Mike Stoops confirms his return to Oklahoma

In an interview with a Tucson television station, which you can view here, Mike Stoops confirmed the worst kept secret in college football, that he would be returning to Oklahoma.

"Going back to Oklahoma was pretty much a natural fit for me spending five years there with Bob and getting to play in two national championship games was pretty special," Mike Stoops told KOLD Channel 13's Damien Alameda. "I have great memories of that and hope that we can rekindle some of those old flames and get back to a championship level team."

"I just felt the most comfortable with my situation being with my brother Bob and being at Oklahoma with some great friends, and some guys I coached with," said Mike Stoops.

"The whole defensive staff will be the exact same way we started however many years ago I left, eight years," he said. "Other guys will be there that I was with during that period of time. So I'm excited to go back and work with those guys."

"For me it was about a fit and where I fit in amongst the staff. That's why people have to let the process play out. Being able to identify what you're role is going to be at each particular place was going to be different," he said. "Your family plays a big role in all of this and I certainly feel very comfortable in this position."

As we told you on Wednesday, there won't be an official announcement from the university until they actually have an opening. Which obviously won't happen until news on Willie Martinez's next stop is known. However, from Mike Stoops own mouth this is about official as things are going to get until then.

But back to the interview as Mike went on to talk about all the speculation regarding him and other job openings.

"That was very enticing," said Mike Stoops about Ohio State. "Having the opportunity to work with a guy like Urban Meyer was really exciting to me and I got a chance to spend a day-and-a-half down there with those guys."

"Kevin Sumlin is a guy at Texas A&M that I originally wanted to hire here at Arizona to be our first offensive coordinator and here's the irony of me going back to Texas A&M," said Mike Stoops. "The possibilities - Kevin and I had talked."

So there you have it. I don't think there were very many OU fans out there, if any, who needed much convincing that this was going to happen but this essentially guarantees it. It's still just simply a matter of time, but I'd expect as this starts to make its way around the news cycle things with Martinez will accelerate if they weren't already.

Welcome back home to Sooner Nation Mike!!!