The Football Brainiacs

Image from USA Today

Sooner fans are frustrated and rightfully so. There are basic offensive football strategies that we currently aren’t employing. That’s not acceptable at the University of Oklahoma. The offensive debacle in general the other night was not acceptable at the University of Oklahoma. The offensive debacle against Texas was not acceptable at the University of Oklahoma. To be honest the offense hasn’t been at an acceptable level by Oklahoma standards for a while. Even with all the points we scored last year we managed 13 against Notre Dame and 13 against Texas A&M. There is too much talent for that.

But if you’re questioning whether Coach Stoops is the right man for Oklahoma then I’d say you’re going way too far. I will unabashedly say that I absolutely believe Coach Stoops is the man for this program and can and will get this program back to the top. And I absolutely believe we are seeing the start of it right now. When you look at something in it’s beginning it often looks like it’s at it’s end. It’s often hard to tell if you’re seeing something on it’s way up or if you look at it on it’s way down. There has certainly been a downturn in the program the past few years but no one is more cognizant of that than Coach Stoops. And if you don’t think this guy wants to win then you might as well stop reading now because you and I probably aren’t going to agree on much. And if you think the program is in shambles I think you’re dead wrong. And if you think there isn’t reason to be optimistic, you’re wrong about that too.

If you want to know how committed Coach Stoops is to winning take a look at the past couple post-seasons. We all know how loyal he is. But after the 2011 season his long time friend and coordinator “conveniently” took a position elsewhere. I’m not going to add to that sentence or even attempt to speculate. What happened between Coach Stoops and Coach V is their business. Bottom line is a change was made. The circumstances of the Coach Martinez dismissal were a lot clearer. Two coaches after the 2011 season, gone.

After last years Texas A&M game we were saw another round of major changes that most Sooner fans probably never expected. Long time Sooner and D-line coach, gone. O-line coach, gone. And perhaps the one that struck me as the most telling just because of the strong personal relationship they had, OT and TE coach, coach Kittles, gone. And what have been the results of those changes? A more aggressive recruiting strategy, better evaluation process and a D-line that, despite a major injury, youth and a new scheme, is playing better. We’re seeing young guys like Tapper that will clearly be difference makers in the future. On the offensive line we’ve seen better rushing numbers and a more consistent run game when we’re willing to commit to it and that has happened despite the fact that we really don’t have any semblance of a passing game. If Landry Jones had this run game…wow.

This whole season I’ve been more optimistic about the future than I have been in a long time. I absolutely believe Coach Stoops is on his way to putting together a stellar recruiting class (we do our own evaluations here so your Rivals/Scout/247 rankings are irrelevant to us). I absolutely believe in the direction of the defensive scheme and in the defensive coaches. I believe in the offensive line recruiting and development. But there has been that nagging feeling that we still don’t have an identity or the right identity on offense and we still don’t quite know how to set our opponent up.

I feel like I’ve seen that, all too familiar, look of absolute disgust and then disheartenment on Coach Stoops’ more times lately than I can remember. We will call it “the look”. And it seems to appear on his face earlier and earlier in each game but usually sometime in the 4th quarter. It’s that look where he’s shaking his head and looking out at the field like what he sees is so bad there’s no reason to dignify it with a curse word or a rant. And who can blame him? He’s literally playing with half a team and STILL managing to somehow win games. I mean there are basic offensive strategies that we aren’t implementing.

In the past couple years Coach Stoops has had to learn that he can’t do this alone. He is a great coach and had a lot of early success and like all of us, has had to learn that he is only as good as the people around him. I’ve been told that  it was the Cotton Bowl debacle last year that really solidified the fact that all the changes needed to be made. Thursday’s Baylor game might have done the same thing. I saw “the look” on his face that night but this time it wasn’t in the 4th quarter. It wasn’t even in the 2nd half. It was right at the end of the 1st quarter. The offensive “issue” is going to get taken care of. Rest assured Sooner Nation. And when the issue is taken care of you’ll finally see what Coach Stoops truly is, a man who can field physical and intelligent offenses that play in tandem with a fast and physical defense. You’ll see a complete game. You’ll see a complete team. And you’ll see that this wasn’t the beginning of the end. It was a new beginning.