Exclusive: Mike Stoops In Studio For The Blitz

New Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops stopped by the Oklahoma City studio to speak with Dean Blevins and John Holcomb.

Monday, March 12th 2012, 12:42 am

By: News 9


OKLAHOMA CITY – Most assistant football coaches dream of someday becoming a head coach.

But then again, some of them don't realize that there are many benefits of going back to being an assistant.

Former Arizona coach and current OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said a couple of those benefits in particular had a big impact on his decision to come back to the Sooners.

"You're in charge of so many things when you are the head coach and certainly that experience is going to help me to go back and be a better assistant coach and coordinator," he said. "I miss the intimacy of coaching that collective group of players and that's something as a head coach that you miss out at times because you're in charge of virtually everything."

Stoops said when he got back on the Oklahoma campus and set foot on the practice field, he was still in head coach mode. He said it took him a little while to remember that he was in charge of a specific group of players and not the entire squad.

Stoops isn't exactly starting with a blank slate at OU despite his extended absence. He's familiar with how things work around the program and also has some of the nation's top talent to work with in putting together a top-notch defense.

"When it's all said and done I think this group of players can be very explosive, and very easy to coach and very smart," he said. "I've been very pleased with the four practices we have had."

But while he might feel right at home with how things work at Oklahoma, the Big 12 as a whole has seen some significant changes in Stoops' absence.

The majority of the conference went to wide open and spread-style offenses, resulting in logistics nightmares for defensive coordinators and some of the country's most gaudy statistics.

Stoops said the evolution of the game spans further than just the Big 12, but it's certainly something he will have to learn how to plan for.

"Teams have done a good job of using all the space on a game field. Vertically and horizontally, the game is not being played in a very small box as they would say anymore. This is a game where every piece of the field is utilized and good offenses do that."

Mike Stoops dropped by the Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz to spend some time talking about spring practice, the upcoming season and his transition back from Arizona.

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