Stoops to Patrick on reason for his retirement: ‘There’s no smoking gun’

With his summer schedule suddenly a lot more wide open than it was a week ago, recently retired head coach is making the rounds on the national media circuit.

With the abrupt timing of his retirement, Stoops is getting pretty used to answering the biggest question about his decision: why now?

In his written statement and at the Wednesday news conference, Stoops reiterated that there wasn’t an immediate health concern forcing his retirement. On the Show Friday morning, he repeated he wasn’t retiring for serious health reasons.

“There is no smoking gun whatsoever,” Stoops told Patrick. “Anyone who knows me knows that’s the case. Nothing health-wise. Like everybody, I guess, at my age, you have your hereand-there health battles, but there isn’t anything serious or imminent at all.

“No smoking gun anywhere. I guess, people have a hard time when someone just makes the decision to handle their life the way they want to and step away in a proper fashion and hand something off that’s so good. But that really is just the way it is.”

“I’m anxious to see what opportunities will be there,” he told Patrick. “I will say it isn’t my intention to coach again but we’ll see what else comes.”

So if coaching isn’t in his future, what is?

The idea of broadcasting has been batted around, but what about just being a fan of college football?

“I’ve never tailgated,” he said to Patrick. “Never been to a game as a spectator. I may have to buy an RV and learn how to tailgate and get the charcoal going.”

Among all the coaches releasing well-wishes to Stoops through statements in the last couple days,

name was noticeably absent — and that’s not by accident.

The Oklahoma State head coach didn’t want to make a big show his goodbye to the OU head coach. Instead, he called him and spoke with him privately the day he retired, according to a team spokesman.

might have to start handing off some of his previous roles as the new head coach, he’s still planning on coaching the quarterbacks and calling plays.

“I’m still going to call the plays,” he told and

on CBS Radio. “I’m still going to coach our quarterbacks and take on the same big roles. I think there will be some other roles day to day that I’ve got to be able to delegate.

“I feel like right now I can delegate some of that, but I still feel like being involved as far as coaching quarterbacks and calling plays is going to be the best thing for this program.”