NORMAN — For the first time since Dec. 1, 1998, there is not a coach with the last name Stoops on the Oklahoma football coaching staff.
Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops — the brother of legendary OU coach Bob Stoops — was officially dismissed on Monday, after the news was initially reported Sunday evening.
“At the end of the day, I felt like we needed a new voice. We needed a little bit of a spark,” OU coach Lincoln Riley at the Everest Training Center in Norman after practice on Monday. “I thought making the change was right for that reason and also because I felt good about the guys we have in this room and are playing for the rest of the season because this team has got a lot in front of them.
“This team could make a run here.”
Assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill has been promoted to defensive coordinator while defensive analyst Bob Diaco — a former head coach at UConn and defensive coordinator for Nebraska and Notre Dame — will be the outside linebackers coach on an interim basis.
“My family and I continue to hold the University of Oklahoma football players, coaching staff, administrative staff, and the entire Sooner Nation in the highest regard,” Mike Stoops said in a statement on Twitter. “We wish nothing but continued success for the program. I want to especially thank all of my players (past and present for their tireless efforts to keep Oklahoma on top.
“I have been very fortune (fortunate) to have contributed to the many successes of conference and National Championships, while at Oklahoma. My family and I will forever be grateful for these opportunities and memories. We believe this is part of God’s plan and look forward to new beginnings.”
Oklahoma (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) and its College Football Playoff hopes were dealt a crippling blow on Saturday in Dallas where the 11th-ranked Sooners lost to arch rival Texas, 48-45 while giving up 27 first downs, 501 yards and the most points ever allowed against the Longhorns in the history of the Red River Rivalry.
The Sooners held a team meeting on Monday about Mike Stoops which Riley called emotional.
“Everybody in that room felt ownership in this. It damn sure ain’t all Mike’s fault,” Riley said. “It’s my fault, it’s every coach in that room’s fault, it’s every player in that room’s fault. We all own it.”
The timing of Stoops’ dismissal is somewhat opportune as the Sooners have a bye this week before traveling to TCU for an 11 a.m. kickoff on Oct. 20 when they hope to start a run.
"I think you’re always simply trying to make the best decisions you can for this program and this team. This is certainly a rarity," Riley said of the timing. "Don’t ever want it to be something that happens with regularity, of course. But I felt like it was the best thing for this team.
"My mindset was, we’ve got a really darn good football team right now that’s got a chance to make a really good run and I’ve got to try to best align us with my decisions,” Riley continued. “I had to best align us to get that done and I felt like this was the way to do it."
As expected, many players were torn over the news.
“He’s probably the reason why I’m at OU, for sure, coaching-wise,” OU linebacker Caleb Kelly said after delivering a message to third fourth and fifth graders at Purcell Intermediate School on Monday morning. “I’m probably the closest one to him on the whole team.”
Kelly, who was honored Monday at Purcell for his AllState AFCA Good Works Team selection during a school-wide pep rally, tweeted out a heartfelt message to Stoops on Sunday night.
“I love you @OU_CoachMike he has done so much more than irrelevant people will ever see. Thank you Coach”.
Another linebacker who has played for Stoops, Ogbo Okoronkwo, who now plays for the L.A. Rams, also tweeted out a thank you — as did several other players.
“Patience, passion, perseverance. Three things you instilled in me for a lifetime,” Okornkwo said. “Forever grateful for everything you did for me coach! Your love for the game can never be questioned! @OU_CoachMike”.
Other players were frustrated with the “same old, same old” performance on Saturday.
“It’s really frustrating. We just keep talking about it and talking about it,” OU cornerback Parnell Motley said. “I get tired of that s---. We gotta go prove it. It’s crazy. We keep talking about and not doing it. I’m tired of talking. We just have to go out there and play.”
Inconsistency for four quarters, several tackling blunders and poor communication highlighted the Sooners’ defensive performance on Saturday.
“Most of us were on different pages, and you could see the frustration on the sideline,” OU cornerback Tre Brown said. “But we’re a team, we’re brothers and we picked that up very late. We should have been doing that the whole game.”
The Sooners erased a 45-21 deficit in the fourth quarter, but gave up the eventual game-winning field goal with nine seconds left after Texas drove 52 yards in nine plays to seize the lead — and the Golden Hat.
“There is always room for improvement,” OU defensive end Amani Bledsoe said. “We’ve definitely improved a lot since last season and we just have to do the little things right, like tackling and trusting our job, not trying to do more than our job. If everybody does their job, it’ll be okay.”
Stoops won’t have a chance to change the lack of physicality plaguing OU.
“I thought they (Texas) played more physical than we did today,” Stoops said after the Red River Rivalry. “That’s an area — just our physicality — we need to get a lot better at across the board.”
OU was lacking physicality on one third quarter play — a 3rd-and-21 in which the Longhorns threw a short wide receiver middle screen that picked up 19 yards after the pile was pushed forward nearly 10 yards. It set up a short fourth down conversion and a Texas touchdown as the Longhorns began to pull away.
Texas coach Tom Herman called it a “culture play” while the Sooners could only blame themselves.
“I’m extremely disappointed in my inability to get this team to play at a higher level,” Stoops said after the Red River Showdown on Saturday. “It takes everybody pulling the same way, and certainly I take a lot of that responsibility.”
Stoops has frequently been criticized throughout the years, but many figured it would difficult to dismiss the brother of the coach who led the Sooners to national glory.
“I have great respect for Mike. He’s a quality football coach, great man and a close friend,” Riley said in a statement. “It became time for a change in our program and that happens sometimes in football…”
Stoops first joined the OU coaching staff in 1999 and helped guide the Sooners to the national championship in 2000.
“We cannot lose sight of the accomplishments Mike had at Oklahoma,” Riley said. “He was responsible for a lot of success and deserves the gratitude of everyone associated with Sooner football, not only for his role in the winning, but for coaching with integrity.”
At the end of the day, it was Riley’s decision to march the successful program forward instead of being stuck in a defensive rut.
“We've won at a level that 99.9 percent of the programs out there would kill for,” Riley said. “But our job is ... We look at the results, but also, can we do better? And I thought this would have a chance to make us a little bit better.”
solson@swoknews.com