Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops faced the media for the first time following the release of a video where Sooners tailback Joe Mixon punched woman and addressed the incident and its aftermath.
Speaking with reporters in Norman on Wednesday, Stoops said he wished the video would have been released back in 2014 when the case occurred and that, in retrospect, the one year suspension of Mixon when he was an incoming freshman was too light considering what had happened.
“Two and half years later, it’s fair to say (the punishment) wasn’t enough,” Stoops said.
In the video released late last week, Mixon was shown punching Oklahoma student Amelia Molitor at a restaurant. Molitor suffered several broken bones in her face and has filed a lawsuit against Mixon as a result of the action.
The tailback had accepted a plea deal from local prosecutors that kept him out of jail, among other conditions, but missed a year of team activities after school officials reviewed the video two years ago.
A former five-star recruit, Mixon returned to the field last season and has helped the team to back-to-back New Year’s Six bowls and a pair of Big 12 titles. He is expected to declare for the 2017 NFL Draft following the team’s Sugar Bowl appearance against Auburn next month.
It’s not too surprising to see Stoops express remorse over a punishment that many considered light at the time and even lighter now that the video has surfaced publicly. What will be interesting to see is if the veteran coach starts to change his tune when it comes to future incidents considering Mixon is far from the only Sooner in recent memory to have an incident like this in his past.