Skip navigation
Site powered by
Latest news:
msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines: Price of gas up nearly 12 cents in last 3 weeks

Coaches play key role in Red River Rivalry

More pressure on Stoops this year when Oklahoma, Texas battle again

Bob StoopsAP
After two straight losses in the Red River Rivalry, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops faces the most pressure Saturday when the Sooners play Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns, writes msnbc.com contributor Steve Silverman.

Steve Silverman
The Red River Rivalry lost a good chunk of its national luster last weekend when Oklahoma and Texas each took one on the chin.

Bob Stoops and Mack Brown both probably felt sorry for themselves for all of 30 seconds once their games with Colorado and Kansas State were over — and they probably wouldn’t admit even that.

There is no time to worry about yesterday in college football. Just ask Lloyd Carr about that. If he had to think about the Michigan's loss to Appalachian State every day he wouldn’t have bothered to get out of bed.

The same holds true for Stoops and Brown — especially this week.

Oklahoma vs. Texas. Red River Rivalry. Stoops vs. Brown. Cotton Bowl. Dallas. History. Tradition.

College football rivalries tend to get romanticized because the rivals are really mirror images of each other. As much as schools like Ohio State and Michigan say they hate each other, they are also like family. It’s OK for a Wolverine to beat up a Buckeye, but when those Ohio Staters go out of conference, most Michigan fans are rooting for them.

Not so with Oklahoma and Texas. They are big-time rivals in the Big 12 South and if one isn’t playing in a BCS bowl, the other usually is.

But that’s now. Oklahoma and Texas were not always Big 12 rivals. As a matter of fact, the two schools sharing the same conference is relatively recent. Texas played in the Southwest Conference through the 1995 season. It disbanded in the spring of 1996 and Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas Tech joined the Longhorns and moved to what had been the Big Eight conference and was renamed the Big 12.

So for a very long time, there no affiliation between Texas and Oklahoma and the only thing that bonded the two was a type of pure HATRED for each other.

To some degree, Stoops and Brown have been forced to bring a civility to the rivalry, but don’t think for a second that either one has ever felt this game is less important than it was generations ago.

Stoops, in particular, has a rabid passion every time he takes the field against any opponent, especially Texas. His passion for winning started in early childhood.

As the son of coach Ron Stoops growing up in tough-minded Youngstown, Ohio, Stoops regularly fought and competed with three brothers who all had a passion for sports, especially football. All four brothers eventually went into coaching.

Bob Stoops may not have been the best athlete among brothers Ron Jr., Mike or Mark, but many around Youngstown remember him as the scrappiest.

Brown also grew up in a coaching family in Cookeville, Tenn. His father, Melvin Brown, was a coach and administrator at Cookeville High School and his brother Watson Brown also went into coaching.

There are differences, however. Even though Stoops is the younger man — he is 47; Brown is 56 — Stoops is the more demanding leader. He is known to push his team to the limit, something he was forced to do when he took over an undisciplined Oklahoma team in 1999 that had fallen hard in the college football world.


advertisement
More news
Image: Boston College v Miami
Getty Images
'I'm taking that program down'

Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.

Image: LSU quarterback Jefferson is stripped of the ball by Alabama's Hightower during the second half of the NCAA BCS National Championship college football game in New Orleans
Reuters
CFT: Jefferson says 'Alabama was more prepared'

CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.

Video: Football from NBC Sports
Memphis fulfills BCS dream
Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013.

Slideshow
Image: Joe Paterno
  Joe Paterno (1926-2012)
A look at the career of legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image:
  BCS title game
Check out photos of Crimson Tide's victory over Tigers.

more photos

Slideshow
Image: Kansas State running back Pease is tackled by Arkansas defensive tackle Jones during the Cotton Bowl Classic football game in Arlington, Texas
  Bowled over
Check out the action from the postseason games.

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Kansas vs Oklahoma State
  All-American team
Check out which players were best of the best at each position.

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image: Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio - Wisconsin v Oregon
  College cheer
Check out some of the college football cheerleaders from across the country.

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image: Snee, 8, son of New York Giants player Chris Snee and head coach Coughlin's grandson plays in the confetti after the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots in the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game in Indianapolis
  The Week in Sports Pictures
The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more.

more photos

Free video
Red River Beer
Oct. 5: An Austin, Texas brewing company sells Oklahoma Suks beer for 10 days each year in time for the OU-Texas game.
  Special feature