Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops has been named one of two coaches in the 2021 Hall of Fame class.
Stoops, as well as former Florida A&M Head coach Rudy Hubbard and 11 players will be inducted into the College Hall of Fame later this year in December.
In joining the prestigous honor, Stoops becomes the sixth Sooners head coach to join the group after a 190-48 run that included 10 Big 12 titles and 18-straight bowl berths. Stoops announced his retirement and handed the reigns of the Sooners program to Lincoln Riley in 2016.
Stoops shared the following statement in the school's release:
"As a son of an all-time, lifelong high school coach, no one appreciates the game of football and the coaching profession more than I do, and so I am truly grateful for and humbled by this honor.
"Football is the ultimate team game with so many pieces that must be put together, and nobody can have success by themself. It takes everybody contributing. Certainly, that was the case for me. From my family to my support staff to my assistant coaches to our administration and to our great fans, I had incredible support at Oklahoma for each of my 18 years and am thankful to everyone who played a role in all our achievements.
"Ultimately, though, the dedication and hard work of the players is what wins, and I am so appreciative of all of the guys who played for me. I felt a great connection to our players from my first year in 1999 all the way through my last season in 2016, and if I did anything right it was always connecting wholeheartedly with them. To me, that's probably the most important thing for a coach — being able to connect with and relate to your players.
"I feel incredibly fortunate to have traveled this road. All the stops along the way were such positives for me and led to the extraordinary opportunity at Oklahoma. The coaches I worked under were the best of the best: Hayden Fry at Iowa, Dick Crum at Kent State, Bill Snyder at K-State and Steve Spurrier at Florida. I feel amazingly blessed that I was around so many remarkable coaches and people.
"In the end, I am so honored to join the College Football Hall of Fame and feel a great sense of humility."
Stoops briefly came out of retirement to become the head coach and GM for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL in 2020 before the league ultimately folded.
As for Hubbard, the former Florida A&M head coach led the program from 1974-85 and compiled a mark of 83-48-3. During that time, Hubbard was a perfect 5-0 in postseason bowls and collected one I-AA title, as well as two Black College National Titles.
Before taking the Florida A&M job, Hubbard served as an assistant at Ohio State under Woody Hayes for six seasons.
Hubbard had a long stint away from coaching following his time at Florida A&M before taking the head coaching job at James S. Rickards HS (FL) from 2008-11.
Stoops and Hubbard join an elite group of just 223 coaches that have made it into the hall.
Players being inducted include Harris Barton (UNC), David Fulcher (Arizona State), Dan Morgan (Miami), Carson Palmer (USC), Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois), Kenneth Sims (Texas), CJ Spiller (Clemson), Darren Sproles (Kansas State), Aaron Taylor (Notre Dame), Andre Tippett (Iowa) and Al Wilson (Tennessee).
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