Tulsa channel 8 sports extra guys said Mike Stoops

[Got Rings?]

had just came down by the field from the booth just before halftime and saw Tulsa had the ball with 9 seconds left and was asking them what the **** had just happened. He didn't even see the kickoff and by the time he had come down to the field Tulsa was already lined up to run the play and the Tulsa sports guys basically said that Mike was yelling to Bob but Bob couldn't hear him and yelling at the DB's to get behind the receiver from the end south end zone which is where the channel 8 guys are always at filming for their sports broadcasts.

They said Mike was livid and that their was nothing special in the way OU was trying to play that Hail Mary play. They just played regular defense and Mike was upset about it. They didn't play to defend the Hail Mary play. Wouldn't just be common sense that Tulsa was about to throw it up in the end zone to try to score with only 9 seconds left? Every one in the stadium and every one watching on TV knew what was coming it seems except our players and since our coaches didn't call to defend the play maybe they were clueless too.

Wannstandt also said at the Fox halftime show that OU didn't defend the Hail Mary pass at all like you are taught at the lowest level of football. He couldn't believe the way OU handled that situation. Just something I thought was interesting that the sports anchors at Channel 8 brought up. The way they were talking was that OU was in disarray at the end of the half after the botched kickoff and nobody took control to defend the play since Mike was coming down from the booth. I can't remember if we had a timeout left or not but if we did it would have been a good time to take one to get our guys ready to defend what everyone knew was coming.

 

[phillinois]

Coming down that elevator he was comforted with a 21 point lead.
Just saying.

 

[Got Rings?]

Coming down that elevator he was comforted with a 21 point lead.
Just saying.

Well, it was a 14 point lead that went to 7 after the TD at the end of the half. I was just repeating what those guys at channel 8 were saying and they inferred that OU's sidelines were in such shock and disarray without Mike Stoops calling the alignment that it was pretty bad. I actually think the D played fairly well in the second half and if not for the disaster at the end of the half the game wouldn't have been as close as it was and everybody wouldn't be in such a panic over the D. Concern maybe but not semi-panic mode like now.

 

[phillinois]

Well, it was a 14 point lead that went to 7 after the TD at the end of the half. I was just repeating what those guys at channel 8 were saying and they inferred that OU's sidelines were in such shock and disarray without Mike Stoops calling the alignment that it was pretty bad. I actually think the D played fairly well in the second half and if not for the disaster at the end of the half the game wouldn't have been as close as it was and everybody wouldn't be in such a panic over the D. Concern maybe but not semi-panic mode like now.

You're right about that...14 point lead. More coffee!

 

[mgoetts]

They may have expected a shorter pass asa prelude to field goal or throw into the end zone the next play. Still no excuse, though.

 

[Blair Sanderson_rivals]

I have the feeling that the players are not comfortable making adjustments on the fly for fear of retaliation from mike Stoops. Can you blame them? To me, this is just another example of tossing the players under the bus. Perhaps MS has learned that the game or half isn't over until it's over. MS should have stayed in the booth. He left early. It cost him a TD and he blames his players. Typical crap from him. It would have been better for him to just accept the responsibility for the lack of play being called and stated it as such. This is the one thing that bothers me about MS. When all goes well, he's a great DC, when it doesn't, players don't execute.

 

[JB4AU]

Ya I saw that reported I think the day after the game. It's 100% of Mike Stoops that for some reason with time still left on the clock that he simply assumed nothing was going to happen and left the press box. I doubt that will happen again. And even if OU had been in a proper defense to protect against the hail mary, there is still a chance Tulsa completes it anyway.

 

[Raysor]

Coming down that elevator he was comforted with a 21 point lead.
Just saying.

That would be very interesting.

Remember the Doug Flutie, hail Mary pass against Miami? That was against the Miami staff that Wannstedt joined two years later. But I am sure he heard the stories. At the end of the game, no excuse. But at halftime, a DC has to get to the dressing room asap. Same thing happened at the GOTC to the Husker defensive staff.

 

[GreatSTATE]

There are many games won in the last second. He should stay in the booth and call defensive signals until the half is over.

 

[KMeyersNC]

I'm willing to bet he wasn't the only one that came down from the booth at that time. It's going to take a few minutes to get down to the locker room, and then I'm sure the staff talks for a bit before addressing the players at halftime. The squib kick was a bad break that nobody expected. I would think though that the defensive coaches on the field could at least get the players lined up for a hail-mary pass.

 

[ksigcajun]

Both safeties were out of position - Parker was around the 3 yard line while Byrd was letting his guy run past him as he angled into the end zone from the center of field; neither were near the ball. FAIL is too kind of a word here,

Going forward can we have Mead, or any other "good hands" person with height, camped out on the end zone as the ball is hiked in hail mary situations? Why we are even discussing this is dismal...

 

[rob90_rivals128078]

what is weird to me is the huge number of Hail Mary plays in the last several years (BYU against Neb., Huskers against NW a year or so ago, Ariz. State against USC, Arizona against Cal, etc.). So teaching how to defend these passes should not be that difficult. D needs at least 4 if not five players at or near the goal line. OU had 2.

 

[Raysor]

There are many games won in the last second. He should stay in the booth and call defensive signals until the half is over.

At the end of a game with anything at risk, I agree with you. But if a coach always does that, then it can cause major problems getting the halftime adjustments done. You'd complain more about that, than what happened. I find it a little alarming that whomever was on the sidelines didn't know what to send in as a defend the hail mary defense. There can't be too many calls.

They worked on it during the week. Surely whoever sends in the signals knows what to call. It was absurd that they had four receivers in the area of the throw destination while we had only two defenders.This isn't on Mike.

 

[Blair Sanderson_rivals]

At the end of a game with anything at risk, I agree with you. But if a coach always does that, then it can cause major problems getting the halftime adjustments done. You'd complain more about that, than what happened. I find it a little alarming that whomever was on the sidelines didn't know what to send in as a defend the hail mary defense. There can't be too many calls.

They worked on it during the week. Surely whoever sends in the signals knows what to call. It was absurd that they had four receivers in the area of the throw destination while we had only two defenders.This isn't on Mike.

If Mike is the DC, it's on him. Period. He should have made the calls or he should have someone in place to make the calls. He did neither. What he did do is blame his players. That's bad leadership on his behalf no matter how you slice it.

 

[Raysor]

Kind of like you blame Mike for every defensive misplay. I get it.

 

[ETU]

That would be very interesting.

Remember the Doug Flutie, hail Mary pass against Miami? That was against the Miami staff that Wannstedt joined two years later. But I am sure he heard the stories. At the end of the game, no excuse. But at halftime, a DC has to get to the dressing room asap. Same thing happened at the GOTC to the Husker defensive staff.

No problem with Mike leaving early except if that's the case, shouldn't some other defensive coach (or better yet, Bob) make the defensive call rather than just leave it up to the players? Question for me is at what point did Mike decide to leave the box? Before the onside or after? If he left after onside, why didn't he make sure someone knew to call the defense he wanted? Weird sh** if you asked me.

 

[gtanduga]

No problem with Mike leaving early except if that's the case, shouldn't some other defensive coach (or better yet, Bob) make the defensive call rather than just leave it up to the players? Question for me is at what point did Mike decide to leave the box? Before the onside or after? If he left after onside, why didn't he make sure someone knew to call the defense he wanted? Weird sh** if you asked me.

Good call. Unless we were out of timeouts, Bob should have called one to make sure his guys were lined up and ready for a Hail Mary. It was obvious what they were going to do when they lined up, so Bob could have prevented this even if Mike was not on his headset. However, if we were out of timeouts, then shame on Mike and Bob for not having our guys ready in the first place to stop the Hail Mary. As fitty says, "This isn't rocket surgery!"

 

[Raysor]

We were out of TOs. And I assume Mike left after Tulsa scored so he could get to the dressing room to consult with the coaches on the field, so they could plan the next half. I know that he didn't see the strange kickoff, that I disagree with the broadcast crew about. They said it was an onsides kick. I believer he just tried to hard squib kick and it hit Frank, who looked a little unprepared to move out of the way, back on his heels.

It's probably four minutes plus however long you wait for the elevator to arrive. And the closer to halftime, the more people you have to wade through to get to the dressing room. Leaving before that commercials time out after the TD would provide the time to get there as the players were walking in.

 

[phillinois]

We were out of TOs. And I assume Mike left after Tulsa scored so he could get to the dressing room to consult with the coaches on the field, so they could plan the next half. I know that he didn't see the strange kickoff, that I disagree with the broadcast crew about. They said it was an onsides kick. I believer he just tried to hard squib kick and it hit Frank, who looked a little unprepared to move out of the way, back on his heels.

It's probably four minutes plus however long you wait for the elevator to arrive. And the closer to halftime, the more people you have to wade through to get to the dressing room. Leaving before that commercials time out after the TD would provide the time to get there as the players were walking in.

Yep, we're all blessed, (or cursed) with the advantage of hindsight, and like politicians, coaches better have thick skin too. I don't know that I could do a high profile gig like that with all the white hot scrutiny.
That would be tough.

 

[gtanduga]

We were out of TOs. And I assume Mike left after Tulsa scored so he could get to the dressing room to consult with the coaches on the field, so they could plan the next half. I know that he didn't see the strange kickoff, that I disagree with the broadcast crew about. They said it was an onsides kick. I believer he just tried to hard squib kick and it hit Frank, who looked a little unprepared to move out of the way, back on his heels.

It's probably four minutes plus however long you wait for the elevator to arrive. And the closer to halftime, the more people you have to wade through to get to the dressing room. Leaving before that commercials time out after the TD would provide the time to get there as the players were walking in.

Plaino, thanks for the info on the TOs. To me, it clearly was a squib kick that hit Shannon in the heel and turned out good for TU. Even with Mike on his way down from the pressbox, Bob should have stepped in and got the DBs together to prevent the Hail Mary. Oh well, another lesson learned for the Stoops brothers. Very much like re-punting the ball to the conference's fastest punt returner when we downed it at the 15 with a minute and change to play (see OSU vs. OU 2014).

 

[JB4AU]

Whether it falls on Mike, or whether it falls on Bob, it's an issue of the coaches lacking in communication and leaving their defensive players in a situation to fail. Period. If no coach stepped up to give instructions to fhe defense, then that's not the players fault. Getting to the locker room ASAP may be critically important to work on halftime adjustments, but doing so before time rums out leaves the risk that Mike misses something critically important happening on the field. And that's exactly what happened. So all of this is on Mike as the DC, and also Bob for not setting up who will be calling defensive plays in a situation like that when Mike has left the box and isn't in a position to do his job. Period. It's on the coaches, not the players. Period!!!!

Thankfully this happened in a game that it didn't lead to a loss. So I am quite certain Bob and Mike will learn from this breakdown and make adjustments to make certain it doesn't happen again.

 

[Raysor]

I think a part of the issue is that Mike just learned one negative about being in the press box instead of on the sideline. He doesn't yet have a feel for how long it takes to get to the dressing and it's longer than it's ever been, because of the temp dressing facilities this year while the Switzer Center is empty. It's not a small matter.

Part of this is because of the old regulations of the Big 8. Their very self defeating regulations. During my time at OU, 44 or 45 years ago, during all the unrest of the Vietnam War, the Big 8 decided that home teams in the conference WERE REQUIRED to sit on the student section side of the stadium. Since virtually every student seating in the country is on the east side, so that the big money donors can sit with their backs to the afternoon sun, it meant that ever conference team had to site on the sun side of the stadium, with the sun in their face. It create a home field disadvantage. I still think there were at least three non conference losses because of this requirement which lasted until the Big Eight became The Big XII.

So when OU built the Switzer Center, they built it with an east side location under the east side of the south end zone stands. It means that the home team coaches have further to go to get to their halftime dressing room (because every press box in the country, except maybe OSU, which is the only stadium in the country where the field runs east and west, rather than the customary north and south.) It is also why the teams at Memorial Stadium / Owen Field have to cross each other going to halftime. The BIg XII deleted the requirement. It is dumb for any conference to put their teams at a home field disadvantage.

Hopefully, the new paradigm will fix it. The old varsity dressing room is under the west side stands. Now it's the visitors dressing room. It is ridiculous that their teams' coaches and players can easily get there faster than the home team.

So that was also a factor in Mike's decision to leave early. I just hope they fix this disadvantage in the new stadium configuration.

 

[Blair Sanderson_rivals]

While all this sounds amazing, it's the inability for him to properly accept the responsibility of the screw up that has me troubled. Elevators, squib kick, TOs, be damned... there's no need for a Coach with his experience to fault his players in a situation like this. It is what it is and he is what he is.

 

[gtanduga]

Whether it falls on Mike, or whether it falls on Bob, it's an issue of the coaches lacking in communication and leaving their defensive players in a situation to fail. Period. If no coach stepped up to give instructions to fhe defense, then that's not the players fault. Getting to the locker room ASAP may be critically important to work on halftime adjustments, but doing so before time rums out leaves the risk that Mike misses something critically important happening on the field. And that's exactly what happened. So all of this is on Mike as the DC, and also Bob for not setting up who will be calling defensive plays in a situation like that when Mike has left the box and isn't in a position to do his job. Period. It's on the coaches, not the players. Period!!!!

Thankfully this happened in a game that it didn't lead to a loss. So I am quite certain Bob and Mike will learn from this breakdown and make adjustments to make certain it doesn't happen again.

Ouch! Sometimes the truth hurts. Good post BR

 

[rob90_rivals128078]

And I thought OU had learned not to waste TO's after watching the Tennessee game. Sigh.

 

[ETU]

All these years I have wondered why Bob had "assistant" and "co-" coordinators. Maybe its the job of the assistant defensive coordinator (Kish had that position last year) to call the defensive play when Mike is in an elevator. But those positions don't exist this season.

This is just a joke, so don't go all crazy on me. But I do think its kinda funny to think about.