BREAKING: OU announces Mike Stoops hiring, Martinez’s departure
CAMPUS CORNER — It’s finally official. Mike Stoops is in. Willie Martinez is out. Brent Venables is in, for now.
Here’s the release from OU.
I find it interesting that Martinez leaving is, for some reason, played up and Mike Stoops’ coming on board is kind of pushed down the page. Seems to me the Sooners, in an effort of goodwill, buried the lead.
NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma Head Football Coach Bob Stoops announced changes to his staff today. Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez has resigned to pursue another position and Mike Stoops will fill the vacancy on the staff and also serve as co-defensive coordinator with Brent Venables.
“Willie has some attractive options and is going to pursue them,” Bob Stoops said. “I appreciate all of Willie’s work here. He represented our program in the right way and will continue to do well in our profession.”
Martinez, while looking ahead, said he was grateful for his time at OU.
“I’ve been presented with some professional opportunities that I want to pursue,” he said. “In leaving Oklahoma, I want to convey my thanks and appreciation to Joe Castiglione, Bob Stoops, the football staff, our players and the Sooner fans. OU has a great football tradition and I am pleased that I’ve had the opportunity to coach here and meet a number of wonderful people. I certainly wish the Sooners all the best going forward.”
Mike Stoops, the younger brother of OU’s head coach, returns to Oklahoma where he coached from 1999-2003 while working with the Sooner secondary. The move will reunite Mike Stoops with Brent Venables, OU’s Associate Head Coach. The two previously served as co-defensive coordinators and authored some of the nation’s best defenses.
“Mike and Brent have a long history and comfort level working together, and have together led some great defenses,” Bob Stoops said.
When Mike Stoops left Oklahoma at the end of the 2003 season, it was to become the head coach at Arizona. He led the Wildcats to a school-record three consecutive bowl appearance and saw his teams post 84 program records.
“We feel very fortunate to have Mike on our staff. Over the past few months, because of the reputation he has built among his peers, he was a highly sought-after coach,” said Bob Stoops. “People across the country recognize his tremendous knowledge of the game and great energy. He will have a very positive impact on our program.”
For Mike, the move is a natural as he returns to Norman where he helped direct a 2000 team that won the national championship with a record of 13-0.
“Obviously, it’s very comfortable to come back to Oklahoma,” he said. “Bob and Brent and I grew up in the profession together and all of that feels very good.”
Individual players under Mike Stoops’ direction excelled during his previous tenure. Roy Williams and Derrick Strait, both defensive backs, became the only players to win both the Nagurski (best defensive player) and Thorpe (best defensive back) Awards in the same season. He observed that players of that caliber often translate into team success.
“You’ve got a chance to win every time you step on the field at Oklahoma,” Mike said. “It’s one of the best situations in all of college football.”
But it’s not necessarily the same Mike Stoops who coached at OU earlier.
“You grow and mature as a person and I believe my experience at Arizona has helped me become a better coach,” he said. “We had to fight through a lot to accomplish several good things, and I grew a lot through that process.”
Mike said that his first priorities are to put a strong finish on the recruiting period and then to meet a new group of players. The recruiting process has already begun.
“Mike and Brent were out the door recruiting together within two hours of Mike’s hiring so we’re off to a good start,” Bob Stoops said.
= Trav
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Comments
If this is Coach Bob Stoops desire then I fully support him. He has proven to be worthy of all Sooners trust. We should have faith in his decisions . He has earned the right to make these type of discretionary calls . Boomer Sooner !!
Welcome home Coach Mike. Stay with us Coach Venables.
You guys make a great team. Bring the OU defense back to the greatness it was when you worked together previously.
GO SOONERS!
Also…Coach Venables…do what is best for you and your family…but as a Sooner fan…I hope you stay with us. Your loyalty and efforts in bringing OU back to glory has, and will continue to be, appreciated.
You deserve all things good for you and yours.
I have not heard any reliable source convey that Brent is unhappy with Mike’s return. Maybe he is disappointed on some level, but the guys are good friends also.
Give Mike the defensive responsibilities;
and let Brent focus on OU scoring inside
the three yard line on offense. First and
goal seemed to be what OU opponents were
comfortable with.
Get us some recruits on defense for Christ’s sake! Falling off terribly on that side of the ball, both on the field and in the pipeline. I don’t want to hear about another 5 star recruit on offense. Get me some stud defenders so we can match up with the SEC bad boys.
Doesn’t make sense to let Mike go to another school and for Bob to hire an unknown to replace Martinez. Why let some other team get a proven DC and take a risk on another unknown. I pray BV stays….we would be very fortunate to have both on the sidelines.
Amen Chris!!
We need more of a balance in recruiting. We go after all these flanker type quick fleet footed running backs that can catch the ball well and receivers and half of them transfer. Thank God that Whayley gave OU shot and wandered on to campus. With out Whayley we may have been a 600 ball club at best. If Bob Stoops ever wants to be Big Game Bob again we will have to go back to having as much depth defensively as offensively. Bob needs to go back and study game film and reference his offense before the he implemented his so called uptempo offense . We have shot ourselves in foot over and over because of mental mistakes being in a hurry and not executing and it has cost us crucial games. How many time outs have we had to burn on third down or inside the 10 yard line because of confusion and the offensive line not being on the same page as the backs and receivers. I would get so mad some times I’d want to break the tv screen. It would happen over and over. We hurry up get to the line then stop and have to look back to the sidelines for an adjustment then end up calling a time out due to confusion and players not in the right formation because we had checked out of two or three plays called before the ball should have been snapped.
Tim it would be a huge loss and disappointment not having the two working together again. Bob needs to do what ever it takes to ensure that Brent stays. Mike and Brent compliment each other and bring to OU football a huge defensive one two punch. We have two of the best defensive minds/coaches in college football with this combo.
Yep, Brock, what you described on offense as the hurry up, I call the Stand and Stare or S’n S. There was no hurry up in the giddy up…the ball if it was snapped was snapped with a second or two left….my suggestion is to play balanced football that implements different looks offensively throughout a game. The whole problem with the offensive scheme we play is we have to get the quarterback in a rhythm…Great defenses will never let that happen…then we are up a creek without a paddle. OU ran the SLOWEST hurry up in college ball this year…my 80 year old mom could walk 30 yards before the ball was snapped!
The real answers to this coaching puzz;e will come when Willie comes up with a job. If it wasn;t at least as good as what he had, then we know he was pushed out by Bob. Hopefully, he wil have a great job and OU will have a successful season and actually make it all the way through the season succesfully this time.
Awesome! Best football news to come outa Norman OK since Bob Stoops was hired back in 1999! And obviously hope Brent sticks with us too, OU is better with all of ‘em together.
Defense wins championship like Alabama hopefully we can recruit some big studs on defense.With Mike back all sooner fans should be excited.Can’t wait for the 2012 season.
Tim, the “Stand and Stare” offense that you talk about is designed that way for reasons too numerous to enumerate now. Landry is perfectally capable of running the offense fast, as we have seen at times. The coaches want to slow the offense down sometimes.
Brock, are you serious about Brent being one of the “best defensive minds in college football”? He is average at best. He has had the luxery of working under the direction of good head coaches. Left to his own devices, he has proven to be not much. Has good talent and places in the 50th percentile in D-1 college defenses. That’s why he hasn’t gotten a good job opportunity. Not even a good D Coordinator. Not bad. Average.
Tom, I get the fact that we try to disguise, change the tempo, and look at match ups on offense. However, I think that sometimes, we over think instead of quickly snapping the ball with 2-3 options in mind. The check offs or audibles don’t always seem effective. I get that we are trying to catch a defense in a mis-alignment. Have you ever thought that they may be using the same deceptive strategy against our offense? We have had 2 QBs since Stoops took over that were great at audibles….Heuple and Bradford….White was above average…and the rest average. The whole idea behind the hurry up is to run more plays ….our offense ran fewer plays per game on the average this year than we did last year….Jones has trouble reading defenses…it seems that a late snap gave him more trouble….not always, but enough where we had trouble converting on third down.
Bottom line…with a shut down defense, OU has the talent on offense to run multiple formations and schemes….use all of the talent in multiple ways….that may be more effective in the long run than checking off on over half of the plays we run in the “hurry up.”.
Stoops philosophy is to outscore your opponent, not stop them and try and prevent your opponent from scoring. Finding and signing big time defenders will not happen. Mike is the only one that can make changes in that area.
I very curious to know when Brent Venables has said he is unhappy with the hire of Mike Stoops. Is this for real or a frabication?