Bob Stoops announces he is retiring, effective immediately

Today, Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops made that stunning announcement that he was retiring as head coach of the team, effective immediately. The move will shake the college football landscape, as one of the top teams in the country will now have a new captain at the helm for the first time in 18 years. 33-year-old Lincoln Riley, who has served as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator for the last two seasons, will now take over as head coach.

An unexpected retirement

In his statement Bob Stoops said that, "I feel the timing is perfect to hand over the reins", while thanking his fellow players and coaches for a "lifetime of memories." Stoops said that new coach Lincoln Riley is in the perfect place for a seamless transition to happen. He did say that his decision had nothing to do with his health, saying that "I've had no incidents that would prevent me from coaching."

This was confirmed by a high-ranking source in Oklahoma's athletic department who told ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski that Stoop's decision was not an "overnight revelation." The source also added that Stoops did not want to get to the point in which the school had to force him out and added that they did not expect Stoops to coach at any level of football again.

Bob Stoops career at Oklahoma

Bob Stoops took over the Oklahoma Sooners in 1999, after they had gone 12-22 in the previous three seasons under John Blake. In his second season, he lead them to a 13-0 record and they were crowned BCS National Chmapions. This early success would earn Stoops the nickname "Big Game Bob." He would lead the team to three more title games, but they would lose in 2003 (LSU), 2004 (USC) and 2008 (Florida).

In his 18 seasons as head coach, Stoops had a 190-48 (.798) record. He has the most wins of any coach in program history and the third best winning percentage. His 190 victories were fourth among active FBS coaches, only behind Bill Snyder (202), Nick Saban (205) and Brian Kelly (230).

They are also tied for the 22nd most all time for FBS victories by a head coach.

In Big 12 conference play he had a slightly better winning percentage, as his record was 121-29 (.806). Stoops has led the Sooners to a bowl game every season, going 9-9 in those games. He also has 14 double-digit win seasons and won ten Big 12 titles. Stoops also won one AP Coach of the Year award and six Big 12 Coach of the Year Awards. He also had coached 19 consensus All-Americans and two Heisman winners in Jason White (2003) and Sam Bradford (2008).