It is understandable — even predictable — that Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops was named Big 12 Coach of the Year on Tuesday. The Sooners (10-2) are a very good football team this year, and Stoops has them in the Big 12 Championship game — again.
But that doesn’t mean the decision was the best one.
There are some problems with Stoops being named COY for a Big 12-record third time, not the least of which is that the more deserving coach resides here in the state of Kansas.
What first-year coach Ron Prince did with the Kansas State Wildcats this season was more impressive than what Stoops did with his troops down in Norman, Okla., and here are two reasons why:
1. Sure, Oklahoma made it to the Big 12 title game, but honestly, a lot of people expected his team to be there anyway. Many thought the Big 12 South division would be a two-horse race between Texas and Oklahoma, and guess what, it was.
Stoops has been to the title game more than any other Big 12 coach. Getting there is nothing new to him.
Meanwhile, Kansas State was picked dead lead in the Big 12 North after two straight losing seasons and back-to-back finishes in the cellar of the conference’s northern half. No one gave the Wildcats a snowball’s chance in ... well, you know where ... to even compete in the North division.
But Prince, in his very first year after taking over for the legendary Bill Snyder, got his squad to overachieve by finishing in a tie for second in the Big 12 North, a feat no one could have — or would have — predicted prior to the start of the season.
2. Both the Sooners and the Wildcats had some major personnel issues to deal with this season, and Stoops and Prince handled their respective situations admirably.
Stoops had to deal with the dismissal of starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and starting offensive lineman J.D. Quinn prior to the start of the season for their involvement in receiving extra cash from a Norman car dealership where the two worked, and then had to find a new running back when Adrian Peterson, the best running back in college football, went down with a broken collarbone.
Stoops inserted Paul Thompson, a converted wide receiver, in at quarterback and used several running backs to make up for Peterson’s absence, and the Sooners barely skipped a beat.
Prince, on the other hand, benched his starting quarterback, Dylan Meier, a third of the way through the season in favor of a true freshman, Josh Freeman. Prince also decided to start true freshman running back Leon Patton and a host of other young athletes over older, more experienced players.
At times this season, most of the offense on the field for the Wildcats was made up of guys that were sophomores and younger. But the moves worked, as Kansas State finished 7-5 and is headed to a bowl game for the first time since 2003. Plus, the future looks even brighter with so many young guys getting playing time this year.
Both coaches showed their meddle in dealing with such adverse situations, but the difference between the two is that much of what Stoops had to contend with came about because of NCAA violations that occurred under his watch. Prince simply had to clean house and start over with fresh faces, without the prospect of an ongoing NCAA investigation.
Granted, the biggest blow to Prince’s claim to the Big 12 COY honor is the fact that the Wildcats lost 39-20 to Kansas in Kansas State’s final game of the regular season. But one loss shouldn’t have detracted from the entire body of work that Prince orchestrated with the Wildcats this season.
Prince went above and beyond what anyone expected out of him and his squad, while Stoops and the Sooners just kept doing what they do. Stoops is a fantastic coach, there is no doubt about that.
But the coaching job he did this season, while impressive, does not warrant his Coach of the Year selection. That honor should belong to Prince.
Either way, fans can bet on many more Coach of the Year selections coming down to these two coaches in the years to come.
For more sports commentary from Michael and Gazette sports reporter Jesse Newell, listen each week to the Emporia Sports Buzz at www.emporiagazette.com.