NORMAN - Bob Stoops pondered the question, hemmed and hawed, and finally fessed up on Friday.
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Turning to Paul Thompson at quarterback -- no offense Joey Halzle and Sam Bradford -- was a no-brainer.
The checklist of reasons:
Experience.
Leadership.
Character.
Talent.
And, oh, yes, Stoops considers Thompson a winner.
"I promise you, our expectations have not changed one bit," said Stoops, who made the call to Thompson to return to quarterback from wide receiver when Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team earlier this week.
At Oklahoma, expectations always include a Big 12 championship...for starters.
"We have a lot of faith in P.T. to get it done," Sooners tailback Adrian Peterson said. "I know he'll get it done."
Linebacker Rufus Alexander: "It's a good move for him. And it's a good move for us."
So Thompson has been summoned back from wide receiver, his landing spot after getting bumped from the quarterback job by Bomar last fall. With Bomar gone, dismissed along with lineman J.D. Quinn after both received improper payments, the season outlook, fair or unfair, shifts to Thompson.
But Stoops said Thompson is built for such a burden, calling him the most respected player by coaches or players in Stoops' time at OU.
"Face it, that takes a lot of guts and courage, the whole nation watching, the scrutiny," Stoops said. "Paul says, 'I'll take it.'
"He has great character, and I think it shows over and over."
Some of that might be needed at quarterback about now. Considering all that's gone on in Norman the past week, the Sooners perhaps couldn't have found a better match.
"Paul's put the team before himself," Alexander said. "And it's a great thing that we have someone like him to put in that position, a guy who leads by example and a guy who stands up and everybody listens to him."
Thompson senses a rally around him, from teammates and even fans who have offered well wishes.
"That's something I hope to bring, too, coming back to this position, getting the guys rallied, letting them know everything's going to be just fine," Thompson said. "And I'm a guy they can trust."
In Halzle, a sophomore, and the true freshman Bradford, the Sooners have a pair of young quarterbacks with potential.
But this OU team is built to win now.
Peterson and Alexander might be the best players on their sides of the ball in the Big 12. More star-caliber players surround them. And many of the regular conference contenders are in transition.
It's not like Thompson will need to saddle up the squad, although he essentially told his teammates to do just that before the team's first practice.
"We told Paul we didn't need him to put the team on his shoulders," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "We have a tremendous team, outstanding on defense, a lot of talent on offense.
"His job is to get in sync with us. To manage the players around him. Play to their strengths."
The challenge for the coaches is to identify and then play to Thompson's strengths, something they say they failed to fully do a year ago.
"I think it's fair to say that we can do more as a coaching staff to play to what fits him and what he likes more," Stoops said.
Wilson said an overhaul isn't needed. There will be some tweaking, but Thompson's skills match the overall concept.
That's why when it came time to regroup after the bouncing of Bomar, all signs pointed to Thompson.
"When you boil it down," Stoops said, "and I talked to Kevin, I said, 'Paul's been with us four years taking snaps at center. He knows it inside and out.
"'He's not a lot different than Rhett. (Their competition) was awfully close. This is what we need to do."'
While not exactly a no-brainer for Thompson, who was progressing at wide receiver, it all seems natural now.
If anything, he said, it's an even better fit than a year ago.
"I'm just relaxed," Thompson said. "That's probably the main thing. I'm not worried about anything anyone has to say, besides what's inside this organization.
"I'm just having fun, with a smile on my face. I'm ready to go."
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