FEDEX ORANGE BOWL: OKLAHOMA v FLORIDA STATE

January 2, 2001

Bob Stoops

COACH STOOPS: Good to be here again. Hard to find something new to say after so many interviews and so many press conferences. But as a team, at this point we are extremely confident going into the football game about our preparation, confident for the right reasons. We have told our players yesterday, I would not trade one day of our preparation for another, because they have gone at it a great way. They have practiced hard. They have been focused. Our meetings have been good, and they have conducted themselves, really the entire week, in a great way, a way that gives them a great opportunity to be successful tomorrow night so we feel good going in. Again, very confident going in as a team, and excited to go compete with Florida State. It's a great opportunity to be here in the Orange Bowl, a place where Oklahoma has a fantastic history, and we recognize that and hopefully we'll continue to build on it.

COACH STOOPS: Yes, but I was a little older then. I was playing at the University of Ohio. I was not following them as closely then as I had been but as a younger person, I loved watching them play. In light of why do young people follow teams, it's kind of like why people followed the Bulls for so long; because they win. And they always had the special players. I thought they had a special coach in Coach Switzer and the style, the way he won and just a great way. And then the players. They always had the Greg Pruitts, the Washingtons, the Steve Owens, the list just goes on and on, with the different style of offense, the wishbone was fun to watch. So anyway, all of those are reasons why I followed them.

COACH STOOPS: I don't know how to do that. They are in different offenses, totally different offenses, different schemes, ask to make different throws, so it is hard to compare them. They are both -- what you do see is they are both leaders on their team. They are both winners. You know, they are both, you know, confident, poised people as they play, and you are not as successful as they have been if you don't have all of those qualities. So outside of that, you say they are asked to do different things, but they both run their offense in a great way.

COACH STOOPS: Well, that's not for me to say. Right now, this is what we have so this is what's going to do it. I think eventually it will keep working, if not towards a playoff maybe everybody, a certain number of teams will play an extra game, maybe the Big East play the ACC in a Championship Game, Pac 10 Big 10 play a Championship Game, and along with the SEC that already plays one and the Big 12 that already plays one, maybe play an extra game at the end of the season and then decide how the BCS sets up. So it will keep working that way. I'm sure they will figure something out.

COACH STOOPS: I don't believe so. You look at the polls as well as I do. We've got about all of the first-place votes that are out there, don't we; all but maybe three or four? So that's pretty strong respect right there. And outside of that, I watched the games the last week like you have, and there's been a great number of underdogs that have won and won big. In fact, the majority of underdogs have won the Bowls. Then I look at the big games we have had throughout the year, we've been big underdogs in many of them. I think a ten-point underdog to Texas, a nine-point underdog to Kansas State. So if the odds-makers were always right, we would not be sitting here. We would probably be 7-4, 8-3 right now. Instead, we are 12-0 and would not be more confident.

COACH STOOPS: Well, like it is in all of the games I've been in, no difference. I've been fortunate that I have been in some very big games with a lot on the line too. Me, tonight and tomorrow will be more fun than the last week. So just get ready to play. Get concentrated on the became. We're looking forward to it.

COACH STOOPS: Just competing against Florida State four years ago in a National Championship Game, playing them four times in my time there, I have a good feel for them as well and what we need to do to win and what it will be like playing them. So there is not a whole lot. We run a different defense, a different offense than they do at Florida so there is not a whole lot that Coach can help us with there, plus we know he understands them as well. We speak quite often, Coach and I, but he's not -- he's not sitting here trying to tell us what to do or to coach this game, outside of just wishing us luck and encouraging us to have a good game.

COACH STOOPS: Chuck has been a perfect fit. A year ago when he entered to coach us with the Bowl game with the other coaches when Mike Leach accepted the coaching job at Tech, Chuck jumped in with nine years as an NFL quarterback he had run a good bit of our offense at different points in his career. So Chuck comes in and within three days understands and knows our offense and really, has been a great mentor to Josh as a former quarterback relates to him well. He has helped develop his technique, his fundamentals. He has helped him mentally to progress. Again, being a quarterback himself, being around a lot of great coaches, the coaching position, Chuck has really brought Josh along in a great way that way, along with being able to handle the year he's had, because Chuck went through a similar situation, being a Heisman Trophy candidate and with all of the attention and media attention, how to handle it, keep it all in perspective and continue to win, and Josh has been able to do that.

COACH STOOPS: I'm not going to at all belittle Shreveport, because that experience a year ago, the people there went out of there way to make it a great week. Our team loved it. I did as a coach. I thought they were fabulous, the way they treated us. And the weather there was a lot better than it was this year for them. So unfortunately for them, they got hit with and the whole country has got hit with some bad weather. But that game was a major factor in us being where we are today and being able to practice and get prepared for that game, so I'll always be grateful for that experience. Now, here in Miami, I can't say enough about the hospitality of the Orange Bowl community and the people of Miami have been outstanding. Everywhere we have been, people have treated us in a first-class way. They have gone out of their way to make it special, and we do appreciate it and hopefully we -- in return as a team and as coaches, we have been appreciative and tried to give a little bit back that way.

COACH STOOPS: Sure, this one will, you can bet.

COACH STOOPS: We're getting ready to play the National Championship Game at Oklahoma and we're going to worry about Ohio State in -- I'm not even going to comment on that. It's unfortunate when any coach is dismissed or asked to resign, however it happened. It's unfortunate, because Coach Cooper has done an excellent job, Bowl team once again, and has an excellent record there at Ohio State. But I can't speak for both programs, and, you know, their reasons. Everyone has them, and in this profession, unfortunately, that's just part of it. You've got to keep pushing to improve and get better, but I respect the job that he has done there.

COACH STOOPS: They played better. Simple. That's why you play the game. Again, if the odds-makers determined the games, they just -- all right, this is what it is supposed to be, nobody go to the game and the outcome would finished. You've got to go out there and play. Often one team whether they be more prepared and that night play in a better -- you know, in a better way, make some key plays; it's easy to happen. Again, it happens all the time. Plus, you guys know those odds-makers, a lot of times they set traps.

COACH STOOPS: Sure.

COACH STOOPS: Preparation, I would guess. And they have a hard time equating one conference to another. In other words, one conference, a team may have looked pretty strong, but then you look at that conference, maybe those teams that were pretty good are not all of the sudden getting Bowls and don't do so well, and you look at another conference of teams they beat, all of the sudden they look pretty good. I know I feel better after watching Kansas State and Nebraska the last couple of days.

COACH STOOPS: I would like to think I had done it before tonight, but you've got to execute. And I've said a number of times, defensively is where it starts. We've got to start the run games first. That's where our concentration will be first, on Travis Minor. From there you have got to tackle well, from the backers and the secondary. When they throw the ball outside you have got to limit their short throws to that short throw, tackle well, limit yards after catch. Take away big plays and limit them. Then get turnovers offensively we have got to protect their front four first and force them to have to blitz to get to us and distribute the ball, catch it when we get the opportunity and to develop a run game. If we can do that, our run game should be a factor, it needs to be, and take care of the football. They will turn the ball over. And that's always field position in special teams. If you look at all of our games, special teams for us in a good number of games this year have determined points by giving us the ball in good field position. That's your strategy. You've got to have a plan going in. I've had a month to think about it.

COACH STOOPS: He enjoyed his time as a coach, too. (Laughter)

COACH STOOPS: Not a lot. He's with his family and I'm with mine. We've bumped into each other a few times and spoken some. Plus he just got in I think two nights ago. We've had a little time, but I enjoy every time it is, but it is fun to have him here. And he's one of those guys -- I know he kind of looked at me funny before the Big 12 Championship Game, I shook his hand, talked to somebody else and shook it again before I left. He said, "I'll take all of the Sooner magic I can get." He's special and has earned his way, and certainly is a special figure in the Orange Bowl, with all of his great games here.

COACH STOOPS: I don't know if they do or not. I've said this a lot. I've never heard us described as slow; and again, you watch Kansas State match-up with a fast Tennessee team, seem to run okay with them, and we seem to be fine against Kansas State and Nebraska. So they are pretty fast, too. I believe we match up well with them. But until you get out there in the middle of the game, we'll see. But I feel good about it going in.

COACH STOOPS: He's 100%, and I feel like he was at the end of the season, as well.

COACH STOOPS: Oh, I don't know, probably haven't been a head coach long enough for me to say whether I excel at anything. I'm sure you guys will all write about that one way or another. So, I can't say. I feel good, obviously, in my two years as a head coach. I don't know what we are, 5-0 or 6-0 against Top-10 teams. That's pretty decent in big games and hopefully that will just continue. With time off or time to prepare, we had a couple weeks for Nebraska and it seemed to help. If that has anything to do with that game, I don't know. But anyway, hopefully I'm pretty good in National Championship games. We'll see.

COACH STOOPS: No, I don't. I don't look at myself in any of it. I look at it as a team, as a group in everything we do, and as a university. I feel that I'm a small part of it, and I don't -- I look at very little through just my own eyes, because the university and our program is bigger than any one person.

COACH STOOPS: After the Big 12 Championship Game. I said it all through the season, after the Nebraska game everyone wanted to say, "Now, Coach, you can say you're back." And I thought: "No, we've got five more games or four more games," whatever it was. I didn't feel -- I said I didn't believe that we had done a whole lot yet, because to me, I believe in championships. I don't want anyone patting us on the back and bragging about Oklahoma or bragging about what we're doing if we had not won a Championship, and winning the Big 12 Championship is special. That's what Oklahoma for so many years has been about, not having a great year, going 9-2, 10-1 without a championship. At Oklahoma there were 36 Conference Championships before we added another one, 37. To me, I recognize, and at all schools, I believe and I recognize coaches and teams that win championships, and first and foremost in their conference, I think says a lot.

COACH STOOPS: He has handled it in a great way. It has never changed him. His preparation remains the same. He is the same humble, confident person he always has been. He enjoys the practice. He enjoys the competition and cares little about the rest of it. That's rubbed off on our whole team. He's a team guy. That's helped promote that among our team. If he's not going to sit here and enjoy the individual attention, none of us better. He's been a great leader that way.

COACH STOOPS: It was always from afar. I never knew Coach Switzer, but I always watched him on the sidelines, watched his interviews and he always came across to me as a guy that was extremely confident and positive and I like the fact that he always enjoyed the game. He always seemed to have fun with the competition of it all, and I think that's why his team has played that way. Played -- loose isn't the right term -- but never played tight and played to their potential, and I recognize that, especially in big games. You have to give that to -- you know, part of that to the head coach, and his assistants, because they read you, and he had a great way of winning.

COACH STOOPS: It's hard to say how much it matters or it doesn't. I know this: I like the fact that our players, when you have a history and tradition and expectations like OU has and the expectation that they should be, our players walk through our halls and they walk passed the Selmon brothers, the Joe Washingtons, Billy Sims, Steve Owens, they walk through halls and have to look at all of those guys, Brian Bosworth, Two-Time Butkis, there are special teams that have played there. I have to walk into Barry Switzers every day and Coach Wilkinsons is on the ball and Coach Switzer's record, and I love that. I think our players saw that and started to embrace that you need to live up to this and if you can't quite do it you need to come as close as you can. You need to perform to the best of your ability, whatever that is. And that's what we sort of took the attitude, let's be the very best that we can be. Last year the very best we could be may have been 7-5, we were still learning and growing. Our players don't hide from it anymore. They like it. They know that it is special to play there, and that we need to perform to what's been there in front of us. I enjoy the challenge myself to have to look at those great coaches every day.

COACH STOOPS: No, there hasn't been anything difficult specifically. He knows -- again, I've been with him a long time, been through a National Championship game with him. I studied him very close while I was there. He knows, we've just got to go out and execute our game plan. So he hasn't given any special insight to it, outside of, again, just encouraging and being positive about everything.

COACH STOOPS: I have. I do, not just this week, always. And I don't look at my father -- I guess being a long-time high school coach and now that all of my family is in coaching and all that people ask me, I don't look to my dad as a coach. I don't -- you know, he was a person, a guy that I just look to as a father, a person that taught me how to live my life and respect and enjoy what really matters in my life, that's my family, my friendships, my relationship with God, those type of things and that's what really matters and that's what you hold on to and that's what makes you wealthy and successful; not a win, not money, not anything else outside of those values. It helps you keep some peace in the middle of all of this, because I do realize that's all that matters to me.

COACH STOOPS: It is. Torrance has come up big, not only at our big games but has played at a great level throughout the year and made a lot of great plays. I'm sure he will be a factor in this game. He's got good pressure to the quarterback when we have blitzed him. When we do that this week, it will need to happen, as well. He has done a great job of being a great tackler and run support player; and again, that's where I said our receivers begin, being strong against the run game. Torrance and Rocky, all of our players have really done that in a great way and he'll need to come up with some plays against the pass, as well.

COACH STOOPS: Lee has not been to one practice. Lee has not been to one locker room. He has not been anywhere near our program. Plus, didn't he graduate from Florida State? Oklahoma has six National Championships. Our players just played an incredible schedule and played the Big 12 Championship Game, had the tougher road to get here, and did it in a confident way, and expected to win in every one of those games, and that will be no different in this game. Lee starts coming to practice or starts getting around us a little bit or getting around our players, that might mean something, but outside of that, that's just Florida State talk from a guy from Florida State.

COACH STOOPS: Well, sure. You don't win the Big 12 Championship and go 12-0 and play the No. 1 team in the country, number two team in the country being back-to-back along with the No. 10 team in the country in the middle of it, and not be a confident team and expect to win. That won't change now.

COACH STOOPS: Sure. Those people think too much of their predictions or what they think. We don't listen a whole lot to them.

COACH STOOPS: It was really an easy decision when Mike Leach left to take the job at Texas Tech, I first and foremost wanted to make sure that we do not change one thing about our offense; that we would just continue to improve it. We had invested a year and our players understood it. It was very successful for us. I didn't want to change and hire a coordinator to bring in a new offense. We wanted to continue to develop the offense we were in. Coach Mangino was a major factor in our success the year before, along with our other offensive coaches. He's a good leader. A good motivator, very organized and detailed and understood our offense. So it was just natural to promote him, hire Chuck Long. And Chuck has added something, as well; as well as, again, all of our coaches contribute and run the offense. So it made it a pretty easy decision.