He was fired by Sooners; what did he do to deserve this?
If you’re a Tennessee Vols supporter, you probably already know the tale of how the Oklahoma Sooners fired Josh Heupel, the head coach of UT, following the 2014 campaign.
Former Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel, who guided the Sooners to a national championship in 2000, was fired as offensive coordinator of Oklahoma after the school finished 8-5 in 2014. Bob Stoops was Heupel’s coach throughout his playing career.
In 2014, Oklahoma’s offense was No. 21 in the country with an average of 36.4 points per game. However, the Sooners’ defense gave up 25.9 points per game, ranking No. 56 in the country.
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Though neither unit was “elite,” the defense was unquestionably stronger of a problem than the transgression.
So why wasn’t Heupel dismissed, but Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator?
That’s because Mike Stoops, the head coach’s brother, was the Sooners’ defensive coordinator at the time.
Bob Stoops had to adjust after switching to an 8-5 schedule in 2014. If nothing changed, the noise level would have been excessive. Furthermore, he had no intention of sacking his brother, even if it was likely not what he wanted to do (Stoops subsequently wrote in his autobiography that the day he fired Heupel was the worst day of his tenure at OU). Thus, Heupel was sacked in place of Mike Stoops in a case of real-life nepotism (co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell was also let go).
that was fired following the 2014 season (albeit Heupel’s circumstances have improved over the subsequent years compared to Mike Stoops’).
This makes Mike Stoops’s recent remarks somewhat ironic in light of how things transpired with Heupel at Oklahoma.
This offseason, Mike Stoops spoke on The Barry Tramel Show and was questioned about his time at Oklahoma. When Oklahoma’s problems first began, according to Stoops, the defense struggled to acclimate to teams like Baylor’s (then-head coach Art Briles) offense.
“I go back and look when our struggles started to exist there at Oklahoma,” Stoops remarked. “That was challenging. Simply because, in my opinion, the offensive league was the finest at that point in history.
Instead of Heupel, Mike Stoops should have done it.
frame)…among the best quarterbacks I had ever witnessed. No matter if it was inside or outside, we were unable to match up with the skill players and receivers. There’s adequate guilt for everyone. simply weren’t able to match each and every week. We simply couldn’t adjust to the talent level of a Baylor, though, which spread you out and forced you to cover the field. And that was undoubtedly my responsibility. And I do comprehend it, for sure.”
