Bob Stoops: OU's Move to the SEC is 'Best for Oklahoma'
Former Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops, winner of the program’s last national championship and owner of the school record for most coaching victories, wants to “set the record straight” about the Sooners’ move to the SEC.
Stoops penned an op-ed piece Tuesday for The Oklahoman, in which he disagreed with new Oklahoma State president Kayse Shrum’s series of tweets saying the Sooners’ team-up with Texas to migrate to the Southeastern Conference was “to the detriment of the state of Oklahoma.”
“Let’s set the record straight: OU’s move to the SEC is what’s best for Oklahoma,” Stoops wrote. “The reality is that conferences are now more important than ever and, with limited spots, the strongest conferences would not accept OU if we were to require OSU to join as well.”
Stoops said the move is “necessary for the future of our school and football program” and said aligning with the most powerful conference in collegiate athletics will “ensure the state’s flagship university will be represented nationally while protecting our rich football history for many years to come.
Stoops also described the many advantages OU gets to being in the SEC: “greater financial opportunities, better exposure, stronger recruiting and increased competition. Playing in front of full, huge stadiums will be attractive to our players, recruits, and our supportive fans. OU will be competing at the highest level of college football, which is exactly where we should be.
“To move forward in any other manner would be to the detriment of OU and the state of Oklahoma.”
