Bob Stoops and Oklahoma in 2008
One cannot help but admire Bob Stoops record at Oklahoma (97-22 .815), but OU’s last 4 games BCS bowls and some other regular season games raise some serious warning flags, and that doubt is something that Stoops and his staff must deal with in the offseason. The last few years we have seen Oklahoma teams come out flat against what were perceived to be “inferior” opponents, and that is a sure sign of a head coach that does not have control of the mental side of his football team. The lackluster play by OU can be solved very easily, and that is by Bob Stoops refocusing his efforts on the importance of his team playing with pride and dedication every time they suit up in an Oklahoma uniform. It doesn’t take a psychologist to notice that Bob Stoops and his staff bring different levels of motivation to different games, and that difference is being picked up by OU players and it is causing the inconsistent play that has plagued recent Sooner teams. One of the most underrated skills of a great head football coach is to bring a consistent level of both interest and passion to all meetings, practices, and games, and Bob Stoops number 1 job in 2008 will be to bring the same kind of consistent passion to the game that Stoops did in his early years at OU. It is natural for someone to lose enthusiasm for a job after 9 years doing the same thing, but the really great head coaches, Paul Bryant, Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, Bob Devaney, Darrel Royal, Tom Osborne, Jimmy Johnson, and a few others, were able to put aside everything and focus entirely on the matter at hand. For those coaches, and for Bob Stoops, if the focus is entirely on the the job that is right in front of them, which is primarily to coach and prepare their football teams to win football games, the enthusiasm and passion will always be there. Emerson was right when he said that, “Nothing every great is achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson. Bob Stoops has plenty of passion for the game of football, but in the last few years his passion has been missing or is inconsistent at times, and that is why Stoops only has one National Championship when by all rights he should have two or three.
We believe Bob Stoops and his staff will address the very fixable problems that we have seen at OU in recent seasons and that…..Well, you can see our prediction here:
