Where Bob Stoops ranks among this era of college football coaches
The program Bob Stoops inherited at Oklahoma in 1999 had gone 61-50-3 during the combined tenures of his three predecessors, a record that might pass elsewhere but for the Sooners was nothing shy of an embarrassment.
The program he oversaw, meanwhile, went 190-48 overall, 121-29 in Big 12 Conference play and 101-9 at home, with one national title and 10 league titles.
Stoops, who retired Wednesday after 18 seasons, built a program that annually ranked among the nation’s best. In turn, Stoops built a reputation nearly unmatched among his peers, as a coach capable of not just winning once — an easy feat, relatively speaking — but again and again, with a rotating supporting cast of quarterbacks, assistants and All-America selections.
Is Stoops destined for a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame? Without question. Was he the best coach of his generation? Well, he’s in the conversation. Among head coaches whose tenure began at or around the same time as Stoops’ arrival at Oklahoma, here’s where he stacks up:
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1. Nick Saban (Michigan State/LSU/Alabama)
Saban is not just the best coach of this era but also one of the great coaches in college football history.
2. Urban Meyer (Bowling Green/Utah/Florida/Ohio State)
Meyer is nipping at Saban’s heels. Ohio State is the site of his greatest work, but Meyer won two national titles at Florida, led Utah to the Fiesta Bowl and won 18 games during two seasons at Bowling Green.
3. Pete Carroll (Southern California)
Carroll’s tenure at USC does exist under the cloud of NCAA sanctions. But there have been few dynasties in college football history as memorable as the one Carroll built during his nine seasons with the Trojans.
4. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma)
So here’s Stoops. His best teams were never as good as Carroll’s best, for example. His 18-year tenure never featured a multiple-year run as dominant as those put together by Meyer, for example. And Saban’s in another class. But Stoops is in elite company.
5. Chris Petersen (Boise State/Washington)
Those who questioned Petersen’s success at Boise State were quieted by Washington’s run to top of the Pac-12 and into the College Football Playoff a year ago. He has won 82.1% of his games, trailing only Meyer among active coaches with at least a decade of experience.
6. Jim Tressel (Ohio State)
The Tressel era at Ohio State ended in disgrace; it’s impossible to overlook the scandal that cost Tressel his job, even if it’s easy to find a silver lining — Tressel’s exit led to Meyer’s arrival, for example. But Tressel’s stretch is defined by the 2002 national title, dominance against Michigan and a run of five Big Ten titles in a row from 2005 to 2009.
7. Mack Brown (North Carolina/Texas)
Brown’s program never recovered from the hangover that followed the Longhorns’ loss to Alabama in the 2009 national championship game. But the numbers are impressive: Brown won at least nine games in each season from 1998 to 2009 and at least 10 games in each season from 2001 to 2009, a period highlighted by the 2005 national title.
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8. Gary Patterson (TCU)
They’ve built a statue of Patterson outside of Amon G. Carter Stadium, which should tell you all you need to know. Since being name the full-time coach late in 2000, Patterson has won 149 games and notched six top-10 finishes.
9. Jimbo Fisher (Florida State)
Fisher replaced Bobby Bowden and in short order put his stamp on the program. He won a national championship in 2013, making him one of four active coaches with a title to their names, and has the Seminoles again in Playoff contention entering the 2017 season.
10. Les Miles (Oklahoma State/LSU)
Like Stoops, Miles won his single national title early in his tenure — his third season at LSU — but couldn’t bring home a second, although he came close in 2011. Before leading the Tigers, Miles laid the foundation for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State.
BOB STOOPS THROUGH THE YEARS
