S P O RT S
BY: CHRIS PLANK
No Excuses
Stoops’ Book Offers Personal, Poignant Account of Coach’s Life
Perhaps not. But, in his new book “No Excuses: The Making of a Head Coach,” the all-time winningest coach in Oklahoma football history opens a door into his personal and professional world, giving access like never before.
Before his Salute to Stoops celebration in April 2018, Stoops was asked if he had any interest in writing a book. “I’m thinking about it,” Stoops said. “I don’t know if there’s a market out there for it or not. So, we’ll see.”
Some of his motivation may have come more than 20 years earlier, however, while traveling across the country.
“We drove in the middle of the night, so I went to the library, and I got the cassette to ‘Bootlegger’s Boy.’ It was Barry Switzer narrating his book,” Stoops said. 20 | January 2020
After finishing that book, he knew it was something he might do someday.
So, when he officially decided to tell his story, Stoops teamed with longtime ESPN writer Gene Wojciechowski.
“I’ve been asked through the years from coaches from all different sports, as well as levels, how did this path happen for you. How did you become the head coach and how can I do it?” Stoops said. “In a five-minute conversation, I don’t know how to answer that. I can’t tell you how to do it in a quick setting. So, I thought why not just lay out how it worked for me.” But it has been more than just coaches who wanted advice on how to reach the next level. “I’ve been asked through the years from even businessmen,” Stoops said. “How did you turn it around so fast from something that was really struggling? And then, how did you stay so consistent for 20 years? So, I lay out our thought processes and what was important to us and our program.” Stoops and Wojciechowski would talk
for hours on the phone to lay out stories and ideas. As the project progressed, Wojciechowski had just one request for the usually reserved and protective head coach. “In covering him, he was always pleasant and helpful, but anyone who covered him would tell you that Bob wouldn’t let the shield down. When we first started the process, I told him he had to write an honest book. You owe it to the people that are going to buy the book,” Wojciechowski said. “He, sort of in a polite way said, ‘you know me. That is all I know to be, honest. I didn’t bear my soul as a coach because that wasn’t my job’.” I found it so refreshing and cool, and I felt like, as we were doing the book, I was learning about a new Bob Stoops, a person I had never known before.”
The 294-page book, released in early September, gives a glimpse behind the scenes of Bob Stoops, the head coach, and Bob Stoops, the person. Stoops tells about how difficult it was to fire Josh Heupel, the Sooner’s na-
Photos by: Mark Doescher
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uring his time at Oklahoma, Bob Stoops re-established the Sooners as a national power on the gridiron and did so with a no-nonsense attitude. But, did we truly know Bob Stoops? Did we truly understand what drove him, what was important to him and what led to his retirement?
