Following Stoops’ lead would benefit Riley

The Lincoln Riley Era begins in earnest this week. There have been fall practices and press conferences to remind us that yes, indeed, Bob Stoops is no longer the head coach at Oklahoma. But on Saturday afternoon, it will be really real. Riley will be on the Sooner sideline for the season opener, not Stoops.

Even though comparisons will be darned near impossible, Riley needs to be allowed to be his own man. To have his own style. To make his own way.

And yet, it would behoove Riley to follow Stoops’ lead in at least one very important area — how he handles the highs and the lows of the job.

Being the head coach at OU comes with extreme expectations. No kidding, right? Win this many games. Beat these specific teams for sure. And while you’re at it, play a certain style. On and on the list goes. Stoops dealt with it for 18 years, but you never knew if he had the greatest team in the country or a bunch of problems sure to derail a season.

“Bob never worried about anything, you know, to me, to any other coach or any player,” his younger brother and longtime coaching sidekick Mike Stoops said recently. “He never once flinched. Whether he’s confident or not, you don’t know.

“He ain’t ever gonna show you.”

Reminds me a bit of those deodorant commercials back in the day. Dry Idea put a bunch of entertainers in their ads,