Former Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops Admits He Nearly Bolted For NFL

Bob Stoops spent 17 years as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, but like most college coaches with that long of a tenure, the NFL came calling. The Hall of Fame coach recently admitted that he nearly answered the call from the professional ranks as well.

Stoops, now the head coach of the Arlington Renegades of the XFL, joined Dallas' 105.3 The Fan and detailed the NFL opportunities that came his way that he ultimately turned down.

"Oh, there was a couple of times that it was enticing, and thought I might (jump to NFL)," Stoops said. "I'll be honest, back when those opportunities came, I loved what I was doing too much at Oklahoma. I thought overall the college football schedule for a head coach was overall better, your yearly schedule. That is certainly not the case today. If things were different today, I probably would've tried to jump."

The most intriguing comment from Stoops here is his thought about yesteryear's college game compared to today's.

With NIL dominating college athletics and coaches never having a single second off from the recruiting grind, the NFL coaching schedule is far more intriguing than the college coaching schedule.

READ: BOB STOOPS SHARES STRONG OPINION ON HOW THE NCAA ‘HAS REALLY FAILED’

If you're a Sooners fans, you just have to know that you had Stoops at the right time.

It worked out pretty well for Oklahoma as well as he helped lead OU to 10 Big 12 conference championships and a national championship in 2000 in what was just his second season in Norman.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.