Longtime Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops on making return in XFL: Time away from football ‘was awful’

Bob Stoops will coach a football game Sunday for the first time in 1,133 days.

The 18-year Oklahoma Sooners head coach, now head coach/GM of the XFL’s Dallas Renegades, is long past ready. He doesn’t sugarcoat emotions from his time away.

“Oh, it was awful,” Stoops told USA TODAY Sports, laughing, by phone this week. “The first year was incredibly awful. The second year was awful. And the third year was just really bad.”

Coaching in the XFL, which begins its inaugural season this weekend, has helped Stoops fill that void.

Stoops stunned the college football world with news of his retirement on June 7, 2017. His Sooners were coming off an 11-2 season, part of Stoops’ 190-48 (.798) stretch in Norman that included a national championship. But Stoops had decided he wanted more time and space. He knows what you’re thinking.

“Everyone acted like there was another shoe to drop,” the 59-year-old said Tuesday. “And three years later, no other shoe has dropped. I felt completed. I’d completed 18 years and we’d had great success. I felt like I had done what I was to do.

“I believe in life, you don’t know what’s next until you open yourself up for it. What else is out there?”

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