Big 12 needs new face as Sooners lose Stoops

Longtime coach defined success at Power Five school.

Bob Stoops will coach again, no doubt about it.

He insists his stepping down at Oklahoma had nothing to do with his health. And he never used the word “retirement” in his statement released by the university.

The real reason wasn’t evident last week, but it will eventually come out. Hopefully we’re just talking about a Vermeilian case of burnout, which means we’ll see him again in a season or two.

As the 56-year-old moves on to other avenues in life — perhaps a studio analyst’s role on Saturdays in your living room — the Big 12 is left without the coaching face of this conference for nearly two decades.

This conference will never be the same. The state will never be the same.

And while we’re at it, college football will never be the same — until he comes back.

The news sent shockwaves through the college football world and changed the face of the Big 12 forever. Big Game Bob was usually at his biggest and best against the teams he was brought in to Norman to beat.

Just ask Texas. After losing 38-28 in his first game against Mack Brown in 1999, Stoops ushered in the five-year Great Depression in Austin with a handful of wins over really good Longhorns teams by an average score of 37-10. Included in the onslaught were a pair of 60-point performances and a shutout that preceded Vince Young’s historic 30-2 run. Stoops topped Brown head-to-head 9-6 and in career conference titles 10-2.

Stoops’ mug shot should have been taped up on every post office wall in Texas and on the biggest tree in Mack’s front yard. Stoops owned the Big 12 with a sick .806 winning percentage — that’s a 121-29 record — and coached the Sooners to 18 straight bowl appearances. Only two active coaches have won more games (Alabama’s Nick Saban, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder).

And you had to love Stoops for not holding back when asked about the dominance of the SEC. Sure he took some lumps by losing title games to LSU and Florida, but he also took out Saban in the 2013 Sugar Bowl.

“The quality of teams he has been able to field on a consistent basis is second to none,” Saban said in a statement. “We wish him well in whatever he chooses to do in the future.”

So there’s an open spot in the Big 12’s big seat with neither Art Briles nor Bob Stoops coaching.

Tom Herman, step on up. Lincoln Riley, step on up. Mike Gundy, step on up.

Bob Stoops owned the Big 12. He’s gone now. Time for a new face.

AP Bob Stoops (left) turns the reins at Oklahoma over to former offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, 33. Stoops took the Sooners to bowl games in each of his 18 seasons in Norman and won a national championship.