Oklahoma’s 7 best coaching contenders to replace Lincoln Riley, from Bob Stoops to Josh Heupel
Lincoln Riley will leave Oklahoma for USC.
Will the Sooners return to the future?
The athlete’s Bruce Feldman first reported on Riley’s passing, ending four successful years in which he had a 55-10 record in four seasons and led the Sooners to four Big 12 championships and three appearances in the College Rugby Round in Norman.
That leaves a huge void, which at least one interim coach Bob Stoops will fill in the short term. The plot opens that Oklahoma is leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, and that means big money in the future.
Who could be the next coach for Oklahoma? A closer look at the candidates.
THAN: Why did Lincoln Riley leave Oklahoma?
Bob Stoops, former Oklahoma coach
Will stop in the second interval? Stoops, 61, set a 190-48 record from 1999-2016. He won the 2000 national championship and 10 Big 12 championships. Riley replaced Stoops in 2017, and Stoops has spent this season as a Big Noon Kickoff analyst. Will he still have the itch to train long term? Stoops is the coach for the Dallas Renegades in the XFL in 2020. No matter what, Stoops will be involved in selecting the next coach.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky Coach
Stoops, 54, is Bob’s younger brother and a legitimate candidate for promotion. Stop is 58-53 in nine seasons at Kentucky, but the Wildcats have a winning record in five of the last six seasons, and he’s shown a knack for recruiting and growing against the SEC East schools with multiple sources. more force. Stoops has a decade of experience in the SEC and that could be valuable with this move.
Matt Campbell, Iowa State Coach
Campbell has competed at Iowa State since 2016. He set a 42-33 record with the Cyclones and 2021 is their fifth consecutive winning season. Campbell has done a great job building culture at Ames and he has been a candidate for big time jobs over the last few cycles. Iowa State is having a somewhat disappointing 7-5 season, but Campbell’s stock is still high enough that this is entirely possible.
THAN: It turns out that USC-bound Lincoln Riley was honest about the LSU job
Josh Heupel, Tennessee Coach
You cannot rule this out. Heupel was the quarterback on Oklahoma’s final national championship team and was the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy vote. He was also the Sooners’ assistant from 2006-14. Heupel had a 28-8 record at UCF from 2018-20, and he led Tennessee to a 7-5 win this season. He would be a high priority candidate.
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati coach
Fickell may be a perennial success due to its long roots in Ohio, but work at Cincinnati cannot be underestimated. The Bearcats have been 47-14 for the past five seasons and are on track to become the first Pot 5 school to enter the College Rugby Round. Fickell can afford to be picky about making the big move, but Sooners is still a top 10 show and is aiming for a bigger stage.
Jay Norvell, Nevada Coach
Norvell, 58, won’t be a flashy name, but Oklahoma fans are all too familiar. Norvell served as Sooner’s assistant coach from 2008-14 before taking the job at Nevada. He’s 33-26 years old, and the Wolf Pack is headed for a bad game for the fourth straight season. Nevada is 15th in FBS with 36.7 points per game this season.
THAN: All FBS coaching changes to date in 2021
Hugh Freeze, Liberty Coach
Freeze is another attractive form of attack hire. He set a 25-11 record with the Flames the previous three seasons, and he was head coach at Ole Miss for five seasons before resigning due to an NCAA violation. Freeze just signed a lucrative extension to stay at Liberty through 2028, but a return to the SEC with Oklahoma will be in the spotlight — and Freeze could be worth that second chance.
