Bob Stoops 'coming out from his protective bubble' Presser

Just wanted to get this up so you all were aware that we'll be covering Bob's presser today live just like we did during the season. So this will go up now and once he takes the podium, I'll start typing up a recap as he speaks, and the post as soon as the presser concludes. So you should have a full recap within seconds of him finishing.

For a change, there will be no shortage of topics to discuss so we can only hope Bob is in a talkative mood (fingers crossed). Presser starts at noon, so we'll be back then.

Here we go . . .

* Bob does not have his happy face on today.

* Stoops opens taking about bowl practices. Started last Friday and will go thru Wednesday before they get a couple days off. The team will be traveling to AZ on Christmas Day.

* Says the team has done a good job in practices in the last couple days.

* Starts with the compliments about Iowa being a really physical team. Talks about being at their bowl game last year (Iowa was in the Insight also last year while we were in the Fiesta obviously).

* If you didn't already know this, Stoops has a bit of a history with Iowa.

* Asked if the Bedlam game had an effect on the players and their attitude in practices. "We're developing that. I did feel in the last couple days, more energy and excitement and guys working hard to be ready to play."

* Ronnell Lewis will not be academically eligible for the bowl game. No real shock, but still incredibly disappointing.

* Bob finally confirms all the rumors that Brandon Williams is indeed gone.

* Trey Millard could see more time at tailback.

* Asked about the rumors of Brennan Clay leaving. "That's the first I've heard of that."

* Austin Haywood is officially gone. He was not able to earn his way back according to Stoops.

* Bob confirms the rumors about Max Stevenson as well that he has said he no longer wants to play football after suffering a pretty serious pectoral injury.

* With the news of Haywood and Stevenson, the Sooners will have ZERO returning players next year at the TE position.

* Asked if he's been caught by surprise about the depth issues they're having now. "Uh, not really. These are all guys we've been recruiting for some time, so it's not like we're just finding out about them. We always anticipated this would be a big class."

* Asked if the Bell-dozer package will change with the normal missing pieces due to injuries. "No, not at all. We have confidence in it, so that will effect what we do but not who is or isn't available."

* Asked if they are motivated to play in this game against Iowa. "Why wouldn't we be? In the end, it comes down to pride and effort and wanting to win the game. So yeah, we're motivated."

* Asked if he is happy with his staff right now or looking to make any changes. "I am happy with my staff. It's fair to say that if you look at college football and all the coaching changes that anything can happen, but as of now we're happy with where we're at and who we have."

* Asked if there is any chance of Heupel moving back down to the sidelines. "It's something we'll talk about, but I don't know that Josh being down there necessarily changes anything."

* Stoops kind of making excuses for Landry talking about him not having his top targets around him being a possible reason for his play towards the end of the season.

* Asked if the drops from the WRs would lead them to run the ball more. "I've always believed you're at your best when you have an effective running game. So yes, we need to be able to run the ball more effectively."

* Berry Tramel is constantly fishing for what must be a historic Stoops timeline article he's working on, so look forward to that!

That about wraps things up. So aside from Tramel's incredibly annoying and stupid questions, we finally got some resolution to the rumors that had been floating around. Just a quick summarizing of the highlights:

• Brandon Williams is gone
• Brennan Clay is not transferring according to Bob
• Austin Haywood is gone
• Max Stevenson has quit football which will leave us with zero returning scholarship TEs next year
• Bob is "happy" with his staff (translation, NOTHING CHANGES just like I said)