Written by Berry Tramel at NewsOK.com
Bob Stoops, one of the three coaching giants of Oklahoma’s century-long football excellence, plans to tell his team Wednesday that he will retire after 18 seasons as the Sooner head coach.
An OU source said offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley will take over as head coach.
It is expected that Stoops will remain with the university in some capacity.
Riley, 33, a native of Muleshoe, Texas, has been at OU for two seasons.
“Great young coach, the program’s in great shape,” the source said. “Good recruiting class. Got a great young coach that anybody would want to have, ready to go. He’s as good a coach as there in America, at this stage in his career.
“And Bob got to do it in his way. Doesn’t get any better than that.”
Stoops, 56, coached the Sooners to the 2000 national champion and three other national title games. His 18-year record is 190-48. The Sooners won nine outright Big 12 titles under Stoops and tied for another.
Stoops was hired on Dec. 1, 1998, after five straight non-winning seasons. His first OU team went 7-5. His next five Sooner teams combined to go 60-7, and a new golden age of Sooner football was born.
Stoops released a statement around 3 p.m. on Wednesday:
“After 18 years at the University of Oklahoma, I’ve decided to step down as the head football coach. I understand there has been some speculation about my health. My health was not the deciding factor in this decision and I’ve had no incidents that would prevent me from coaching. I feel the timing is perfect to hand over the reins. The program is in tremendous shape. We have outstanding players and coaches and are poised to make another run at a Big 12 and national championship. We have new state-of-the-art facilities and a great start on next year’s recruiting class. The time is now because Lincoln Riley will provide a seamless transition as the new head coach, capitalizing on an excellent staff that is already in place and providing familiarity and confidence for our players. Now is simply the ideal time for me and our program to make this transition.
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