Oklahoma Football: Bob Stoops leaves Sooners in good hands

Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops announced his retirement Wednesday, but he’s leaving the Sooners in good hands.

Kudos for Bob Stoops figuring out how to leave Oklahoma on one heck of a high note.

If winning his final ten games as head coach isn’t enough, Stoops also placed the program in great hands as offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley will take over as head coach.

Even though Riley has only been with the program two years, Stoops holds Riley and the rest of his coaching staff in high regard.

It helps that Riley oversaw Baker Mayfield’s Heisman-caliber season.

“The time is now because Lincoln Riley will provide a seamless transition as the new head coach, capitalizing on an excellent staff that is already in place and providing familiarity and confidence for our players,” Stoops said in his statement. “Now is simply the ideal time for me and our program to make this transition.”

On top of that, NewsOK had a source tied closely to the Oklahoma program that raved about Riley.

“Great young coach, the program’s in great shape,” the source told NewsOK. “Good recruiting class. Got a great young coach that anybody would want to have, ready to go. He’s as good a coach as there in America, at this stage in his career. And Bob got to do it in his way. Doesn’t get any better than that.”

It also helps that Stoops accomplished pretty much all a college football coach can during his 18 years at Oklahoma. During those 18 seasons, Stoops won 10 Big 12 titles and won a National Championship in 2000.

Stoops coached Heisman Trophy winners Jason White and Sam Bradford and several All-Americans, most notable among them Adrian Peterson and Gerald McCoy.

According to USA Today, “The coaching legend won more games in his first 18 seasons than any other college coach in history.”

Stoops retires with a 190-48 record and is the school’s all-time winningest coach, passing both Barry Switzer and Bud Wilkinson.

It’s not like Stoops or his program was slipping as he won his final ten games and conference titles the last two seasons.

"“I feel the timing is perfect to hand over the reins,” Stoops said in his press release. “The program is in tremendous shape. We have outstanding players and coaches and are poised to make another run at a Big 12 and national championship. We have new state-of-the-art facilities and a great start on next year’s recruiting class. The time is now because Lincoln Riley will provide a seamless transition as the new head coach, capitalizing on an excellent staff that is already in place and providing familiarity and confidence for our players. Now is simply the ideal time for me and our program to make this transition.The Bible says, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose unlder the heaven.” I’m grateful for this season of my life, and feel I’ve fulfilled my purpose here at OU as its head football coach.”"

Look, losing a coaching legend like Stoops is never easy, but unlike Ohio State, who was left scrambling this week for a replacement for Thad Matta, at least Oklahoma has a solid option on Riley who has been with the program for two seasons and has helped elevate Mayfield into a Heisman candidate.

There could have been a lot worse options for Oklahoma once Stoops decided to retire. Luckily for fans of Sooners football, they get Riley who has experience with the program and who everyone connected to the program raves about.

It will be interesting to see what Riley is able to accomplish in his first head coaching gig while responsible for one of the prominent programs in college football.

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