Hall of Fame
Position: Coach
Years: 1999-2016
Place of Birth: Youngstown, OH
Date of Birth: Sept. 9, 1960
Record: 190-48-0 (79.8%)
Oklahoma's all-time winningest coach, Bob Stoops is the only coach in history to win a national championship and all four BCS bowl games. He posted a 79.8 winning percentage during his remarkable 18-year tenure, returning the Sooners to one of the elite programs in college football. Stoops is the sixth Oklahoma coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Prior to his arrival at Oklahoma, the proud Sooner program was five years removed from a winning record and hadn't produced double-digit victories since 1987. Coaching at Oklahoma from 1999-2016, Stoops never had a losing record en route to a school record 190 career wins, including 14 seasons of 10-plus victories (the most of an FBS coach from 2000-16). He led the Sooners to four BCS National Championship Game appearances, winning the 2000 national title after a perfect 13-0 season that culminated with a win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Leading OU to a bowl game in each of his 18 seasons (a school record), Stoops claimed nine postseason victories, including wins in the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls. The sixth-fastest coach to ever reach 150 wins (187 games), he guided the Sooners to top 25 finishes in all but three seasons, including seven top five rankings.
A two-time national coach of the year and six-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Stoops led Oklahoma to 10 Big 12 titles while posting an impressive 121-29 (.807) conference record during his career. His teams averaged 10.6 wins per season, and he owned a 101-9 home record, with wins in each of his first 37 games at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Stoops' 2008 team went down as the highest scoring team in college football history, scoring a total of 716 points and averaging 51 points per game. A combined 25-11 against the Sooners' biggest rivals Oklahoma State and Texas, he also posted a 66.7 winning percentage vs. AP Top 25 teams, the best in the country during his reign at OU.
Stoops coached 38 First Team All-Americans at Oklahoma, including seven Heisman Trophy finalists and two winners in Jason White (2003) and Sam Bradford (2008). He also coached three NFF National Scholar-Athletes, including 2015 Campbell Trophy® recipient Ty Darlington. In 2019, Stoops was inducted into the OU Sports Hall of Fame.
A four-year starter at Iowa under College Football Hall of Fame Coach Hayden Fry, Stoops excelled in 1982 as a team captain, First Team All-Big Ten selection and Iowa's MVP. The Youngstown, Ohio, native began his coaching career as an assistant under Fry at Iowa, followed by a stint at Kent State. After coaching under Hall of Famer Bill Snyder at Kansas State, he joined Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier's staff and helped the Gators win the 1996 national title as defensive coordinator.
In 2001, he started the Bob Stoops Champions Foundation to provide support to children and families in the Norman and Oklahoma City areas. In 2018, Stoops joined with current OU head coach Lincoln Riley and College Football Hall of Fame Coach Barry Switzer to create the HBC Champions Foundation to supply financial contributions, positive experiences and support to ill or disadvantaged children in Oklahoma. After briefly coming out of retirement in 2020 to coach the Dallas Renegades in the XFL, he now serves as a special assistant to the athletics director at OU.
