News release issued February 16, 2001, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org

Note: This event occurred in 2001. Please see our news releases section for upcoming events.

OU's Coach Stoops to Speak in Ardmore

ARDMORE -- Combine the terms "rags to riches" with "major college football" and there’s one name that soars above the rest: Oklahoma University Coach Bob Stoops.

Stoops, who led the Sooners to a 13-0 record and a national championship this past season, will be in Ardmore Monday, February 26, as part of the Noble Foundation’s Profiles and Perspectives community enrichment series.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in downtown Ardmore at the Civic Auditorium (also known as Heritage Hall.) Stoops will share the strategies that put the Sooners on top with a presentation on "Oklahoma Football Team Philosophies."

The event is free to the public. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. Seating will be on a first-come basis.

"Coach Stoops won virtually every football coaching award this past season and is recognized by fans and peers alike as a person of exceptional accomplishment and talent," said Joe Lobell, Noble Foundation communications manager. "Two years ago he took over a football program that had won only 12 games in the previous three seasons. To win the national championship in his second year as head coach at OU is a remarkable achievement, and we’re thrilled to have him here to talk about how that was accomplished."

Earlier in the day OU center Bubba Burcham and former basketball player Miranda Stacy will meet with local students to share their perspectives on succeeding in athletics, academics and life in general.

The Sooners’ rise to the top position in the AP polls came after a 31-14 win over Nebraska. They held that spot throughout the remainder of the year, capping the dream season with a defense-dominated 13-2 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

In recognition of his exceptional performance, the 40-year-old Stoops was chosen as the Associated Press College Coach of the Year, one of many similar accolades he received.

``It's a great honor for Oklahoma,'' Stoops said. ``It's an award that every assistant coach has a piece of, and it reflects on the players and their attitude about working together, about the way they won. The trophy will go in the coaches' hallway, not in my house.''

Under Stoops the Sooner offense was transformed from a wishbone-option mode to a wide-open passing attack directed by quarterback Josh Heupel. With the new offense in place, the Sooners went 7-5 in 1999 as Heupel rewrote the OU passing record book. As a result, the Sooners played in their first bowl game since 1994.

Stoops fine-tuned the offense and defense, and stressed team discipline in 2000. The results were impressive: a three-game run against Big 12 Conference powers Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska.

Oklahoma began the 2000 season rated 19^th in the preseason poll. After four straight wins, the Sooners were ranked 10^th heading into what was anticipated to be a back-to-back ordeal against Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska.

OU thrashed the Longhorns 63-14 in Dallas and beat Kansas State 41-31 before their home win over the Cornhuskers. The Sooners survived scares against Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and then Kansas State in the Big 12 title game to earn a trip to the Orange Bowl and the eventual win against Florida State.

Stoops, born in Youngstown, Ohio, grew up in a family steeped in football tradition. His father, Ron Sr., coached high school football for almost three decades, while two brothers also chose coaching as a career.

After graduating from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1979, Stoops went to the University of Iowa where he was a four-year starter on the football team and earned honorable mention All-American honors as a defensive back in 1982. He was likewise named Iowa football Most Valuable Player in 1982. He graduated with a marketing degree in 1983.

His coaching career prior to coming to OU included serving as a volunteer and graduate assistant at Iowa (1983-1987), an assistant at Kent State University (1988), and several positions at Kansas State including secondary coach (1989-1990), co-defensive coordinator (1991-1994), and assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator (1995).

Stoops got his first taste of a national championship while serving as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and secondary coordinator at the University of Florida from 1996 through 1998.

Under Stoops the 2000 Sooners posted impressive statistics, outscoring opponents 481-194. The OU aerial attack accounted for 288 of the team’s 417 average offensive yards per game.

Stoops is married to the former Carol Davidson. They have one daughter, Mackenzie, and twin sons, Isaac and Drake.

###

Photo: Coach Bob Stoops Full size photo here

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, check out the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release