Report: Former Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops to Join Texas Staff
New Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian continues to dominate the headlines with his staff hires. And perhaps no other hire will make more waves than this one. According to Matt Zenitz of AL.com, Mike Stoops is expected to be hired as the Longhorns new linebackers coach.
Stoops was previously the Arizona head coach and Oklahoma defensive coordinator spent the last two seasons as an analyst on the Alabama staff. Mike Stoops is now the third Alabama assistant to join Sarkisian to Texas, following offensive line coach Kyle Flood and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks.
Before coming to Tuscaloosa, Mike Stoops served as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator of the Sooners from 2012 to 2018. Initially hired by his brother Bob Stoops, Mike remained on staff for the start of Lincoln Riley’s tenure as head coach, but he was fired midway through the 2018 season after the Red River Showdown.
Mike will work under new defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who spent the last seven seasons in the same position at Washington. It is not often you see coaches change colors from the crimson and cream to the burnt orange and white but it will certainly make matters more interesting when Oklahoma and Texas square off in October.
UPDATE: Friday, January 22nd, 2021, 9:00 a.m. CST: New Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian denied this report from AL.com. Details on that story can be found here.
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