Outbreak at Oklahoma has Sooners welcoming back a familiar face: Bob Stoops

Riley was short on coaches, as well as players, because of a coronavirus outbreak that led to last week’s postponement of a game against West Virginia. The 60-year-old Stoops, who retired in 2017 and handed the reins to Riley, has remained on the Sooners’ staff as a special assistant to the athletic director, making him eligible to pitch in on short notice with preparation for a game this week against Baylor.

“Actually, we brought Coach Stoops out of retirement today,” Riley told reporters. “He was on the field and coached with us today.”

“It’s been kind of in our hip pocket this whole time; if we had any staff member that fell off, we’ve got a Hall of Famer sitting on the bench,” added Riley, whose team is No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings. “So that’s a pretty good bench, when you can call that guy up. More than that, how much he cares about this program, I don’t think there’s anything he wouldn’t do, so it was great to have him out there today. It was awesome.”

Stoops took over a Sooners program in 1999 that had been struggling on the field for several years and almost immediately restored it to powerhouse status. Oklahoma won a national title after the 2000 season, and his teams went on to appear in the BCS championship game in 2004, 2005 and 2009. Stoops ended his career as the winningest coach in Sooners history, posting a record of 190-48 with double-digit wins in 14 of his 18 seasons.

Riley, who served as Stoops’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for two seasons before being promoted to head coach, has proved more than worthy as a successor, going 12-2 and winning the Big 12 in each of his first three seasons. Riley, whose team is 6-2 this year, has also coached two Heisman Trophy winners — quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray — as many as Stoops did during his tenure (quarterbacks Jason White and Sam Bradford).

“When Lincoln asked me if I’d be willing to help in a coaching role while he was a little short-handed I didn’t hesitate to say yes,” Stoops said Tuesday in a statement. “Certainly I’m happy to do anything I can to assist the team for however long I’m asked to. But obviously with me being away from the day-to-day activities of the program for a while now, my input will be minimal.

“If I can add some enthusiasm or positive energy for these players — and I do know most of them — that’s a good thing. But let’s not get carried away. The people that will influence this game and the rest of our games this season will be Coach Riley, his staff and the players. I’m just going to do my best to help out however I can while keeping a low profile.”

While the game vs. West Virginia was postponed to Dec. 12, Riley said he thought the Sooners would be “in position to play on Saturday” against Baylor as long as they “could have a good week here, as far as the tests.”

One intriguing possibility is that Stoops might be on the sideline for Saturday’s game.

“We’ll just have to see how the week plays out and what’s available as far as the current, quote-unquote, normal staff,” Riley said. “But it’s certainly a pretty darn good option to have.”