Stoops returns to coaching with Dallas in XFL
Bob Stoops is “excited about starting something from the ground floor” after being named the head coach of the XFL team in Dallas. (1:34)
Former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is returning to coaching as the head coach and general manager of the Dallas-based franchise in the new XFL league.
Stoops was introduced in a news conference Thursday by Oliver Luck, commissioner of the XFL.
“At first I thought it probably wouldn’t be for me,” Stoops said. “But through our discussions as a family, started to think this would fit us correctly.”
“I was also excited about starting something from the ground floor,” Stoops said. “To hiring coaches, and then you gotta accumulate your players, get your organization set up, it reminds me of when I first arrived at Oklahoma. I thought one of the best things I ever did in my career was getting my first staff together at OU. … That’s exciting to me. The opportunity to put it together and help it grow.”
“To start a program from the ground floor, to build a staff… it reminds me a lot of when I first arrived at @OU_Football.” ~ @XFLDallas head coach and general manager Bob Stoops pic.twitter.com/xKKiK6U1RT
The XFL will begin play in 2020 during the early part of the year and will feature a 10-week regular season.
A source close to Stoops told ESPN that he liked the idea of getting back into coaching without it being overly time-consuming.
Stoops, 58, retired in June 2017 at Oklahoma after coaching the Sooners for 18 seasons and passing Barry Switzer as the school’s all-time winningest coach. Stoops was 190-48 at OU with 10 Big 12 championships and won the 2000 national title in leading the Sooners to a 13-0 record.
The fact that Stoops is returning to coaching at the professional level is somewhat ironic in that he turned down several opportunities to coach in the NFL when he was at Oklahoma.
This will be the second version of the XFL headed up by WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon. Former West Virginia athletic director Luck left his job with the NCAA in June to be the XFL’s commissioner and CEO.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter and Chris Low contributed to this report.