Mike Stoops Out as Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator, Ruffin McNeill Named Interim Coach
Mike Stoops is out as No. 11 Oklahoma's defensive coordinator, the school announced Monday.
The move comes after No. 9 Texas defeated Oklahoma 48–45 on Saturday in the Red River Showdown. The Sooners' defense gave up 501 yards of total offense in the loss.
"I have great respect for Mike," said Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley. "He's a quality football coach, great man and a close friend. It became time for a change in our program and that happens sometimes in football, but we cannot lose sight of the accomplishments Mike had at Oklahoma. He was responsible for a lot of success and deserves the gratitude of everyone associated with Sooner football, not only for his role in the winning, but for coaching with integrity."
The team announced that assistant head coach and defensive tackles coach Ruffin McNeill will serve as the defensive coordinator with Bob Diaco moving from defensive specialist to coach the outside linebackers. McNeill has served as defensive coordinator at UNLV, Fresno State and Texas Tech.
He was also the head coach at East Carolina from 2010 to 2015 before joining the Oklahoma staff.
Oklahoma currently ranks 96th in total defense, and 107th in passing defense.
The 56-year-old has been at Oklahoma in his current role since 2012, but he was the Sooners co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach from 1999 to 2003. The program won the 2000 national title. From 2004 to 2011, Stoops was the head coach at Arizona where he led the Wildcats to a 41–50 overall record.
Stoops is the brother of former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and current Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops. Bob coached Oklahoma from 1999 to 2017. He played at Iowa during his college career.
