Stoops still nervous about OU-Texas
Bob Stoops was too nervous to attend the 2017 OU-Texas game. He was too nervous to even watch.
Stoops re signed as the Oklahoma football coach in June 2017, and four months later the emotions were too raw. Too close to his players. Too close to his coaches. Stoops couldn't bring himself to walk through the State Fair of Texas to reach the Cotton Bowl. Couldn' t bring himself to sweat out a Red River Rivalry in which he had no impact on winning or losing.
So Stoops did the only natural thing. He took his wife to Chicago.
Carol Stoops hit the shops of the Magnificent Mile while her husband strolled the Michigan
Avenue sidewalk. Every once in awhile, Stoops would stick his head into an establishment and check out the action. He began to notice that when he saw a play, it would go OU's way.
St oops made the unilateral decision to suck it up. He walked into the Frog Bar on Rush Street and watched the second half. The Sooners had squandered a big lead, but Baker Mayfield's long touchdown pass to Mark Andrews proved to be the game winner in a 29-24 decision.
Stoops even bought the lunch of a couple, even though the husband had been badgering Stoops with small talk.
“Glad we won the game,” Stoops said.
But Saturday, Stoops will be on the grounds. He was at the Cotton Bowl last season, in a suite, and appeared on ESPN's GameDay. Stoops will be back in the same suite Saturday, after appearing on Fox's pregame show, with the likes of Urban Meyer, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, all OU killers in national championship games.
St oops will be there out of duty. To OU. To Fox. To his son Drake, a backup slot receiver who just might catch a pass for the Sooners.
But enjoy the atmosphere? “I' m not much for it ,” Stoops said. “Such a mass of people. I'm used to just walking in and getting in on the field. It' s pretty strange. I guess the best way to put it, it's hard to enjoy. I appreciate the game. Just harder for me. Fortunately, always got some security for me.
And Stoops has no problem sharing the dais with Meyer, the former Florida (and Ohio State) coach, and the former Southern Cal Heisman Trophy winners. They all are adjusting to leaving the stage of competition.
“I haven' t done it, not really ,” St oops said .“We now all have adjusted to some degree. It'll be a little different. We've talked a number of times. In the end, won't be that strange. Little bit, more than anything, just not being part of that game and that field. Still trying to adjust to that.”
Stoops says the suite is a place he has to be. The emotions still run too high.
“It's hard,” Stoops said. “It's tough to handle. I can't watch it casually. I still pound the table or get up and jump.”
But Stoops has gotten more reflective. When he was coaching, he had no interest in looking back or embracing great victories or accomplishments. Now, Stoops is glad to reminisce.
“People think you lament on the few you lost,” Stoops said of “Not me. I'm all about the big wins. I've been asked that a lot. Two stick out.
“The 2000 game, we win 63-14, it's 42-7 with like 10 minutes to go in the second quarter. I say on my headphones to the coaches, `You know what boys? We're pretty good.' We go on to be undefeated. Then the Roy Williams play ( 2001), t he Superman play.”
By the way, Stoops missed that play. He was watching his defensive end drop into coverage, where Chris Simms was likely to throw the ball as Williams blitzed. Stoops heard the roar of the crowd and wondered what had happened. He had to watch the replay.
Sort of like having to follow the game from Chicago' s Magnificent Mile.