. Florida completely shut down Penn State's offense in a 21-6 triumph in last season's Citrus Bowl.

Stoops has 15 years of collegiate coaching experience and has coached on 10 bowl teams. A four-year starter at Iowa, Stoops was an honorable mention All-American defensive back in 1982 and the MVP for the Hawkeyes in a 1982 Peach Bowl victory over Tennessee.

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