Oklahoma Football: Reactions to the firing of Mike Stoops, promotion of Ruffin McNeill

It’s Monday, friends and fans. If I seem a little unenthused, it’s because I am. Heck of a rally effort on Saturday, but OU’s flaws came back to bite in the end.

In related news, and in light of the firing of Mike Stoops, Ruffin McNeill and Bob Diaco have been named interim defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach, respectively.

Ruffin seemed to be the obvious choice for interim DC, and these are some great points made by Bruce Feldman and Bomani Jones. McNeill’s guys have historically played hard for him, and at Texas Tech, the talent wasn’t nearly as strong ten years ago as what he’ll have to work with at Oklahoma right now, and even then, the Red Raiders had a respectable defense.

Also, this. Personally, I don’t expect McNeill to be the magic bullet for Oklahoma’s defensive woes (short-term or long-term), but for right now, this is the best route to take.

• This morning, Lincoln Riley discussed the move with some media members.

While I’m not disputing the fourth statement, it does contradict some reports on the matter. If it truly was a decision made at a higher level, it’s obviously not something Riley would just come out and say. It’s perhaps best to take it with a grain of salt.

Now let’s dive right into some Hot Links. Plenty of reactions to the news of Mike Stoops’ firing, Caleb Kelly receives his Good Works Team trophy, Juju Smith-Schuster gave birth to a baby touchdown and more!

• Kenneth Murray might be young in just his true sophomore season, but he’s already one of the team’s most vocal leaders. Here’s what he had to say following the news of Mike Stoops’ firing.

• Caleb Kelly has dealt with his own share of criticism, and he’s done so with class and humility. Still, he has nothing but love for Stoops, his former position coach, and he’s understandably frustrated with the noise surrounding the move.

• Speaking of Kelly, he was surprised on Monday with the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team trophy during an appearance at Purcell Intermediate School. News of Kelly on the Good Works Team has been known, but the presentation of this trophy came as a surprise to the hard-working and gracious linebacker.

• True freshman DaShaun White, who has only been on campus for less than a year, still managed to establish a connection with Stoops. This move is probably toughest for the older guys, but it’s still challenging for the underclassmen.

• What remains to be seen is how exactly this firing will impact Oklahoma’s recruiting, particularly with defensive prospects. Following the news, four-star cornerback Jaden Davis and others have re-affirmed their commitments.

• Dusty Dvoracek has been an upstanding representative for the Oklahoma Sooners as a college football commentator, and he owes much of the success in his life on and off the field to Mike Stoops, who was his DC during Stoops’ first stint with the Sooners in the early ‘00’s.

• Former player Du’Vonta Lampkin expressed his thoughts about why he’s grateful for Stoops and what most people outside the program don’t realize about the role he played in many of his and his teammates’ lives.

• FOX College Football’s Joel Klatt, who once upon a time played QB for Colorado, also showed respect to Oklahoma’s now former DC.

• For a whole bunch of fan reactions to the debacle of a game Mike Stoops put together for Saturday that are funny and/or triggering, check out Alex Kirshner’s ‘This Week in Schadenfreude’.
• Oklahoma’s Oct. 20 game at TCU will be an 11 a.m. ABC broadcast.

• Like Kyler Murray said, this isn’t over, folks. After getting quite emotional following the loss to Texas, it seems K1 has his mind right and his focus dial on high. Watch out, everyone, because he’s not finished just yet.

• Baker Mayfield recorded his first win in Cleveland as the Browns’ starter, and after the game he got the call from ‘Primetime’ himself, Deion Sanders.

• Yes, Juju Smith-Schuster just turned giving birth into a touchdown celebration. I mean, the man is creative, I’ll give him that.

• Project xCloud is an upcoming service from Microsoft that will allow gamers to play their Xbox console games on any device without losing quality or functionality. This will allow users to go mobile with their favorite games, while also expanding the world of gaming itself, making it more accessible for more people. The project will enter public beta in 2019, but a specific timetable for release is still undetermined at this time.

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