A year ago today, Bob Stoops surprised the college football world by announcing his resignation as the head coach of the Sooners. That year away from coaching has been quite eventful, as Stoops has watched Lincoln Riley lead Oklahoma to the college football playoff and a statue of himself go up at the stadium he called home for 18 seasons.
Today, News OK published a great piece on Stoops, and how he's been spending his time in his year away from coaching.
In the article, stoops talks about why he bought a boat even though he doesn't know how to fish, and also shared the number one reason he decided to resign. At 56, with no (public) health scares, he could have coached quite a while longer.
“A lot of it, I wanted my own time. More than anything, I just wanted to own my own time. Does that make sense?” he shared with News OK.
In the role of head coach, Stoops said that you're always dealing with something whether it's equipment, compliance, personnel or anything in between, and he had reached his fill. He wanted to be able to get out and do the things he wanted to do while he was still in good health.
Stoops shared that while watching the games from a box, he found himself saying some of the same things he'd say on the sidelines before realizing no one could hear him.
Head here to read the full piece, including what he missed most about being away from the sideline and why being away from the game is really hard for him.