- Apr 7, 2008
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From UJ WR Coach Joker Phillips Instagram:
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Stoops gets his first 2014 kid... former FSU commit, Denzel Ware.
Good luck w/ that commitment sticking
Stoops gets his first 2014 kid... former FSU commit, Denzel Ware.
Good luck w/ that commitment sticking
thanks, ****.
thanks, ****.
NORMAN, Okla.— There’s no avoiding it now. One social outrage has been identified and exorcised, and another has been teed up.
Goodbye, BCS. Hello, pay for play.
In addition to scholarships, college players get tutors, nutirionists and strength and conditioning coaches that regular students do not. That's one of the reasons Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops thinks players shouldn't be paid. (AP photo)
And you know what Bob Stoops thinks of this?
“I tell my guys all the time,” Stoops says, “you’re not the first one to spend a hungry Sunday without any money.”
How’s that for a shoulder to cry on?
While BCS conference commissioners have worked the last 18 months to find a solution to funding “full cost” scholarships (another word for extra stipend); while attorneys for Ed O’Bannon are closing in on a potential landmark class action ruling that could destabilize amateurism as we know it, Oklahoma’s star coach wants you to know not everyone is marching in step with the latest social outcry.
You want to argue billion dollar television contracts, or marketing jerseys and apparel, or a player’s cut of all that dough? Stoops has an answer for it all. Sit back and soak it in.
“You know what school would cost here for non-state guy? Over $200,000 for room, board and everything else,” Stoops said. “That’s a lot of money. Ask the kids who have to pay it back over 10-15 years with student loans. You get room and board, and we’ll give you the best nutritionist, the best strength coach to develop you, the best tutors to help you academically, and coaches to teach you and help you develop. How much do you think it would cost to hire a personal trainer and tutor for 4-5 years?
“I don’t get why people say these guys don’t get paid. It’s simple, they are paid quite often, quite a bit and quite handsomely.”
Brian Kelly, Nick Saban argue for stipends
If you think Stoops is just firing off numbers, think again. According to the University of Oklahoma, it costs $29,924.50 per year for out of state tuition, room and board and books.
That’s $149,622.50 alone over five years for 58 players on the 79-man spring roster who aren’t from the state of Oklahoma—not including the various specific training each student-athlete receives. Then there’s minimum freshman academic requirements. Universities don’t publish SAT requirements—but the accepted scores are well above the minimum score of 700 for student-athletes.
“A lot of our guys wouldn’t be here if they were like every other student,” Stoops says. “I hear what they’re being fed on the outside. Sometimes we have to feed them some perspective.”
You better believe that’s Stoops’ hardscrabble, you’re the only one you can count on Youngstown, Ohio, attitude is seeping through. And why not?
It got him this far: from an undersized safety at Iowa, to an All-American for the Hawkeyes, to a rising young assistant coach to one of college football’s most successful coaches over the last 15 years.
He’s 51 now, and he earns more than $4 million a year coaching football. Easy for him to speak out against paying players, you say.
Easy for him to add perspective, he says.
“I wouldn’t be here today if I wasn’t a football player at Iowa,” Stoops said. “To have that experience with Hayden Fry, Dan McCarney, Barry Alvarez, Bill Snyder, Kirk Ferentz—those were all of my coaches there. You think I’m here at Oklahoma without that experience of learning and growing under them? So all these kids I’m coaching now that are getting paid to go to school, they can be in my spot when they’re 51, too—or they could not. They’re getting a background to have a chance to do it.”
Exhibit A in Stoops’ argument: OU offensive coordinator Josh Heupel. In his two years as an OU player (1999-2000), Heupel played under Bob Stoops and future head coaches Mike Stoops (Arizona), Mark Mangino (Kansas), Mike Leach (Texas Tech, Washington State) and Chuck Long (San Diego State). As an OU assistant, he also worked closely with then offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin (Houston, Texas A&M) and a handful of the game’s elite assistants.
And even though Heupel doesn’t agree with Stoops on the subject—“I think there should be some stipend,” Heupel says— he is also Stoops’ example for the argument that fans buy jerseys and tickets to games to see specific players.
When Sam Bradford was in the middle of his Heisman Trophy winning season in 2008, Stoops pulled his star quarterback aside one day after practice and decided to make a point.
“Sam Bradford was one of the most humble and grounded players I’ve ever been around; he got it,” Stoops said. “But I even told him, what makes you think those fans in the stands are wearing No.14 for you? Who says it’s not an old Josh Heupel jersey? I tell our guys all the time. It could be you—or it could be anyone else.
“Those 70,000 fans in the stadium are cheering and buying tickets to see Oklahoma.”
Blunt? Yes. Fair? You better believe it.
But understand this: Stoops says these things; he preaches the gospel that few amid the social outrage can see, because he wants his players to realize the value of an opportunity few receive. The percentages are slim of players moving on to the NFL and making money, and even those that do are finding it harder to keep their job or stay healthy long enough to make a living.
So you can complain about getting paid, or you can seize the opportunity.
“I’ve always said college is more about proving you can make it on your own,” Stoops said. “Proving you can go through the process and come out on top and be ready for the world. The typical student here leaves our university and has a boatload of student loans to pay back. Our players leave not owing a dime to anyone.”
Even if they do go hungry every couple of Sundays.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A Marshall University football recruit, that some say is one of the top players in 2013 recruiting class, was arrested Tuesday morning.
Angelo Jean-Louis, 20, was booked into the Western Regional Jail on two felony counts of fraudulent use of a credit card.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Marshall University Police, Jean-Louis used a stolen credit card to make two separate purchases at a convenience store on 5th Avenue on April 3. The purchases were for condoms and a cherry-cola Slurpee.
The MU Sports Information Office released the following statement on the arrest:
"We are aware of his situation. We will handle the matter internally and appropriately."
Jean-Louis, who is from Wellington, Florida, enrolled at Marshall in January.
The wide receiver originally signed with Miami (Fla.) in February 2012, but attended Fork Union Military Academy in the fall.
That Pina Colada mane ...Sounds like some purchases my 14 year old cousin would make if he had is hands on a stolen credit cardCondoms & a Cherry-Cola Slurpee?
Ha. He's still young.
We all know chicks dig the Blue Raspberry Slurpee