Should the Sooners Fire Bob Stoops?

In a word: HELL NO! I guess that was two words. Oh well, the naysayers can’t seem to count either. They can clog the radio airwaves for weeks after a big loss, but they usually don't make much sense. The most infuriating accusation I’ve heard is that Stoops "can’t win the big one." Are you serious? He’s 4-5 in bowl appearances, and granted, that’s nothing to stand up and cheer about, but two of those losses came from his three national championship appearances. Plus, does anyone remember that he’s 6-3 against Texas? That he won 5 in a row? Isn’t that a big game? Have they forgotten that he’s won 4 conference championships in his tenure at OU?

Most schools (besides OSU basketball) give a coach a "mulligan" in his (or her) first year as head coach. It makes sense. No one can turn a team around in their first season. Seriously, you really can’t even expect a national championship in their second season, can you? But Stoops did that, didn’t he?

Still not convinced? Let’s look at some stats, shall we? His average ranking in the past eight years is #6. As a matter of fact, he's had a top 10 finish in 6 of his last 8 years. The Sooner's last top 10 ranking was in 1987 under the great (you may have heard of him) Barry Switzer. The average ranking in the eight years before Stoops: #78. Coach Stoops is #3 in Oklahoma’s all-time winning percentage with 82%. The top two are Barry Switzer and (you may have heard of this one too;-) Bud Wilkinson. It seems that Stoops is in pretty good company to me.

But fair-weather-fans are everywhere, aren’t they? I don’t remember seeing all the banners, flags and sweatshirts in such abundance during the dark ages of John Blake and Kaptain Kangaroo, do you? But we die-hard fans even stuck with our beloved Sooners during those tearful years. And now that we’re on top again, the not-really-Sooners are back on their soapbox, demanding that a non-championship finish is unacceptable. So, to answer my own question (and maybe shut up the whiners on the Sports Animal) should we fire Bob Stoops? Only if you are sick and tired of winning.