Mon Sep 16 15:39:09 UTC 2024: ## Former OU Coach Bob Stoops Declines Interview Requests Ahead of Sooners’ First SEC Game

Norman, OK – Former University of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops has declined interview requests from various media outlets ahead of the Sooners’ first SEC game against the Tennessee Volunteers, according to a statement he posted on X (formerly Twitter). The game, scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC, features a familiar face on the opposing sideline: former OU star and Stoops assistant Josh Heupel.

Stoops stated that all attention should be focused on the two coaches and their programs, emphasizing his respect for both Heupel and current OU head coach Brent Venables. He highlighted their significant contributions to the Sooners, including Venables’ 13 years as a coach at OU, culminating in the 2000 national championship, and Heupel’s 10 years as a player and coach, including his role as the quarterback of the 2000 national championship team.

“I have often said he is the MVP of all my recruits because he was the catalyst that go(t) us started in ’99,” Stoops wrote in his statement, referring to Heupel’s crucial role in the program’s success.

Heupel, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2000, started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma in 2004 and later served as the Sooners’ quarterbacks coach from 2006 to 2014. He led the team as co-offensive coordinator in 2011 before being fired after the 2014 season, paving the way for Lincoln Riley to join Stoops’ staff.

Heupel has since held assistant coaching positions at Utah State and Missouri, before being hired as head coach of the UCF Knights in 2018. He is now in his fourth season as the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.

“It’ll be unique for myself to be on the other side of the sideline,” Heupel said at SEC Media Days in July. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of Saturdays where I was on the home sideline. But there are so many great teammates, friends that will be there. Got great respect for the university, the program. A lot of friends that are coaching on the opposing sideline that day, former teammates that will be coaching on that opposing sideline, too. So it’ll be unique to be back there, but excited to be there.”

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