The feeling is all to familiar to Sooner fans. Another off-season spent wondering how and why such a promising season could end in such disappointing fashion. A third BCS title game loss in the span of 6 years. A fifth straight BCS bowl game loss. It boggles the mind. So fingers started pointing. And unfortunately for head coach, Bob Stoops, the majority of them pointed at him.
And although it kills me, I can’t help but agree. Bob Stoops is single-handedly bringing down one of college football’s most storied traditions.
Sure, Bob Stoops holds one of the best W-L records of this decade (102-19; 84%), only trailing Pete Carrol of USC (88-15; 86%). But don’t let the records fool you. Stoops’ Sooners play in the Big 12. You know, that conference that plays host to Oklahoma, Texas, and 10 other high school teams. Conference? More like a cake walk. You want tough? Just take a look at the road Carrol and his Trojans have to go through every year: Stanford, Arizona State, UCLA, Washington State, and Washington. To top it off, they don’t even have to play a conference championship game. Wow! I wouldn’t wish that sort of gauntlet onto my worst enemy!
Then there’s Stoops’ minor feat of winning 6 of the 9 Big 12 Conference title games this decade. Forget that only USC has had as much conference success as Oklahoma this decade. The Sooners still play in the Big 12, remember? There’s a better chance of a school creating their own crystal football to claim a false national championship than there is of seeing a Big 12 team play defense. Oh, wait.... damn you, Texas!
Last but not least, who could forget Stoops’ 1-3 record in BCS title games? Not to mention, the 5 straight BCS bowl game losses he’s suffered. He holds an overall BCS bowl W-L of 2-5. “Big Game Bob”, huh? It kind of reminds me of former Nebraska head coach, Tom Osborne. In a stretch from 1983-1993, Osborne saw his Huskers go 2-9 in bowl games, including 0-4 in games with national title implications. Let’s ignore the fact that he went 49-2 the next 4 years on his way to bringing home 3 national titles. That guy was definitely a loser.
So give me a break. The guy runs into a rough patch in the BCS and all of a sudden his other accomplishments are thrown out the window?
You know how many teams dream of winning a conference title? Stoops gave us 6.
Of receiving a BCS bowl bid? Stoops gave us 7.
Of getting a shot at a national championship? Stoops gave us 4.
So we as fans need to stop acting so spoiled and look at the big picture. We can’t expect a national championship every year. It just doesn’t work like that. Appreciate what you got. Every great coach has gone through a similar stretch. It’s not the wins and losses that define their legacy. It’s how they respond to those obstacles thrown in their way.
As for Stoops' take on all of this?
“I’m just glad I’ll be able to try again next year,” Stoops said. “If that’s the biggest burden I’ll have to bear in my life, I’ll be a pretty lucky guy.”
You see? He did in just 2 sentences, what I've been trying to do in this whole article. That says it all.
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