Stoops to FAU

southsideguy · February 4, 2021

Gee, he pulled out of the UNT job because he thought he was going to Texas. Texas made a mistake and hired someone else for the job and he now the DC at FAU. Another reason to hate Texas.

greenminer · February 4, 2021

3 hours ago, southsideguy said:

Gee, he pulled out of the UNT job because he thought he was going to Texas.

New news to me. Is this solid inside info, or just conjecture a couple of Longhorn dude-bros came up with on the way to Cabana in their Dodge Ram?

Mo Green · February 4, 2021

3 hours ago, southsideguy said:

Gee, he pulled out of the UNT job because he thought he was going to Texas. Texas made a mistake and hired someone else for the job and he now the DC at FAU. Another reason to hate Texas.

Who Needs a Reason?

Mean Green 93-98 · February 5, 2021

greenminer · February 5, 2021

30 minutes ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Thanks. On a spectrum of reliability, these people with inside sources are somewhere above water-cooler talk, but never like a public statement from an official. Without knowing which side they are closer to, I just don't bother reading too much into it.

Edited February 5, 2021 by greenminer

southsideguy · February 5, 2021

Alabama analyst Mike Stoops has found a new home as a defensive coordinator. Florida Atlantic named Stoops to the role on Thursday following Jim Leavitt's departure for the defensive coordinator job at SMU.

Stoops, the brother of Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops and former longtime Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, has been at Alabama as an analyst the last two seasons. Other previous stops for Stoops prior to his time in Tuscaloosa included a run as the head coach at Arizona from 2004-2011 and multiple stops as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, first from 1999-2003 and then again from 2012 until his firing midway through the 2018 season. Stoops also had a run on the Kansas State staff under Bill Snyderfrom 1992-1998.

Stoops will join an FAU team that is coming off a 5-4 finish to the 2020 season, the team's first under head coach Willie Taggart, who had previously been at Florida State before being relieved of his duties in Tallahassee in November 2019. FAU embarked on a 5-1 start before dropping three straight games to end the year, concluding its 2020 season with a loss to Memphis in the Cramton Bowl back on Dec. 23.

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"Mike brings tremendous experience to the defensive side of the ball. His pedigree, two national championships, countless players to the NFL and his wealth of knowledge speaks for itself. This is a home run for us," Taggart said in a release on Thursday. "As a former head coach and defensive coordinator at 'Power 5' programs, he knows the importance of building a defensive staff that can teach and adjust. The strength of our defense is their on-field communication and the band of brother culture. I welcome Mike to the B.O.B."

Earlier this month, it appeared that Texas was finalizing a deal to bring Stoops onboard Steve Sarkisian's new staff in Austin as linebackers coach. The hire never materialized, however, with reports surfacing that the Longhorns backtracked on hiring Stoops due to internal backlash that occurred regarding the potential hire.

AL.com's Matt Zenitz reported that Stoops — who worked at Alabama while Sarkisian was on head coach Nick Saban's staff from 2019-20 — had already said goodbye last Thursday as he had a flight to Texas and would begin searching for new homes with his wife Friday before the deal ultimately fell through.

As for the role which Stoops is expected to take over for on Taggart's staff, Leavitt left the program for the Mustangs after just one season. He had arrived at FAU for the 2020 season from Florida State, where he was an analyst and defensive line coach for the 2019 season. Leavitt spent 2017-18 at Oregon as defensive coordinator and 2015-16 at Colorado as defensive coordinator. At both of those stops, he coordinated significant improvements to the defenses.