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Bob Stoops to The Athletic: Oklahoma to the SEC is 'Great...for the Strength of Our Program'

Stoops also spoke about the state of college football, the Sooners' dying Bedlam series with Oklahoma State, Brent Venables and much more.
John E. Hoover|
Bob Stoops to The Athletic: Oklahoma to the SEC is 'Great...for the Strength of Our Program'
Bob Stoops to The Athletic: Oklahoma to the SEC is 'Great...for the Strength of Our Program'

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Oklahoma Sooners

Bob Stoops feels “great” about Oklahoma’s move to the SEC, but says college football as a whole is “in a bit of a quandary.”

That’s according to a Q&A published Tuesday in The Athletic.

In the interview, college football writer Chris Vannini asks Stoops a multitude of questions, from college football and OU to Stoops’ latest venture in the XFL — which begins its rebooted new season on Saturday.

FOR MORE

Read the full Q&A with Bob Stoops HERE

The news last week that OU and Texas are joining the SEC a year earlier than previously announced was one of the most pressing topics.

“I feel great about it,” Stoops told Vannini. “I think it’s a great move for the strength of our program for many years into the future. It also ensures filling an 85,000-seat stadium that will continue to be full along with all the suites and whatnot with the opponents and the schedule that will be coming. I think it’ll be a big plus for us, being able to play the teams that will be coming into our stadium. It ensures, financially, the athletic program well into the future with TV contracts, but more importantly, hosting home games in Norman, Oklahoma.”

He also said he’s “got all the confidence in the world” that Brent Venables will rebuild Oklahoma into a championship program. “They just need a little more time to get it going.”

Stoops was also asked about the likely end of the Bedlam football series with OU’s move to the SEC.

“That’s life,” Stoops said. “Life keeps happening. We had a rivalry with Nebraska go away.”

As for the state of college football in the era of the transfer portal and NIL, Stoops sounded optimistic — if those in charge will step up.

“Well, I think they’re in a bit of a quandary,” he said. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s great for everybody. Leadership at some point will get some kind of parameters around it all.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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