Big Game Bob leaves behind quite a legacy at Oklahoma.
Bob Stoops shocked college football Wednesday with his surprise announcement that he is retiring immediately as the Sooners’ coach, handing the program over to 33-year-old assistant Lincoln Riley with less than two months before preseason practice starts.
It’s a question of when – not if – the 56-year-old Stoops earns his invitation to the College Football Hall of Fame. Here’s a look back at how the former assistant to Steve Spurrier at Florida and Bill Snyder at Kansas State wound up becoming the winningest coach in Oklahoma history:
THE EARLY YEARS
After four stops as an assistant, Stoops arrived at Oklahoma in 1999 to replace John Blake and immediately made the Sooners winners again, taking them to their first bowl game since 1994 – the first of 18 in a row for him.