Bob Stoops is leaving coaching the same way he conducted his business for 18 seasons on the Oklahoma sideline. He made the decision his gut told him to make, when he wanted to make it, and everyone else would have to live with it. And just as he won throughout his career with the Sooners, he won at retiring, too.
The winningest coach (190-48, .798) in the history of one of the most storied programs in college football is leaving on his terms, with his health intact, at 56 years of age. The list of college football icons who leave of their own accord in good health at a relatively young age is so short we need the chain gang to measure it.