Former OU Coach Bob Stoops: No ‘Rebuild’ Needed For Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns are entering a new chapter. Head coach Steve Sarkisian took over the football program in early January intending to shape an underachieving yet talented roster into a National Championship contender.
Sarkisian has been on track so far, hiring an elite coaching staff to complement his style and actively recruiting talent from across the country.
Since Sarkisian is a first-year head coach, expectations for Texas won’t be immense. However, former Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops believes that the tools for Sarkisian to develop Texas into an elite program are already in place.
Here’s what Stoops told Colin Cowherd on his show, The Herd:
“I don’t know why it would be a huge rebuild," Stoops told Cowherd. "They’ve had the top recruiting class (from 2018-2020) in the Big 12 and it’s been top 10 nationally, so they have players, unlike when we walked in at Oklahoma. I don’t think that was the case.
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"Bottom line, they have players. To me, it’s about development and I do believe — I agree with you — I think Steve Sarkisian’s a really great coach, he’s got a really great track record and I believe he’ll do really well. Hopefully just not as well as Oklahoma.”
Most recently, Stoops came out of retirement in 2019 to be the inaugural head coach of the XFL's Dallas Renegades. However, shortly after he accepted the role, the league shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking ahead, Sarkisian will be thrown right into the fire, having to choose whether to start either Hudson Card or Casey Thompson as the Longhorns’ quarterback.
With Texas returning 15 total starters (six offense, seven defense, two special teams), ESPN has the Longhorns at No. 22 in post-spring rankings.
CONTINUE READING: ESPN's Post-Spring Rankings Have The Longhorns In An Interesting Spot
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