Oklahoma has announced that head coach Bob Stoops is retiring. Berry Tramel was the first to report it.
In a statement, Stoops states the reason behind his decision as; "The Bible says, 'To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.' I'm grateful for this season of my life and feel I've fulfilled my purpose here at OU as its head football coach."
Stoops has confirmed that the decision to step down is not health related.
Stoops is stepping away from the sidelines after 18 seasons leading the program. He took over the program in Norman in 1999 and has compiled a 190-48 mark, including an impressive 121-29 record in the Big 12. In 14 of his 18 seasons they hit the double digit win mark.
The 2000 season saw Stoops bring home a national title, and he went on to lead the program to top 10 AP finishes ten times in total.
Coach Stoops was the longest tenured head coach in college football. With his retirement, that title now belongs to Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.
The school has also made it official that offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley is set to take over as head coach of the Sooners.
In Riley, Oklahoma is getting one of the hottest coordinators in the coaching profession, and someone who helped revitalize the program immediately upon his arrival prior to the 2015 season.
Past stops for Riley include Texas Tech, where he went from quarterback to student assistant to wide receiver coach, to inside wide receivers coach, on to East Carolina where he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2010-2013 before adding assistant head coach title in 2014. He took the offensive coordinator job at Oklahoma heading into the 2015 season.
Following that 2015 season, Riley took home FootballScoop's Offensive Coordinator of the Year award.
Riley and Oklahoma will open the 2017 season September 2nd against UTEP before traveling to Columbus to take on Urban Meyer and Ohio State.
For those wondering what Bob Stoops might do during "retirement"; well, we're not sure yet; but this is one spot you might find him.