Bob Stoops could be a hit on Fox TV show
Bob Stoops is replacing Urban Meyer. Too late for University of Florida football, but just in time for television viewers.
Ten years ago, Meyer stepped away from coaching the Gators, and Florida hired Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. I assume the Gators gave Stoops a call; four times since Stoops left Florida (as defensive coordinator) for OU, the Gator head coaching job has opened. I know that at least twice, and maybe all four times, Florida wanted Stoops.
But Stoops stayed at OU, retired in 2017 and now is back in college football as a studio analyst for Fox Sports' Big Noon Kickoff Show, which Meyer left to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bob Stoops always has seemed a little uneasy in retirement — and he admits it. The XFL coaching gig was a prime example. Stoops clearly didn't want a demanding job that would consume him, but he missed football. Then the XFL crumbled as the pandemic hit, and Stoops was
back to restlessness.
But now comes television. And Stoops has the chance to be a hit with Fox. His 18-year run as the Sooner coach left most people with the idea that Stoops was guarded and reluctant to say anything of substance. Stoops didn't start out that way, but you grow jaded over the years. Three things, though:
1. Stoops still could be entertaining. Even occasionally insightful. More entertaining than insightful, but he still showed the capability of both.
2. Since leaving coaching, and even through those XFL coaching days, Stoops clearly was more relaxed. He didn't have the weight of the Sooner football corporation on him. Jovial isn't the right word for it, but amiable, cordial, even cheery at times. He still rarely came clean on anything OU — for a time, his brother still was on staff, and his son remains a Sooner player, and Stoops truly cares about all things Sooner — but he was more inclined to talk real football than before.
3. For 20-plus years, the people who know Stoops best say he's the life of the party. When the cameras are gone and the notebooks are put away and Stoops is around people with whom he's comfortable, he can be downright fun.
If Stoops can let that Stoops shine through on the Fox set, he'll be great.
Meyer won't be a hard act to follow, though I found his insight solid. I enjoyed listening to Meyer on Big Noon Kickoff, not that I am addicted to either the Fox show or ESPN's GameDay.
Meyer delivered solid analysis from a coaching perspective. Sometimes, it was more than solid.
But Stoops can do that, too, and when he wants to be, he's much more charming than is Meyer. If Stoops combines the insight with the charm, he'll do great.
Will Stoops be willing to be critical of colleagues? My radio partner, Jim Traber,
made this point. Will Stoops call out a coach who decides to repunt to Tyreek Hill, as Stoops himself did in the 2014 Bedlam game?
It was an all-time coaching blunder, one that could be seen clearly before the kick, not after. If Stoops is able dissect such a decision — and ultimately rip it, as he did himself in that Bedlam postgame — then Fox will be thrilled.
Stoops told The Sports Animal on Tuesday that he plans to fly (I assume by private aircraft) back from Los Angeles to OU games immediately after the Big Noon Kickoff Show, so that he can watch his son, Drake, catch passes for the Sooners. The 11 a.m. kickoffs will negate that, of course, but Fox plans to take its show on the road occasionally, and it wouldn't be a stretch to see a couple of OU games (Texas, Bedlam, Iowa State) slotted
into that 11 a.m. window with the Big Noon Kickoff Show in tow.
The Big Noon Kickoff is an interesting array of analysts. Teammates from Pete Carroll's great Southern Cal teams, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, along with former Notre Dame Brady Quinn and first Meyer, now Stoops.
Not much Southeastern Conference influence on the Big Noon Kickoff. With Fox having no SEC games, that's understandable, and it's a nice counter to ESPN, which can be quite SEC-centric.
When coaching, Stoops occasionally could get feisty. His barbs at the SEC were great, though he wearied of the fallout. And Big Noon Kickoff is no place to start a war of words with college football's best conference. But it shows Stoops has it in him to pop people and keep things interesting.
Do that every Saturday, and Stoops will be great on the Fox set.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-7608080 or at btramel@ oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.