Cole Statement on the Retirement of Bob Stoops

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after Bob Stoops, Head Coach of the University of Oklahoma (OU) Football Team, announced his retirement from his position. Stoops has served as the Head Coach since 1999.

"Eighteen years ago Bob Stoops took the reins of a legendary football program that had fallen upon hard times. 190 wins later, with ten Big 12 titles and a national championship to his credit, Coach Stoops is doing what very few people get to do – he's leaving on his terms while he is still at the top of his game. The Sooner Nation owes Bob Stoops a debt of gratitude for returning Oklahoma Football to its rightful place among the elite programs in the country.

"While I am proud of Coach Stoops' winning record, I am even more proud of the manner in which he has operated his program and the many contributions he has made to Oklahoma off the field. Coach Stoops ran one of the cleanest and classiest programs in America. And he is handing it over to his successor in pristine condition, with a sterling record of winning while playing by the rules.

"Off the field I have seen Bob Stoops and his players visiting awe struck, grateful children at pediatric cancer centers. I have visited Oklahoma soldiers in Iraq who proudly displayed Oklahoma banners and footballs that Coach Stoops had sent them. I have heard him address soldiers at Fort Sill, telling them that he knew who the real warriors and heroes were, and that they were not football players. And I have watched him at charity events for Boys and Girls Clubs thanking donors for helping kids who needed some support and a safe place to go after school.

"Bob Stoops and his entire family are an Oklahoma treasure. They have all given to our state in countless ways as individuals and as a family. We have all been proud of him, his family and his program from the day he walked onto the campus at the University of Oklahoma.

"I wish him and Carol the very best as they enter the next chapter of a storied career. Boomer Sooner!"