This is certainly an unexpected development.
At various points during the latest spinning of the coaching carousel, Bob Stoops’ name was connected to both Auburn and Ohio State, with the retired head coach vehemently denying a connection to the former job that wasn’t even open at the time the speculation surfaced. There was also speculation that Stoops would be in play (again) for the Cleveland Browns job, although that never progressed beyond the rumor stage.
Seemingly content in retirement, that could very well change in short order as our overlords at ProFootballTalk are reporting that it’s expected that Stoops will be named as the head coach/general manager of the Dallas entry in the relaunch of the XFL pro football league. An official announcement could come as early as Thursday.
“I will say, regardless of what you might hear out there in the papers, if I intended again to coach that would have been part of my statement,” Stoops said in October of 2017. “I would have said, ‘I’m stepping away here now for this time for myself, but when it comes to the next year or two, I look forward to getting back in it.’
“But that’s not what I said. You won’t see me on a college sideline or a pro sideline. A lot of people act like they know, and there will be more than a few jobs out there. But that isn’t at all what I’m looking to do.”
The 58-year-old Stoops spent his entire 34-year coaching career at the collegiate level. In June of 2017, Stoops stunned the college football world by leaving Oklahoma after 18 seasons as the Sooners’ head coach and retiring from the sport.