After struggling through the post-Switzer years with coaches Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake, the Sooners have stormed back to the national scene. Bob would be the first one to tell you that it's not all Bob. Still, the success or failure of a college football team is mostly associated with the coach. Stoops arrived at OU after serving 10 years as a top defensive assistant under two great minds, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and Florida coach Steve Spurrier. Football was part of his upbringing.
Stoops is the son of a football coach.
He went on to become a defensive back at Iowa, where he started four years and studied under another noted football coach, the Hawkeyes' Hayden Fry. He has a tremendous amount of strength, and he cultivates that atmosphere and that environment. He doesn't want anybody to be uptight. He has a real knack for creating an environment that inspires people to be successful. When Stoops arrived at OU, he soon hired a pass-happy offensive coordinator in Mike Leach, now the coach at Texas Tech.