Berry Tramel, Sports columnist
Coach Bob Stoops challenged on the recruiting trail and the practice field
By Berry Tramel
Comments 
111
Published: November 11, 2009
Modified: November 12, 2009 at 9:12 am
NORMAN — Bob Stoops says he doesn’t slam the door behind him and commence to screaming. Doesn’t kick holes in the wall. Doesn’t take out his frustrations on the family pooch.
Sooner coach Bob Stoops’ upper lip doesn’t always stay stiff. He got all fired up when asked about blaming his players instead of his staff for the 5-4 start. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
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"Not my style,” Stoops said.
Not even in this most frustrating of football seasons, when the
Sooners are a field goal here, a catch there, from being unbeaten instead of on a collision course with the
Sun Bowl.
But Stoops’ upper lip doesn’t always stay stiff. He got all fired up Tuesday when asked about blaming his players instead of his staff for the 5-4 start.
"Don’t ask us questions if you don’t want the right answer,” Stoops said.
"Everything’s our fault? If a guy (jumps offside), something’s our fault?”
Stoops came off looking bad, even though he was right.
Flozell Adams has been false-starting since he joined the
Dallas Cowboys a dozen years ago; does that make
Chan Gailey,
Dave Campo,
Bill Parcells and
Wade Phillips all guilty of malpractice?
A coach who accepts all the responsibility is disingenuous and not honoring his covenant with fans. But a coach who throws his ballplayers under the bus never looks good.
"Here’s the problem,” Stoops said. "Don’t ask us questions then. If you want to ask me what went wrong, I’m supposed to say, ‘everything’s our fault?’
"Then I can’t answer questions if you want me to answer truthfully. There are some things players gotta handle, too. It’s always going to be both of us.
"So don’t ask the question if you don’t want the right answer. And don’t go criticizing if we give you the right answer and it is on them.”
Here’s the problem with the whole discussion. Coaches rarely get blamed for the things they should shoulder and always get blamed for the things that don’t matter that much.
Like play-calling. Tons of fans still believe OU lost 10-3 at
Nebraska because
Kevin Wilson didn’t call the right plays.
Let’s see. The Sooners couldn’t block the Nebraska interior and were playing with a rookie quarterback throwing to overmatched receivers behind a Swiss-cheese offensive line.
The question is not why the Sooners couldn’t crack the Husker 20-yard line. The question is: how in the world did OU ever get close to begin with?
Football is not a chess match. Not a guessing game. Not rock-paper-scissors.
The coaching fallacies of this star-crossed 2009 season occurred not on headsets, but on the recruiting trail and the practice field.
This coaching staff whiffed on evaluating receivers. OU’s pass-catching corps is
Ryan Broyles and a bunch of guys. Some might still develop, but others are veterans who have proven they can’t produce on the Oklahoma stage. And since budding star Broyles was a last-minute signee, unwanted by OU until the midnight hour, it makes you wonder what in the heck they look for when eyeballing receivers.
And player development on the offensive line has been atrocious. These blockers weren’t ready for the start of the season and haven’t progressed over the last two months. Still jumping before the snap. Still popping opponents after the whistle. Still getting whipped up front.
Maybe it’s on
Cory Brandon and
Trent Williams to stay onside, but it’s on the coaches to make sure they’re better linemen in September than they were in March, and better in November than they were in September.
"You’re only as good as your last play or your last game,” Stoops admitted. "That’s how it goes. All of us in this profession are very aware of that.”
His offensive coaches — who now are missing
Sam Bradford,
Jermaine Gresham,
Brody Eldridge,
Brian Simmons and
Jarvis Jones — have been cursed by injury.
"They’ve had a lot to juggle through the year,” Stoops said. "Certain parts of the year, they’ve managed it well. Other times we haven’t.
"Some of the discipline issues ... our players need to make improvements.
"Ultimately, we gotta get them to do it right. In the end, it’s always the two of you. End of story. It’ll be that way till they quit playing football.”
The press conference continued, and soon enough, Stoops was back in
Gary Cooper mode. Straight back, stiff lip, still trying to figure out how to turn his 11th OU football team into something he can stand to live with.
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080; Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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Is still find it funny that Stoops has not won a National Title with his players, but rather with a backbone built by John Blake.
That's all I get from you, dude. You're starting to sound like the teacher off of Peanuts.
Go away.
5 wins gets you into the Sun Bowl now? Good luck tracking down #6.
Stoops and his staff have done a great job giving us a chance in every game that we've lost. We have been as unlucky this year with injuries, as we were fortunate the year we won the championship. That you fairweather fans and the jokers on the Oklahoman staff don't know crap about football is the only thing that you are proving with your idiotic posts.
Its fairly simple if you look at it with an open mind.
Its more about the Jimmy's and the Joe's than the X's & O's
and to UnSub: true that coaches should only have to work on technique, but making sure to get players that know the basics is the first part of their job. No talent=No scholarship. The highest paid coach in the Big 12 should know how to recruit useful talent.
It is not the coaches job to teach an O-Lineman how to block, he should know how before he arrives on campus. All the coaches should do is work on technique. This is D-1 football, not little league.
Facts: Wilson has an 11-6 record against lower ranked teams since he became OC in 2006. He is 0-4 against teams ranked within 2 or higher. He is 1-3 against Texas and 0-3 in Bowl Games.
Conclusion: His game plans result in a barely acceptable win rate when OU has superior talent and his game plans for teams of equal talent come up woefully inadequate, all losses.
Wilson was a poor offensive line coach and has been an even worse OC. The same issues on offense have been present every year since he has been at OU. The lack of experience, depth/injuries, recruiting, and overall talent level are just making the same errors that have existed for 3 years obvious to everyone this year. Stupid penalties, undisciplined play, lack of composure, inconsistent run game blocking that doesn't materialize until after Texas and then disappears again in the bowl games (there's that equal talent thing again).
One defination of insanity to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. Wilson is insane. How many times are we going to run the lead over left tackle when we have first and goal and get stuffed before he play actions off of it? He did it for 2 years over Loadholt and now the entire year over Simmons with the same results.
Wilson is a never should have been and I have been saying so for last 2 years and it would appear I am no longer a lone voice this year.
To all the posters claiming that losing the starting QB and tight end are the problem, wake up and read the entire sports section. Cinnci lost their starting qb and still hasn't lost. He can't even get his starting job back. We're probably 6-3 if we still had Bradford, no better. Texas is still a lose, Miami is still a lose, BYU is probably still a lose as the OLine was the problem and the defense couldn't close the deal. Nebraska is probably a win, maybe as everything goes back to the O-Line. You still have receivers that can't get open and Grisham doesn't make up for them all.
The other is directed to Stoops. If the lack of execution problems were limited to 1 or 2 times, sure that's on the players. 1-2 times per quarter and year after year, THATS ON YOU AND YOUR COACHING STAFF.
If the Sooners win out, that's $500,000 per win.
That's a lot of scratch, so if Bob is taking some heat, he has to expect it.
Still, I cannot remember a team (other than Marshall, where everyone died in a plane crash) which has had worse luck on the injury front.
I was frustrated last year with Kevin Wilson, but was told I was insane because of the great offensive year OU had - never mind that at the Red/White scrimmage two years ago, a guy from Georgia won the opportunity to call a play (TD pass to Gresham) that proved to be the biggest play of the game.
But I was willing to wait until this year.... :( Any Middle School coach could have done as well as KW with the team OU had last year. And, yes Berry, I can tell you what OU will do before the play starts based on the formation and personnel 9 out of 10 times. Besides any good scouting report deals with tendencies of the opposing team based on what down it is personnel, formation, etc. They know what to prepare for.
When A. Peterson ran for over 200 yards against texas, we tweaked our run game to negate texas' speed, counting on their over-pursuit based on what we knew they would prepared for. Our run game is so bland, no progression leading to counters, reverses, etc. to give backs a chance to break long runs, especially now that we have an abundance of inexperience on offense (except at running back) and need to run more to set up the pass.
I'm tired of talking about this.... But I'm glad others are starting to see the inferiority of our offensive "imagination". Good luck OU!
Stoops owns his team. He places responsibility in the hands of those people for the level they are accoutable.
Like being parents if you do not hold your kids responsible for their actions or non... they learn it is ok to claim being a victim. They will duck and not learn from their mistakes. Stoops is not ducking his ultimate role, but he does have to ensure everyone knows their roles and the responsibilty to the team. Move on everyone.
Please return it. The check is in the mail!!!
Anyway. Look on the bright side of things. This year could be a great recruiting tool. Whoever comes in here next year WILL see playing time!
Turn those frowns upside down sunshine!!!
Fairweather fans, Jerry, by definition, are those that only come to the games when the proverbial weather is fair and sunny and nice and everything is going right. I'm not sure, as I don't live close enough to Norman to attend on a regular basis, but I think the stands remain fairly full and people are still supporting the team and university through merchandise purchases. Further, I believe a lot of people are investing time into watching these games on television when they cannot attend and are probably supporting the sponsors of the television station that brings the games to them. Yet, these people don't have the freedom to speak out when they are displeased? What country are you from...considering you are not one of the aforementioned people?
Oh yeah, and it IS Veteran's Day. Thank you military personnel for giving me the FREEDOM to express my opinions. Thank you for securing my RIGHT to do so!
My point is each year the team is a unique animal. Stoops and company and the players in previous years have done amazing jobs creating very good seasons when expectations were low. We are lucky that we haven't had a season like this before. Why haven't we had one before?, because of Stoops and co. and the players that we had during THAT year. What is different this year?...the pandemic of injuries and the players remaining. (the play calling is the same)
if you've never played the game you probably don't understand that 18 and 20 year old kids make mistakes. Even your local cops will back me up on that last sentence.
The closest thing you get to an attack dog is The Tulsa World's "The Picker" and he does stuff anonymously and does not seem to attend Stoops' pressers. Everybody else, Tramel included, is pretty passive.
Imagine if Stoops ever had to deal with reporters from the New York Post, the Boston Herald, or the Philadelphia Inquirer: his head would explode (which is why he should never leave OU).
He is the most visible representative of OU on the planet, perhaps even the State of Oklahoma. How Stoops comports himself in those situations is a direct reflection of his job performance. So, if he does not do a good job, it is not a "oh, well, he's a tough guy and the media have never coached a down" situation.
While I don't think he's ever embarrassed OU at a press conference, I also don't think he's ever done a great job.
Stoops needs to accept the fact that handling reporters in a positive, professional manner is part of the reason he gets paid 60 times what the average Joe makes. He doesn't have to be a clown like Bowden or an *ss-kisser like Mack Brown, but Joe Paterno does a pretty good job on that front and he's no joke.
And Castiglione needs to supervise Stoops better on this front.
By the way, I am a lady. But, I am sure my husband would be happy to meet you anywhere you would like to meet so you can see what a big guy really is.
Either do something about it or get used to it.
When Mack Brown got 60+ points laid on him by OU he replaced coaches.
So Stoops it is time for you to do something 'in a really good way'...
Otherwise, we will look a lot like Florida State in a few more years.
What is your prediction on Bedlam again?
LOL What a moron.
The fairweather fans are retarded. What's your writers excuse for acting retarded?
Or, if you've got a QB with ants in his pants, how about not putting him in 2nd and 3rd and long so much (predictable??? sometimes. conservative??? you bet. creative??? very little.)
OU is a system team. But, they haven't brought in the right guys for their system. And, they won't adjust their game plans to suit the guys they do have. Very stubborn. How many other schools are doing more with less? Heck, OU used to be one of those schools.
We won a national championship with a juco transfer QB and a roster full of players recruited by a guy who didn't sniff .500 as a coach at OU.
Where is that mindset and creativity? Where is that passion and confidence? Where is that urgency?
The way I see it, I put the BYU loss on the coaches (game plan sucked even before Bradford went out). I put the Miami game on the coaches (took a 10-0 lead and couldn't hold it. Not a ton of player mistakes in that one. I was there.)
I put the Texas game on the players. Texas just made one more play than us. Both played great.
I put the Nebraska game on the players for execution, but on the coaches for not finding solutions by November.
This should be the most action-filled off-season in Stoops tenure. Let's see what he makes of it.
Scott, tell me where i can sent you a dollar for some white port.
It's time for some accountability all around . . . with the players and with the coaching staff.
Castiglione, as his boss and his friend, needs to send Bob for a week to some media coach/psychologist to get Bob to loosen up and relax in his media interactions.
You have to know that from the types of people (Hayden Frye, Bill Snyder, Barry Switzer, David Boren, etc.) who have liked, mentored, been mentored by, and continue to be in Bob's corner, that he is truly a great guy. But he's his own worst enemy when the cameras and lights are on him.
Joe Castiglione, the onus is on you to help Bob on this front.
Unfortunately the media is a requirement of the job, however he is in a secure enough position he doesn't worry about rubbing people the wrong way.