Bob Stoops has been the head coach at Oklahoma since 1999 and, by all accounts, he has been wildly successful. However, the Sooners have recently come under fire for off-field issues, highlighted by an offseason arrest of highly touted quarterback Baker Mayfield.
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With that as the backdrop, ESPN's Paul Finebaum took to the air on SportsCenter and basically went after Stoops in a pointed and direct fashion.
The full video can be seen above but The Spun transcribed the audio:
"I believe what they say is he's a very good coach, if not a great coach, but when it comes to discipline, I believe he's a total failure. I thought it was interesting what Baker said there, about setting a good example. Bob Stoops had a chance to set an example a couple of years ago during the Joe Mixon case. Instead he looked around and tried to find an equitable way out that was going to be good for him and very bad for the university's reputation.
"When Bob Stoops talks, I don't really listen, because I think he's disingenuous when it comes to discipline. He's not the only one, by the way. But we're talking about his program here."
It should be noted that Finebaum does praise Stoops' ability as a pure coach but this is as pointed a take-down of off-field considerations as you will see in this form. In short, Finebaum goes back to the Joe Mixon case (and Stoops' choice to allow him back) to reference another example and it would be hard to dispute that Stoops hasn't done the best overall job in policing the actions of his players.
Still, this does seem quite aggressive and, with Finebaum, that is kind of what you have to expect on a daily basis. Make your judgments now.
