The United Football League, or UFL, will welcome fans to the opening game of its inaugural season this Saturday at 1 p.m. on FOX. The season opener will pit the defending XFL champion Arlington Renegades against the defending USFL champion Birmingham Stallions.
This new league, for those not already aware, is the byproduct of those two spring leagues merging together. Viewers tuning in on Saturday will see several recognizable faces both on the field of play and along the sidelines. For instance, former All-Pros Vic Beasley and Marquette King will both suit up for Arlington this season. On the Birmingham side, you might recall names like Taco Charlton and Scooby Wright.
Perhaps no name involved in Saturday’s action has enjoyed more success in the realm of pigskin than Arlington head coach Bob Stoops. But in case you’re not already familiar with the decorated ball coach, we’ll take a look back at his storied career today.
Who Is Bob Stoops?
Stoops’ coaching career began as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Iowa, in 1983. He played defensive back for the Hawkeyes, a position he would eventually move on to coach at Kansas State. He’d earn another quick promotion, spending half a decade as co-defensive coordinator for the Wildcats in the early 1990s.
Stoops would land another humongous opportunity from there, serving as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach to the legendary Steve Spurrier for three years with the Florida Gators. Stoops would go on to parlay his successes with the Gators into a pretty legendary head coaching career of his own. And that’s what he is best known for today.
From 1999 through 2016, Stoops served as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. The program had struggled mightily in the years since Barry Switzer had departed for the Dallas Cowboys, but it wouldn’t take long for Stoops to round the program back into championship form. In fact, Stoops led the Sooners to the National Championship in 2000, just his second year at the helm.
Stoops’ résumé from his Oklahoma tenure is hard to undersell. Over the course of 18 seasons, his teams won 10+ games 14 times. They finished the season ranked within the top 10 on 11 separate occasions. He earned 10 Big 12 Conference Championships.
Stoops’ Sooners never failed to qualify for a bowl game, and more often than not, they were of the New Year’s Six variety. Stoops’ 191 collegiate victories are tied for 22nd all-time.
He also recruited and coached a number of legendary Sooners players, including the likes of Tommie Harris, Gerald McCoy, Roy Williams, Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, and, of course, Adrian Peterson.
Each of those players went on to have notable NFL careers. Interestingly, Stoops has spent his post-collegiate career coaching up (at least, oftentimes) NFL castoffs who are still hoping to achieve their league dreams. It’s safe to say they’re in a good position to turn those dreams into reality with Stoops at the helm.
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He’s proven to have retained his coaching acumen as well, guiding the Renegades to an XFL Championship during his first season at the helm in 2023. His quest to add yet another trophy to his overflowing mantle will begin with this Saturday’s clash against the Stallions.
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