Bob Stoops sidesteps Josh Heupel-Brent Venables questions before Oklahoma-Tennessee
09/16/2024 08:53 PM
No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel and No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables have a history with the Oklahoma program. Their respective relationships with former Oklahoma football head coach Bob Stoops were tested, as he dodged questions regarding the matchup via Knox News.
"Having a strong history with both (Oklahoma coach) Brent Venables and Josh Heupel as players/ coaches has led to far too many requests for interviews — so I’m respectfully declining them all," Stoops said in a social media post.
"All attention needs to be on those two coaches & their programs."
The history for Venables and Heupel runs deep for Stoops. Heupel led Stoops' Oklahoma team to the 2000 national title as a Heisman runner-up quarterback. Several years later, Heupel developed electric offenses at Missouri and Tennessee, as well as Heisman award-winning quarterbacks. Defensively. Venables was the defensive coordinator for Oklahoma (2000) and Clemson (2016 and 2018). All of which ended up winning National Championships.
Not to mention, Heupel was a runner-up to the 2000 Heisman award as a player on that Oklahoma squad. However, the relationship between Heupel and Stoops quickly soured. The Tennessee head coach was fired as the offensive coordinator in 2014 by Stoops.
Will Bob Stoops favor Josh Heupel or Brent Venables?
It’s hard to say, considering that both Heupel and Venables helped Stoops win the 2000 National Championship with Oklahoma. Heupel and Venables will be on the field at the same time, this time for opposite universities. While both coaches have major respect for one another, it might not be that way for the former Oklahoma head coach.
The first game in the SEC will be tough for both teams but both are up to the challenge. Tennessee dominated Kent State in Week 2, while Oklahoma made quick work of Tulane. In that social media post, Stoops made quite the statement.
"I have great respect for both coaches," Stoops said in the social media post. "I'm grateful for their great work here at OU; Brent as a coach here for 13 years including our national championship in 2000. Josh was our 2000 national championship QB & coach for 10 years.
"I’ve often said he is the MVP of all my recruits because he was the catalyst that (got) us started in ’99. I wish them both great success moving forward! But in the end, I’m all Boomer Sooner!"
Stoops is rocking with his Oklahoma team for the opening matchup of SEC play. Regardless, Tennessee has looked legit and can start the season undefeated in conference play. Both teams will square off in Heupel’s first return to Gaylord Family- Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, resulting in a mixed reaction for the former Sooner coaching an SEC rival.
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