If not Jeffcoat, what about Ruffin McNeill? Or Jim Leavitt?
There’s a good chance that Bob Stoops will consider Jim Jeffcoat to replace Chris Wilson as Oklahoma’s defensive ends coach.
But what if Jeffcoat prefers to remain the Houston d-line coach?
Here are two more names Stoops may go after.
Ruffin McNeill. Jim Leavitt.
The former is a lot less complicated than the latter.
McNeill, the former Texas Tech d-coordinator and interim coach is looking for work after being fired by new Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville.
McNeill was recently offered a job to work in the administration, but he still wants to coach.
He was a big part of Tech gradually improving defensively since taking over as coordinator midway through the 2007 season.
The Red Raiders were 6th in the Big 12 in scoring and total defense last season. He also led Tech to a victory in the Alamo Bowl amidst loads of controversy following Mike Leach’s dismissal.
McNeill was a LB coach at Tech, but has D-line experience. He was a d-line coach at Fresno State and East Carolina. If Stoops decided to give Jackie Shipp the whole d-line, then McNeill could also probably help coach DBs. He played defensive back at East Carolina.
McNeill and Stoops don’t have any coaching history together, but have a very good mutual friend in Leach.
Another coach to watch is Leavitt. The former South Florida head coach is radioactive, considering he was fired for allegedly slapping a player twice in the face. Leavitt denied the incident took place, but USF accused of Leavitt of lying.
Leavitt actually did a terrific job as USF’s first and previously only coach before his firing. In 13 seasons, only two were losing under Leavitt. In the last four years, USF won 8 or more games.
Leavitt and Stoops go way back to being co-defensive coordinators at Kansas State in the early 1990s under Bill Snyder.
The two remain good friends. So does Leavitt and OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who also coached with Leavitt at K-State. It will be interesting to see if Stoops and Venables pursue their former colleague.
-JT
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Comments
I’d love to see Leavitt get a fresh start at OU. Maybe that would us at USF close the chapter, and move ahead with USF’s Phase II of our program. GO BULLS! And good luck, Jim.
I like the thought of moving Bobby Jack Wright back to DE & bringing in Leavitt to CO-DC w/Venables. Maybe that would turn the DBs back into a bunc of ball-hawks, although they have increased their pick total in the last two seasons. Leavitt would bring back that Mike Stoops attitude to the defense.
JacK Kinch, you hit it right on the head. Dont allow arrogance to get in the way of a great move. Plus John Blake is a Sooner at heart, he’ll forgive everyone if we’re straight up and let by gones be by gones…….
Of course Levitt would be a perfect fit. All he did was hit one of his players in the face (twice), lied about it, and then got fired for it. That’s nothing compared to a lot of what goes on at ou.
Mr. Not Switzer: what are you suggesting here? Are
you making allegations? Would you mind coming forth
with them? And please, no innuendo. Just facts. If
you’re going to write something like this, your
ducks better be in a row, or you’d better just sign
off.
[...] the Big East in nearly no time. He was one of the hottest names on the coaching circuit for a time. Through his stint at Kansas State, Leavitt also has ties to Stoops and OU defensive coordinator Brent [...]
OK.Switzer…dude! We dont know the deatails of the SF thing in FL. So we shouldn’n judge ( and i trust Castiglione to the MAX!), but his personality (fiery Mike Stoops type)is what the 2ndary, especially our safeties need to develop. We need someone with his skills! And coaching style. P.S. Blake is too soft.
The story on Leavitt reported in the Tampa area newspapers was that he met the young player involved at midnight in a church parking lot to get their stories straight when the player decided to lie for him. Not a coach I would want in a program.
blake needs 2 stay in n car.the further away the better. nevermind the fact he negative recruits us routinely, but has everyone forgotten just how pitiful the team was under his “leadership?” we couldnt even beat tulsa with him. if he were on staff he would be whispering in players ears behind closed doors of how he should still be head coach which would be counter-productive.
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA<WE LOVE YOY AND WISH YOU THE BEST YEAR EVER.WE WILL WATCH YOU ,WILL PULL FOR YOU AND ALWAYS BE PROUD OF YOU.LET~S MAKE THE # 8 THIS YEAR.
BOB WILL MAKE MAKE THE BEST CHOICE. HE ALWAYS DOES. I THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE A OU TEAM THESE NEXT YEARS LIKE WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. JUST HAVE A FEELING FROM THE RECRUITING JOB THEY ARE DOING THIS YEAR. TOTALLY AWESOME.
Sponge Bobby needs to hurry up and select a DE coach before he loses a good recruit to Texas or some other program. Sponge Bobbit, two offensive coordinators with OU ties and more balls than Wilson need jobs. Well?
It’s been a proven fact for years(stats. don’t lie) since Mike left, the defense
has been the weakest link, the underlying reason why OU has failed to
perform up to ratings and expectations in big game, road game, prime-time
venue’s. I hope that Stoops doesn’t think that getting beat by UT, BCS, NC’s,
is OK if he can back-door a conference title or get the computers to place
him in a position he hasn’t earned. He’s going to bring in another Crony
to replace Wilson, and thats one of the problems now. The only one that
has come down the pike lately was Pelini, a good defensive mind and
motivator, along with his brothers. Stoops had him on staff and let him go.
This choice is a critical one for Bobby Boy. He’s at a cross-roads.
BOB STOOPS IS A GREAT COACH. HOWEVER, HE NEEDS TO IMPROVE HIS ASSISTANTS. TO THIS I THINK WE ALL AGREE. AS AN ASIDE,
FOOTBALL IS GETTING MORE AND MORE TAME. NOWDAYS ALL A COACH HAS TO DO IS RAISE HIS VOICE TO A PLAYER AND THE PLAYER
‘GETS HIS FEELINGS HURT.” WORSE YET HE RUNS TO DADDY OR
MOMMY. FOOTBALL IS NOT A TEA PARTY!I SAY THIS ONLY TO POINT OUT COACHING HAS TAKEN SOME BAD RAPS ALL THE WAY BACK TO FRANK KUSH AT ARIZONA STATE FOR GRABBING A PLAYERS FACE GUARD. THAT BEING SAID,OKLAHOMA NEEDS SOME “FIRE IN THE BELLY” AND KILLER INSTINCT. CONSISTENCY WOULD HELP.
LEAVITT IS A GOOD FIT AND WRIGHT IS NOT. BLAKE WOULD BE A
MISTAKE. I ALSO AGREE WITH THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS ON WILSON.
OBVIOUSLY,I ALSO AGREE WE NEED A DEFENSIVE END COACH WHO KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING.
.
We need Jim Jeffcoat, that way we will land the #1 recruit prospect in the nation which is his son, jackson jeffcoat over Texas.
Jim Leavitt got his finally, he beat up on players at K-State, which was kept under wraps. Stoops would be very unwise to bring a coach with a “bullying” backgroud. The truth is that “beat up” players are the silent majority that Leavitt coached. He is like an abusive parent where anger takes over a good parent. Just ask Brent Venables who played for him.
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Move Bobby Jack back to the D-ends, he did a good job there for many years and our D-backs have been lackluster since he took over that job when Mike left us, often looking as if they were lost and didn’t know the game plan. Bring Leavitt in as Co-D coordinater in Mike’s old job with the D-backs. I think we would play some defense like the old days!