Bob Stoops, the former head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and College Football Hall of Fame inductee, shares insights on building a winning culture. He emphasizes the importance of authentic relationships in coaching and the ability to connect with players. Stoops discusses the significance of character in recruitment and creating a championship mindset. He reflects on balancing a demanding career with family life, offering valuable advice for aspiring leaders about resilience, hard work, and effective communication.
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Relating to Players
Bob Stoops learned about relating to players from his father, a 30-year high school football coach.
His father coached hard but maintained strong relationships, a principle Stoops carried throughout his career.
insights INSIGHT
Finding Your Style
There's no single right way to coach, as seen with Steve Spurrier and Bill Snyder's contrasting styles.
Stoops found his personality aligned more with Spurrier's casual approach, influencing his own coaching style.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Authenticity in Coaching
Be authentic as a coach; players can detect inauthenticity instantly.
This applies to leadership beyond sports, authenticity is key.
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Bob Stoops was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2021. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 to 2016. He led the Sooners to a 191-48 record over his career. His 2000/2001 team won the national championship. He earned the National Coach of the Year award the same season. Since 2020, Stoops has been a head coach in the XFL, winning an XFL Championship in 2023 with the Arlington Renegades. He played college football at the University of Iowa, earning team MVP his senior year as a defensive back.
Notes:
Coaches Bob has worked for: Hayden Fry at Iowa, Bill Snyder at Kansas State, and Steve Spurrier at Florida. He's worked for some amazing coaches.
Relationships are everything. You must connect with people. You must be authentic. Learn from other coaches, but you have to be yourself
Sherri Coale: “One of my favorite things about him is he’s the busiest man on the planet but never appeared that way. That’s a skill and an art. That fascinates me.”
What makes a great head coach? They relate to people. They care about them. They can motivate and influence by clearly sharing the vision of the program and inspiring others to get on board. They are decisive people. Most importantly, they know how to connect with people. All leadership is a people business. If you can’t connect with others, you’ll probably struggle.
Creating a “coaches forest” (beyond a tree) - Mike Stoops, Mark Mangino, Mike Leach, Bo Pelini, Kevin Sumlin, Kevin Wilson, Lincoln Riley, and more. How has Bob prepared so many guys to be successful head coaches?
Hiring – “I always tried to hire people smarter than me.” A lot of people say this, but not all do this. Coach Stoops looked for people who had a track record of performance… And then he used his gut instincts after he spent time with him. He paid attention to how they treated his secretary, how they treated the waiter at lunch… Some call those the little things, but they were very important to Coach Stoops
The overarching theme of the entire conversation was the simplicity of how Coach Stoops built his program. He didn’t try to overcomplicate anything. He knew he wanted coaches who were accomplished, high-character people. And he wanted tough players who loved football. Their offenses may have looked exotic but they didn’t have a ton of plays installed. They focused on what they did and then practiced it relentlessly so that they would execute better than their opponents. I think there’s something beautiful in the simplicity with how he’s built his program and the results speak for themselves.
Great players want to be coached - Jeremiah Smith, Adrian Peterson.
What he looked for in players: They have to LOVE football. Need to be tough and physical. Someone like Dan Cody. From Oklahoma, was skinny, and nobody on the staff wanted to give him a scholarship, but Coach Stoops did, and he turned out to be a great player. Liked to keep local guys home.
Off-season workouts create the culture of the team. "We won because we outworked everyone."
The attitude of the national championship team - "They were tired of being kicked around." And "I shared with them the history of Oklahoma and let them know the way it should be. When we started, they were a losing team."
Josh Heupel - The most valuable recruit ever for Coach Stoops.
Mike Leach was a 1 of 1. An original. He seemed relaxed and casual, but he was also very demanding that they do it right. He was also focused on just a few plays instead of trying to do everything. FOCUS. Do what we do
Wife Carol - Impressive leader at Mary Kay. Won a pink Cadillac 16 years in a row. National Sales Director.
Life/Career Advice - Go hard, be tough, be true to yourself, enjoy the struggle, and look forward to the fight. Nothing great happens without going through struggles first.
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