For some reason there is still a lot of talk out there that Bob Stoops has lost some of his luster as a head coach and that in fact "Big Game Bob" is no more.
Bob Stoops is still the best coach in the conference and one of the elite in the entire nation. This past weekend's NFL draft is a testament to that.
After the Sooner won the Big 12 Championship in December I said that it was one of the best coaching jobs of all time to overcome what they did through the season. You would think that the champion of a conference like the Big 12 would be loaded with NFL talent and would make a splash on draft day.
So guess how many players Stoops sent to the NFL over the weekend.
Was it seven? Nope that would be the Texas Longhorns who sent the most players from the conference into the pros but couldn't even qualify for the Big 12 Championship Game.
How about four? Wrong again! That was the Nebraska Cornhuskers who sent the second most players to the NFL through the draft but lost to the Sooners in the Conference Championship Game.
The correct answer is three! Stoops sent a first rounder who missed most of the season with a broken collarbone and a sixth and seventh round pick into the NFL over the weekend.
So how does a team with little NFL talent in the upper classes win the conference? They have the best coach in the conference hands down.
So where did Big Game Bob go? He didn't go anywhere! Stoops hasn't changed but the "big game" sure has! He earned that nickname while winning regular season games over Oklahoma State, Texas and Alabama. Those were the big games at that time. Since then the "Big Game" has changed and is now preempted with the letters "BCS." Admittedly the Sooners have struggled winning a BCS bowl since beating Washington State at the Rose Bowl in 2002 but name another coach in the conference you would rather have?
The only other coach worth mentioning would be Mack Brown who has done more at Texas than most of us actually thought he would but please don't try to stack his resume against Stoops'.
In his eight seasons at Oklahoma Bob Stooops has brought back intensity, passion, fire championships and class to the Sooner football program. For that he deserves a huge THANK YOU!
Number of Players Drafted From Big 12 Schools
Texas 7
Nebraska 4
Kansas State 3
Oklahoma 3
Texas Tech 3
Baylor 2
Colorado 2
Oklahoma State 2
Iowa State 1
Missouri 1
Kansas 0
Texas A&M 0