Former Oklahoma Football Head Coach Bob Stoops has reportedly been out of coaching for approximately two years, but he might be close to getting back on the sidelines. Stoops, 58, is reportedly interested in a new coaching job. Since retiring in June 2017, Former Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops has been linked in the rumor mill to numerous coaching jobs. The newest rumor, however, features an interesting twist.
According to NFL Reporter Benjamin Allbright, Stoops may be looking at coaching in The New XFL. Roughly a year ago, it was announced that the league would be revived with plans for a 10-week inaugural season in February 2020. The revived league will have eight teams representing Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay & WWashington D.C.
Allbright’s tweet does not go into detail regarding Stoops’ interest in the league. It would not, however, be the first instance of a Retired College Football Coach choosing to return to coaching in a spring league. Steve Spurrier has returned to coaching The Orlando Apollos in The Alliance Of American Football, a new league which will play its first regular-season games this month.
Stoops coached for Oklahoma from 1999-2016 before stepping down and letting Lincoln Riley take over the program. He went 190-48 as The Sooners’ Head Coach, leading one of the most successful programs in the country.
The Former Oklahoma Head Coach has previously said that he wasn’t interested in returning to the sidelines after being linked to other jobs and he also said that he is perfectly happy in retirement and not to believe any of the reports that may say that he is considering putting on a headset again, as seen below:
“I will say, regardless of what you might hear out there in the papers, if I intended again to coach that would have been part of my statement,” Stoops said, via NewsOK. “I would have said, ‘I’m stepping away here now for this time for myself, but when it comes to the next year or two, I look forward to getting back in it.’
“But that’s not what I said,” Stoops added. “You won’t see me on a college sideline or a pro sideline. A lot of people act like they know, and there will be more than a few jobs out there. But that isn’t at all what I’m looking to do.”
Big Time Coaches
With The XFL start on the horizon and the league targeting accomplished huge name coaches like Stoops, they seem to be trying to create a buzz like no other league has.
As mentioned above, The Alliance Of American Football, which is set to kickoff their inaugural season just after The Super Bowl ends, made some splash hires with their head coaches and other staff members that created quite a buzz as the league was getting up and running. The Orlando Franchise lured Steve Spurrier out of retirement, The Memphis Team landed Mike Singletary, Mike Martz ended up in San Diego, Mike Riley ended up in San Antonio, Dennis Erickson ended up in Salt Lake and Rick Neuheisel ended up in Arizona. These are just few of the names The Professional Football industry will recognize. Also, Hugh Freeze had agreed to be an Offensive Coordinator in the league before college play calling opportunities came knocking on his door and of course, Freeze ultimately landed The Head Coaching job at Liberty.
At this point, Stoops looking at a return to football with The XFL is just a rumor, but if The XFL were able to lure a guy like Stoops out of retirement to coach in their league, it immediately makes their product a whole lot more interesting.
