On Nov. 28, a bad weekend for Oklahoma football fans turned even worse. A day after losing to Oklahoma State in Stillwater and getting eliminated from Big 12 title contention, head coach Lincoln Riley made a swift, stunning departure for USC.
For the first time since 1947, a Sooners coach had left for another college job. Oklahoma, once the bastion of sustained success and stability, was in free fall.
“For 24 to 36 hours, there was panic in the streets, and people didn’t know what was going to happen with Oklahoma football,” said Dusty Dvoracek, a former Sooners player who lives in Norman and hosts a daily radio show on SiriusXM, contributes to television in Oklahoma City and calls games on ESPN. “People were freaking out around here, I mean, freaking out. Oklahoma’s not a place that somebody leaves.”
Then Monday rolled around, and Oklahoma president Joe Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione had a news conference inside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Beside them sat a familiar face: former Sooners coach Bob Stoops, who would be the new interim coach. Stoops took the podium and announced that Oklahoma football would be just fine.
“It’s Lincoln’s choice to leave,” Stoops said he told the team after Riley announced his departure and left the room. “It’s OK. You’re the ones who are going to make all the plays or not make the plays. You guys win and lose. You’re OU football. He isn’t. I’m not. And any other coach who comes here isn’t.
“OU football has been here a long time. And it isn’t going anywhere else. It’s going to be here, and it’s going to be at the top of college football and it’s going to continue that way.”
It had only been five years since Stoops stepped aside, handing the keys to the storied program to the 33-year-old Riley at the end of a legendary career that included a 190-48 record at OU. Stoops was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame earlier this month.
But when Stoops got his turn at the microphone, fans had…
Source : espn
