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Bob Stoops: OU’s legendary coach ready for next stop in XFL
Bob Stoops won 190 games in his 18 years at Oklahoma and added an additional victory as the Sooners’ interim coach in the Alamo Bowl last year. (Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports)

Bob Stoops: OU’s legendary coach ready for next stop in XFL

ARLINGTON, Texas (BVM) – Bob Stoops is a college football legend, particularly from his 18-year run at Oklahoma where he helped the Sooners become one of the most dominant programs in the sport. Since stepping away in 2017, Stoops has still been busy, whether that be in a media role or in his family life.

However, Stoops hasn’t strayed too far away from the sidelines, either. In 2020, he joined the XFL as head coach of the Dallas Renegades. As the league starts back up, Stoops is set to coach once again as he continues his storied career.

Bob Stoops’ coaching beginnings

One of six children in a family that grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, Stoops played college football at the University of Iowa where he became an All-Big Ten defensive back for the Hawkeyes. Following his playing career, Stoops remained in Iowa City to become a graduate assistant under legendary Hawkeyes coach Hayden Fry.

After becoming an assistant at Kent State and later joining Kansas State as the team’s co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, Stoops made his move to the SEC, joining Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators as defensive coordinator. Stoops quickly turned around the defense in Gainesville and helped the Gators to a national championship win in 1997. 

Bob Stoops Oklahoma Sooners football
Bob Stoops won 190 games in his 18-year tenure with Oklahoma from 1999-2016. (Credit: Credit Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

Becoming one of the top head-coaching candidates in the late 1990s with the success he had at Florida, Stoops was hired by the Oklahoma Sooners in 1998.

Bob Stoops’ tenure at Oklahoma

It didn’t take long for Stoops to leave his mark in Norman. Following a seven-win 1999 campaign in which he took Oklahoma to its first bowl game since 1994, Stoops led the Sooners to a perfect 13-0 record in 2000 and a win in the BCS National Championship game.

It was not the only time Oklahoma would see itself playing for a national title over the ensuing decade. Winning 11 or more games in each season from 2001 to 2004, the Sooners got back to the national championship game in the 2003 season, falling in a one-score contest to LSU. They would return to the title game in the 2004 season as well, only to get blown out by a talented USC squad.

After a down year in 2005, Oklahoma went 34-8 across the next three seasons, falling to Florida in the 2009 BCS National Championship game. While the two-time national coach of the year and six-time Big 12 Coach of the Year would never reach that pinnacle again in his Oklahoma career, his teams still had plenty of success.

Outside of 8-5 seasons in 2009 and 2014, Oklahoma won 10 or more games in each season for the remainder of Stoops’ tenure, never finishing worse than 16th in the final AP poll.

Oklahoma would earn 10 Big 12 championships and win games in the Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl, with Stoops being the only coach to do that in the BCS era. He finished his career in Norman with a program-best 190 wins to just 48 losses, achieving 10 or more wins in 14 seasons. The man known as “Big Game Bob” stepped away from his post at Oklahoma in 2017, naming Lincoln Riley as his successor.

“After 18 years at the University of Oklahoma, I’ve decided to step down as the head football coach,” Stoops said in a statement announcing his retirement. “I feel the timing is perfect to hand over the reins. The program is in tremendous shape … I’m grateful for this season of my life, and feel I’ve fulfilled my purpose here at OU as its head football coach.”

Bob Stoops Oklahoma Sooners football Alamo Bowl
Bob Stoops returned to Oklahoma as a interim coach for the Sooners’ Alamo Bowl game against Oregon last year. (Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Bob Stoops’ personal life and time since Oklahoma

The Stoops family has always been surrounded by football. Stoops’ father, Ron Stoops Sr., was a longtime coach. In addition to Bob, his other sons have followed suit. Bob’s younger brother, Mike Stoops, was a defensive coordinator under him at Oklahoma and is currently a linebackers coach at Kentucky. Bob’s oldest brother, Mark Stoops, is currently the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats program. The oldest of the siblings, Ron Stoops Sr., has also served as a special teams coordinator at Youngstown State.

Since Bob married Carol Stoops, the couple has raised three children: Mackenzie, and twins, Isaac and Drake. Mackenzie went on to attend Oklahoma, as did Drake who is currently a redshirt senior wide receiver for the Sooners. Meanwhile, Isaac has followed in the family’s footsteps as a coach at Moore High School.

At 61 years old, Bob is estimated to have a net worth of $18 million, as he made a salary of over $5 million at one point in his Oklahoma tenure. After stepping down from coaching, Bob became an assistant to Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. 

In 2021, Bob joined Fox Sports as a featured member of the network’s college football pregame show, “Big Noon Kickoff,” joining Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Brady Quinn and host Rob Stone.

However, after a season in that role, Bob ended up getting back into coaching once again. As Riley shocked Oklahoma fans by leaving for the USC job following the 2021 season, Stoops stepped in to steady the ship, coming out of retirement to coach Oklahoma in its Alamo Bowl game against Oregon. “Big Game Bob” added another bowl win to his resume in a 47-32 victory, a game in which his son Drake also caught a touchdown.

While being honored at the Oklahoma State Capitol for his incredible coaching career earlier this year, the longtime coach explained his reasoning for coming back to coach last season’s final game and ensured fans that even with Riley leaving after five years at the helm, the Sooners are in good hands with another former assistant, Brent Venables, taking over the reins.

Last December, shortly after being named interim coach for Oklahoma’s bowl game, Bob became the 27th member of the Sooners’ program to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Bob followed in a long line of great coaches at Oklahoma including Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer, but he goes down as the best the program has ever seen. Now, he has officially passed the torch to Venables.

Like many former players and coaches, Bob has also found time to give back both during and after his career. In 2001, he founded the Bob Stoops Champions Foundation – now known as the HBC Champions Foundation as he partnered with Switzer and Riley – to help support children and families in need in the Norman and Oklahoma City areas.

Within the past year or so, Bob also became an official partner of “Rock N Roll Tequila.”

Bob Stoops’ time in the XFL

In February of 2019, Bob announced he would be coming out of retirement to become head coach and general manager of the Dallas Renegades in the newly formed XFL. After the rebooting of the league that first appeared in 2001, Stoops and the Renegades got just five weeks into the 2020 season before operations ceased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, going 2-3.

However, as plans to start the league up got going again, Stoops committed to becoming an XFL coach once more this past April. He will take over the league’s new Arlington franchise.

Under new ownership headlined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Stoops is the only returning coach from 2020, but joins some other big names as head coaches including Wade Phillips, Hines Ward, Terrell Buckley, Rod Woodson, Anthony Becht, Jim Haslett and Reggie Barlow. 

Not looking to coach in the NFL and wanting to avoid the headaches that come with the ever-changing landscape of college football between the new NIL rules and the transfer portal, Bob called his decision to return to the XFL easy and is looking forward to getting started with his new franchise.

“These players are really fun to work with,” Stoops said recently during an XFL Town Hall interview. “They’re really smart, they pick up football really fast … It was an easy decision to do it again.”

Earlier in the summer, Jonathan Hayes was brought in to become offensive coordinator of the new franchise. Bob and Hayes worked together previously at Oklahoma, and Hayes has prior XFL coaching experience with the St. Louis BattleHawks. Hayes’ brother Jay was also added to the staff to serve as defensive coordinator.

Bob Stoops XFL Dallas Renegades Arlington
Bob Stoops will return to the XFL as the head coach of the league’s Arlington franchise. (Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)

Additional host cities in the newest version of the XFL include Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington D.C. The league is slated to kick off once again on Feb. 18, 2023.

Once it does, the next chapter of Bob’s coaching journey will officially begin. The journey has been one full of success, and it would not be a surprise to see the legendary Sooners coach have his Arlington franchise on top of the XFL sooner than later.