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Oklahoma football: Coaching changes indicate that Bob Stoops isn't happy with program, recruiting efforts

The Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson took questions from readers in today's Power Lunch Chat. Participate in our Power Lunch Chats Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com/Sports.

By Jenni Carlson | Published: February 14, 2013 Comment on this article

The Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson took questions from readers in today's Power Lunch Chat. Participate in our Power Lunch Chats Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com/Sports.

Jenni Carlson 11:00 a.m. All right, sports fans. Let's get crackin'!

Mike 11:00 a.m. What are your thoughts on the Sooner coaching carOUsel?

Jenni Carlson 11:01 a.m. My gut reaction is that it's crazy. It was only about a year ago that Bob Stoops had fired exactly zero coaches during his time in Norman. Now, he's fired four, including three this week. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:02 a.m. While all the moves could be a sign of trouble, they are also a sign that Bob Stoops is not content with where the program is. If he was OK with the state of the program, he'd just keep the same guys and go on down the road. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:03 a.m. Obviously, that isn't the case. Yes, there are problems in Norman, and now we have confirmation that Bob Stoops realizes it just as much as Sooner fans do.

Jay 11:03 a.m. Your bedlam pick for Saturday and the margin of victory?

Jenni Carlson 11:03 a.m. First off, it's a big game Saturday. It's great to have a Bedlam match-up with big-time stakes. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:04 a.m. I'm picking OSU. At home. Playing well. I like the Cowboys in this game. I think they win by eight or 10 points. It should be a good game, but I like what the Cowboys have shown of late.

Larry 11:04 a.m. Your thoughts on OU's recent firings and possible replacements?

Jenni Carlson 11:05 a.m. I talked a bit about the firings, but as for replacements, I have to admit, I don't have any names to float out there. But it seems to me that there might be some characteristics of the replacements that Bob Stoops might be looking at. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:06 a.m. I suspect he's going to try to find great recruiters. That seems to be at the heart of these firings. The guys who got shown the door haven't been able to recruit as well in recent years. If Bob wants to change that, he's going to go out and hire some dynamic recruiters. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:07 a.m. To me, that probably means the Sooners are looking at hiring some coaches who might be on the younger side. 20s. 30s. Early 40s. High energy. And it would be a bonus if they already recruited areas where the Sooners tend to want to recruit from. Those would be the characteristics that I would expect in these new hires.

Jay 11:07 a.m. IOC decision on wrestling...in your opinion, a travesty or a sign of the times? Will the likes of Smith, Monday, Hazewinkle, et al have a loud enough voice to reverse the decision? I say put the IOC members in a mat room with the aforementioned and let 'em grapple for it.

Jenni Carlson 11:07 a.m. If it's John Smith vs. an IOC board member, I like wrestling's chances! ...

Jenni Carlson 11:08 a.m. It's too bad that wrestling is on the Olympic chopping block, but it has a lot to do with TV ratings, which is definitely a sign of the times. Wrestling just doesn't lend itself to great TV. Too hard for most folks to figure out what's going on. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:09 a.m. So the sport doesn't get on the big network during the Olympics and that matters. If wrestling wants to help itself, it should adopt some rules to encourage scoring and action. That would make the sport more watchable and more attractive to everyone, including the IOC.

Larry 11:10 a.m. Best Big 12 football team going into 2013?

Jenni Carlson 11:11 a.m. I'd probably go with OSU, just because of the quality of quarterback play that you know you're going to get from the Cowboys. I have no idea who's going to start next season -- my hunch is Lunt -- but regardless of who it is, you know you're going to get someone steady, solid and possibly even evolving into spectacular. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:11 a.m. There's no other Big 12 team that I'd put near the top that has such certainty at quarterback. Not OU. Not Texas. Not West Virginia. Not K-State. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:12 a.m. Plus, if you add in an OSU defense that's bringing back a lot of guys and is sure to be infused by the change over to Glenn Spencer, I like the Cowboys in 2013.

max 11:12 a.m. ok barry what is stoops next move?

Jenni Carlson 11:12 a.m. Hey, Max! Sorry BT isn't here to answer your question, but I'll try my darnedest. :) ...

Jenni Carlson 11:13 a.m. I can't imagine there are any more firings coming down the pipe. My belief is that the firings are done. So, now Stoops has to focus on bringing in the replacements. He's got to find guys who shore up the areas that he thought those other coaches were lacking in. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:14 a.m. Seems to me like Patton, Shipp and Kittle were pretty decent at developing the talent that they had. Patton, especially, seemed to get a lot out his guys. Look at the injuries they had last season, and I think we can all agree that the O-line was pretty darn good. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:15 a.m. But the area those guys seemed to lack most in recent years was recruiting. So, now it's on Stoops to go find guys who are just as good or better at developing talent but who are better at recruiting.

Larry 11:15 a.m. Better overall player...LeBron or Jordan?

Jenni Carlson 11:15 a.m. Still gotta go with MJ. Maybe when LeBron's career is done, I'll say different, but right now, it's hard to argue with MJ's game or all of his titles. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:16 a.m. LeBron, though, is clearly a transcendent talent. The things he can do at his size are unbelievable. But until he has multiple championships, I would still put him behind Jordan. But again, my answer might be different in another six or eight years.

max 11:16 a.m. why do you thinks coach shipp got the boot? he is a sooner legend in my mind

Jenni Carlson 11:17 a.m. My feeling -- it came down to how well he's recruited to the defensive line in recent years. While he landed the likes of Tommie Harris and Gerald McCoy, recruiting is very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. And of late, the defensive line just didn't have as much talent as it used to. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:18 a.m. The guys that Shipp got, I think he developed them well. Coached them up. All of that. But I think he got booted because he just wasn't landing enough big-time players.

Alum in AZ 11:18 a.m. Enjoying watching the Cowboys' basketball run and reading about the positive chemistry that seems to apply to this team. Seems obvious that we will only have Smart for this year, and possibly next. Longer term - does Phil Forte have a chance to pass Page on the OSU career scoring charts?

Jenni Carlson 11:19 a.m. This Cowboy team has been fun to watch, especially now that they seem to have fixed their road woes. Before that win at Kansas, it was hard to stomach watching OSU on the road. It just didn't play very well at all. Now, all of that seems fixed. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:20 a.m. As for Forte, he has a chance to pass Page, but I don't think he will. Page was the top scoring option on a couple of the teams that he was on. With the talent that Travis Ford is bringing in, I don't think Forte will ever be that top option. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:20 a.m. But he's going to be deadly as a third or fourth option. The guy can really shoot it.

max 11:20 a.m. do you believe this is all the damage that stoops will do to his staff or will more heads roll?

Jenni Carlson 11:21 a.m. I think we've seen all the firings that we're going to see for now. I guess it's possible that one of the other assistants might get a little antsy and decide to leave, but I don't think Stoops will send anyone else packing.

Thomas 11:21 a.m. Tonight game is bigger for OKC, than Miami,Your thoughts, Thanks

Jenni Carlson 11:22 a.m. I'd say that's truth. Largely that's because seeding in the West is more important for the Thunder than seeding in the East is for the Heat. The Thunder really needs to win every game it can to try to get homecourt advantage as long as possible in the playoffs. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:23 a.m. Also, after that Christmas Day loss, the Thunder also needs to play well against the Heat to have some positive mojo about this match-up should the teams meet in the playoffs. If the Thunder loses tonight, then the teams meet in the Finals, the Heat will be on a six-game winning streak against the Thunder. That's big psychologically.

Alum in AZ 11:24 a.m. The recent IOC decision to eliminate wrestling brought back memories of how my daughter felt when they dropped softball a while back. I know you've expressed concerns of the over-nationalism of the Olympics in the past. If you were the head of the IOC, what kind of sports would you include/exclude? What other changes would you make? (You just can't change the theme song). :)

Jenni Carlson 11:24 a.m. No change to the theme song! I totally agree with that. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:25 a.m. My feeling on sports that should be out of the Olympics are the ones that already have international competition on a regular basis. Golf and tennis, for example. Their professional tours pit players from all over the world against each other all the time. What do they need the Olympics for? ...

Jenni Carlson 11:26 a.m. I know sports like wrestling and softball have world championships, but you don't see a ton of international competitions in those sports. The Olympics are really the pinnacle of that. Golf gets that pinnacle at The Masters or the U.S. Open. Again, what do they need the Olympics for?

harry man 11:26 a.m. just another game tonight. thunder up vs. heat...many more games to be played. BUT is oklahoma having a pregame parade today?

Jenni Carlson 11:26 a.m. No pregame parade that I know of, Harry Man. That sounds like a fun idea, though! :)

Larry 11:26 a.m. Is B. Bell's arm as good as advertised when He was recruited?

Jenni Carlson 11:27 a.m. He was definitely seen more as a thrower than as a runner when he was recruited. I don't know that we've seen enough of his arm in college situations to say if it's great or good or adequate or what. ...

Jenni Carlson 11:28 a.m. My feeling is that it looks decent. We'll know a lot more, though, when he starts to actually run the base offense.

Your Name 11:28 a.m. Why is no one in the OKC media discussing or investigating Jim Traber’s twitter issue. I know you and everyone else are aware of it. Seems like a great story for you to run with based von your hisotry with the Ultimate

Jenni Carlson 11:29 a.m. I know about it, but I'm not sure what more I'd do with it. Seems more like tabloid type of news than anything we'd spend much time on.

Larry 11:29 a.m. How's the little one doing?

Jenni Carlson 11:29 a.m. She's great, Larry. Eight months old now. Where does the time go? Thanks for asking!

harry man 11:29 a.m. so is TNT giving this thursday night game a BIG BLOW UP because it is valentine day?

Jenni Carlson 11:29 a.m. Oh, lawd.

Larry 11:29 a.m. Any news on where Shipp will go to?

Jenni Carlson 11:30 a.m. I haven't heard anything, but you have to think there are plenty of former OU assistants around the country on other staffs who might scoop him up. He has a good pedigree and has recruited Texas. Those are two pretty attractive assets.

Jay 11:30 a.m. BT likes to give people nicknames. Do you have one for him?

Jenni Carlson 11:31 a.m. I just call him BT. I go with nicknames that are easily explained whereas he goes with nicknames that require five minutes of explanation! :)

Larry 11:31 a.m. Is the guys in Jason Kersey's video today a new hire? Haven't seen him before.

Jenni Carlson 11:31 a.m. I believe you're referring to Dave Morris. He's not a new hire. He just doesn't normally do sports videos. I wasn't available to join Jason for that particular video, so Dave stepped in.

harry man 11:32 a.m. so just read your story on newsok about lebron (letting him go) go where...No team should let one player go. man to man on all 5...

Jenni Carlson 11:32 a.m. I never said they should let him go unguarded. I said that they shouldn't sag off the other guys to help on LeBron.

Jenni Carlson 11:33 a.m. Hey, folks, I'm sorry that I can't get to all your questions, but my time is up. Berry will do tomorrow's Power Lunch chat -- I promise! -- so be sure to join him at 11 a.m. See ya!