What’s up, friends and fans?

The last time Mike Stoops coached a game, the Oklahoma Sooners suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Texas Longhorns. Turns out he used up his last life, because just days after defeat, the man who took an exorbitant amount of outside heat (though much of it warranted) was swiftly dismissed from the staff.

Well, guess what? He’s reportedly back (kind of). No, not back with the Sooners, but back on a coaching staff (again, kind of). And which program has become known for bringing in former head coaches (such as Butch Jones and Steve Sarkesian) and coordinators to be analysts of sorts? That’s right — Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

USA Today’s George Schroeder reports that Mike is being hired for an off-field role.

The move has not been made official as of yet, but Stoops is expected to join the Tide as a defensive analyst or consultant, much like Bob Diaco was for the Sooners last season before Stoops was fired. In that role, and in Tuscaloosa, the former OU DC could use this opportunity to stay in the field until he finds something that suits him. You also have to suspect that Saban is perhaps doing this to get some inside info on Lincoln Riley’s offense.

Some have wondered if or when Stoops would try his hand at coaching again, especially since his older brother, Bob, is seemingly enjoying retirement wholeheartedly and living his best life. If this Bama transition eventually springboards Mike to another coaching opportunity, more power to him.

Will it work out for Mike Stoops? Will he and Butch Jones be best friends who fight crime in West-Central Alabama? We’ll have to wait and see.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! Lincoln Riley and staff should receive new contracts soon, Baker Mayfield is getting away from football per coach’s advice, Gregg Popovich trashes his own team and more!

OU Links

• Lincoln Riley and the rest of the Oklahoma coaching staff will have their new contract details approved today following a meeting by the OU Board of Regents. Last year, the young head coach made $4.8 million, but Eric Bailey from the Tulsa World points out the possibility that that figure will likely see a sizable increase given how valuable he’s proven to be since he first arrived in Norman.
• ESPN’s Jake Trotter says Oklahoma’s biggest reason for optimism in 2019 is the addition of Jalen Hurts. I’ll be interested to see how the offense looks in the Spring Game with the grad transfer on the field. Even if it’s vanilla play calling (and it will be), his comfort level and poise should still reveal itself.

• Oklahoma softball comes in at No. 4 on both the NFCA preseason coaches poll and the USA Softball preseason collegiate poll. Not bad, not bad at all.

• After by far the worst performance of the season, and an up-and-down stretch of basketball since conference play began, what are the experts saying about Oklahoma’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament? News OK’s Joe Mussatto gathered those answers and more.
• As of this Wednesday morning, single-game tickets for Oklahoma Baseball are now on sale. The 2019 season gets underway in just over two weeks, so secure your spot for some up-close-and-personal action on the diamond today!

• The February signing period starts one week from today. Who are the remaining targets on Oklahoma’s radar, and which if any of them could contribute for the Sooners early?
• Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens says he wants Baker Mayfield to get away from football and just relax for a bit before training camp picks back up again.
• If you still don’t have a particular rooting interest in Super Bowl LIII, two former Sooners Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Steven Parker are with the Los Angeles Rams. I’d say a win would be a pretty nice way to cap off a rookie season for the both of them.

Around the Sports World

• Anthony Davis wants out and this New Orleans Pelicans fan did the unthinkable. Wow, how can he live with himself knowing he just did that on camera? I’m so stunned right now.

• Wreckage from a possible plane crash was found on a French beach that is believed to be debris from the same plane taken by Cardiff City soccer player Emiliano Sala. The aircraft disappeared from the air traffic control’s radar on January 22nd.
• Who are some of the NFL’s all-time greatest players to never win a Super Bowl? Barry Sanders certainly belongs on this list, but there are many others who didn’t make the cut.
• This particular article by SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee is a little more focused on MLB fans, but saying ‘we’ when referring to a sports team one follows happens across all sports and at all levels. So what does he think about people who more-or-less include themselves with the teams they follow using the ‘we’ pronoun?
• This is why people love Gregg Popovich. He doesn’t give us boring coach speak, he just tells it like it is. He also isn’t afraid to throw shade on his own team. “Phoenix was robbed.” Ouch.

Stick to Sports!

• Actor Zac Efron portrays the infamous Ted Bundy in the film ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’, and Kathy Kleiner Rubin, an actual survivor of the real Bundy’s crimes, praised Efron and the filmmakers for accurately depicting the twisted nature of the serial killer. Some have criticized the movie for possibly glorifying or painting Bundy in a more sympathetic light, but Rubin says this depiction closely resembles the truth of the horrifying situation because that’s what he wanted his victims to see.

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