In recent weeks local sports media have dallied about speculating on what Sooner footballers are leaving Norman.
Certainly the transfer of Brandon Williams is a blow to the Sooners. Others, not so much. And the speculation about some allegedly disgruntled quitters turned out to be rank rumor. RB Brennan Clay isn’t going anywhere, folks.
But, the real story isn’t about who is leaving, but rather about who is coming.
The real story is whether at the beginning of the 2012 season the coaching firm in Norman will be named Stoops, Stoops & Associates?
After all, there is a reason you haven’t heard Mike Stoops being hired anywhere since his firing from Arizona. We know he was offered the Ohio State defensive coordinator job — one of the best in the business. He wouldn’t turn that down for almost any job.
Most likely, Mike is headed back to Oklahoma.
Brother Bob almost said as much a few weeks ago, when he answered Tulsa World columnist Dave Sittler’s question about it, with something I’ll paraphrase as “we haven’t gotten there …yet.”
That’s what you told your kids when they kept nagging about whether we were at grandma’s house…yet.
And we always got to grandma’s house soon thereafter.
Mike Stoops is a good fit. His return would satisfy the naysayers who have complained since he left. And it might turn around a defense that’s been porous in many areas since his departure for Arizona — the very thing those grumpy fans have legitimately complained about.
He can work with what would be co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables. They did it before. And, if you’re worried about slighting Venables, an improved OU defense is only going to boost his stock in the coaching market, anyway. He has all the talent to be a Division 1 head coach.
Bringing Mike back might facilitate that next move for Brent — in a positive way.
In the end (that’s our Stoops-ism for today), Oklahoma has to do something to get the Sooner Schooner back on the right course. The way the 2011 season is ending — with an embarrassing Bedlam loss in Stillwater — only a major course correction can bring satisfaction.
Something like putting the Stoops brothers back together. — Mike
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