Report: Mike Stoops headed back to OU
Jan 9, 2012, 4:45 PM | Updated: 4:57 pm
Former Arizona head coach Mike Stoops is reportedly headed back to Oklahoma football.
According to News9.com in Oklahoma, who cites multiple sources close to the OU program, Stoops will rejoin his older brother Bob’s coaching staff at OU this week.
The reports indicate that Stoops will be named co-defensive coordinator, sharing duties with Brent Venables. Mike Stoops was an assistant at Oklahoma from 1999-2003, before taking the head coaching job at Arizona.
Stoops was on the sideline for Oklahoma’s win over Iowa in last month’s Insight Bowl in Tempe. After the game, the elder Stoops was asked if his brother’s presence was a sign of his impending return to OU.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Stoops said, “It means he’s my brother, and he lives not too far away. Why wouldn’t he come to the game?”
Arizona fired Stoops midway through his eighth season after the Wildcats stumbled to a 1-5 start. His overall record at U of A was 41-50.
During his 5-year tenure as Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator, the Sooners went 55-11 and won the BCS National Championship in 2000.
