Stoops, Wilson, Long Meet with Media

December 20th, 2005

Courtesy: SoonerSports.com Release: 12/18/2005

NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, Sooner offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and former OU assistant and new San Diego State head coach Chuck Long spoke with members of the news media on Sunday.

Here is a transcript of those interviews. Long was named SDSU’s coach on Saturday, and later that evening, Stoops promoted Wilson to offensive coordinator at OU.

Quotes from Bob Stoops
On naming Kevin Wilson as offensive coordinator: “Kevin, along with our other coaches, has been part of our success. We will continue in our schemes and game plans. We don’t feel our direction will change. I like that our offense doesn’t change, but it’s always evolving and we’re always manipulating. We adapt to use our talent, but there are no wholesale changes. I have great confidence in all of our offensive coaches.”

On hiring another coach to fill the staff vacancy: “There is no true timetable. I have a good idea of what I intend to do. We’ll work through that in the next few days. I don’t know if that person will be at the bowl game and I don’t necessarily know if he has to be.”

On Chuck Long’s involvement at the bowl game: “I am going to talk to Chuck and see what is possible. He won’t be involved in the game plan, but will know it and will be there to help. If he’s able to continue, that would be a positive. We would welcome that.”

On if his team’s tendencies will change on offense: “I don’t know why they would. We always want to be effective running and throwing. Kevin has been a major part of coordinating our offense already. He worked hand in hand with Chuck for five years.”

On whether the quarterback will now have more carries: “I don’t believe so. Rhett (Bomar) is not going to carry the ball more than Adrian (Peterson).”

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Quotes from Kevin Wilson
On being named offensive coordinator: “I’m excited that Coach Stoops has confidence in what we’ll do. We’ll continue what we’ve done. I don’t see a lot of change. Just want to get our offense back to where we are playing at a championship level. My job is not about statistics; it’s about winning. The bottom line is getting W’s, and at Oklahoma it’s about winning championships.”

On offensive philosophy: “The key component is being sound with the ball. Taking care of the ball is number one. Number two is being physical. The third thing is being balanced – being able to run and throw. It’s not necessarily equal or 50-50, but be effective at both.”

On running the quarterback more: “You have to be flexible with what works with your guys. Do you have a mobile quarterback or not? You can handle what your offensive line and quarterback can handle. Then the skill guys make it look better.”

On possible changes: “The things we have been doing are things that I am about. We started to evolve at the end of the year and we want to build on that. I don’t see radical changes, but again, our players will determine some of that. My ego is not big enough that we need to change things. We need to do what’s best for our program.”

On other members of the offensive staff: “Cale (Gundy), Darrell (Wyatt) and Kevin (Sumlin) will have a huge part in this. We don’t do this in individual offices. There are a lot of ideas thrown out.”

On calling plays: “Chuck was running the offense, but he was also relying a lot on me. When I had a concern he knew we needed to do things the line could handle.”

On Chuck Long’s involvement at the bowl game: “If Chuck could be there, that would be great. Hopefully he can help us. I hope he would want to do that and could.”

On coaching the quarterbacks: “I’ll probably spend an hour with Rhett every day to tell him what we’re thinking and see what he likes. I’m going to put a great deal of confidence in him. He’s a young guy, but he has come a long way. He will talk with Coach Wyatt on the passing part of the offense. We were doing a lot of that anyway. And he’ll meet a great deal with Coach Gundy when working on the inside run game.”

Wilson said he will probably coach from the sidelines for this game and then decide after the bow, partly depending on the hiring process, whether he will remain there in the 2006 season.

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Quote from Chuck Long
On Bob Stoops and Oklahoma: “I just want to say how much we will miss Oklahoma. I want to thank Bob Stoops and the staff for making it a great place to work. We had a wonderful six years there. It was a great run and something I will never forget. I am very excited about this new opportunity. We wouldn’t have this opportunity if not for Coach Stoops and the staff I worked with there. We will truly miss it. And I want to thank the fans for their support.”

On why he chose this opportunity: “I had some inquiries in the past. They either weren’t a good fit for us at the time or just felt like we had some more work to do at Oklahoma. When this opened up and they started to court me we saw this was an opportunity we just couldn’t pass up. I believe I’m ready to be a head coach. I’ve learned a lot from watching Bob over the last six years. I studied that and believe this is the time and this is the opportunity.”

On leaving Oklahoma: “It was very difficult. We made winning look easy. Sometimes that’s taken for granted. It’s hard to win. It was a very special time. And this past season was one of the more gratifying seasons I’ve ever had. The way we worked through the fist part of the season and I believe that team is in prime position to making a great three-year run.”

On talking with Rhett Bomar: “I prepped him on the decision before I left on Friday. I told him it may happen. I wanted to get face to face with him and make sure he knew what was going on. I knew when I went out there that there was a strong possibility I would be offered and accept the job. Growing up with a father who has been a coach at a lot of different high schools, Rhett understands that part because his father moved a couple different times. He’s mature that way. He understood.”

On Kevin Wilson: “I think it’s great for Kevin. Kevin deserves it. He has been an integral part of our staff in game planning. He’s ready for that. He’s done before obviously at Northwestern and had great success there. It’s only natural for Bob to do that. I know Kevin is excited. With the bowl game coming up, it will be his first game to call it. I wish him all great success and you’re going to have great success with Kevin. He’s very smart. You’re going to see and exciting brand of offense with Kevin.”

On involvement at the bowl game: “I want to be here (San Diego) until they arrive and then talk to Bob about that. He wants me to be involved with that some more and that’s okay with Rhett being a young player I’m all for that. I want to leave Bob on a good note. He’s been very good to me and my family. I want to leave him and the university on a good note.”

On hiring a coaching staff: “Building these staffs is a little interesting. You try to put their financial packages together and there’s a lot to it. I am trying to staff from around the country that I have worked with in the past and then we’ll wait until the bowl games are over and see where it goes from there. My goal is to hire my staff by January 18.”

On San Diego State: “This is a huge state. San Diego County itself has 72 high schools. We’ll start in state. I don’t know how far we’ll go. It’s a good start right here. I see it as a gold mine. This is a beautiful campus and there is a lot to sell academically. It’s really ripe now for us to take it to a new level. I am excited for the challenge. There is a lot there to take it to a new level. There is a nice foundation with nice facilities and a good recruiting base that could really go to new heights.”

Entry Filed under: Oklahoma Sports