616: Bob Stoops- Building a Winning Culture, Connecting With People, Creating a Coaching Forest, Caring For Your Team, & Winning Championships

616: Bob Stoops- Building a Winning Culture, Connecting With People, Creating a Coaching Forest, Caring For Your Team, & Winning Championships

Released Monday, 6th January 2025
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616: Bob Stoops- Building a Winning Culture, Connecting With People, Creating a Coaching Forest, Caring For Your Team, & Winning Championships

616: Bob Stoops- Building a Winning Culture, Connecting With People, Creating a Coaching Forest, Caring For Your Team, & Winning Championships

616: Bob Stoops- Building a Winning Culture, Connecting With People, Creating a Coaching Forest, Caring For Your Team, & Winning Championships

616: Bob Stoops- Building a Winning Culture, Connecting With People, Creating a Coaching Forest, Caring For Your Team, & Winning Championships

Monday, 6th January 2025
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Be true to yourself, go go hard,

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to 66866. Now, on to

1:55

nights featured leader, a a

1:57

special one, the the great

1:59

Bob. Stupz was inducted into the College

2:02

Football Hall of Fame in 2021. He

2:04

was the head football coach at the

2:06

University of Oklahoma for 17 years. His

2:09

2000-2001 team won. the national championship. He

2:11

earned the National Coach of the Year

2:13

award the same season. Since 2020, Coach

2:16

Stoops has been head coach in the

2:18

XFL winning an XFL championship in 2023

2:20

with the Arlington Renegades. He also played

2:23

college football at the University of Iowa,

2:25

earning team MVP his senior year as

2:27

a defensive back. During this conversation we

2:30

discussed the coaching forest, not a tree,

2:32

but forest, he's created and why so

2:34

many of his assistant coaches have gone

2:37

on to become great head coaches. Then

2:39

he shared how to develop and create

2:41

a culture where the players hold each

2:44

other to high standards. And we discussed

2:46

how this could apply in the business

2:48

world as well. Then we talked

2:50

about high performers and how they

2:52

want to be coached and coached hard.

2:55

and he shared how you can coach

2:57

them, both whether they're athletes or these

2:59

are leaders within your organization, so that

3:02

they continue to be inspired to want

3:04

to improve and work with you. And

3:06

then the through line of this entire

3:09

conversation I felt. is the simplicity for

3:11

how Coach Stoops approaches his life and

3:13

work and why it's important to focus

3:16

on a few things and doing them

3:18

with excellence instead of trying to do

3:20

everything at the risk of being averaged

3:23

at all of them. So good. Ladies

3:25

and gentlemen, please enjoy my conversation with

3:27

Hall of Fame coach Bob Stoops. So

3:30

I want to start with coaches that

3:32

you've worked. for earlier in your career

3:34

because I think this is a critical

3:37

thing for leaders to think about is

3:39

who you choose to influence you. And

3:41

so just to name a few Hayden

3:44

Fry at Iowa, Bill. at Kansas State,

3:46

Steve Spurrier at Florida. You've worked with

3:49

some Hall of Famers. You are a

3:51

Hall of Famer as well. I'm just

3:53

curious, what are some of the things

3:56

you learned early in your career from

3:58

some of those legendary coaches? Well, you're

4:00

very right, Ryan, that I learned from

4:03

the best. I was so lucky, so

4:05

blessed to be around the people you

4:07

mentioned that are just incredible people and

4:10

coaches. So I would say first, my

4:12

father was a 30 year high school

4:14

coach, football, he ran the defense while

4:17

the head coach ran the offense and

4:19

saying they were together for 30 years,

4:21

multiple state championships. He was also

4:23

a head baseball coach. I think

4:25

more than anything what I learned watching

4:28

my father is how he related to

4:30

players. Players, he could coach him hard,

4:32

he could do whatever. They loved to

4:35

play for him. And to me, that's

4:37

a big deal. And I think I

4:39

come by it naturally from watching him

4:42

and the relationship is everything. You can

4:44

motivate, you can teach, you can do

4:46

everything if you have a strong relationship.

4:49

And then all my other coaches, of

4:51

course, I was lucky enough to go

4:53

to Iowa to play under Hayden Fry.

4:56

And then not only Hayden Fry on

4:58

that staff is Bill Snyder, Barry Alvarez.

5:00

Kirk Ference, Dan McCartney. These are my,

5:03

these are my, my guys I came

5:05

up under and, and as a grad

5:07

assistant, as a player, and I, so

5:10

I truly, and one, maybe the best

5:12

it isn't talked about is Bill Braiser,

5:14

was Hayden Fry's defense of coordinator for

5:17

50-some years, and he taught those guys.

5:19

So anyway, I was, I was so

5:21

blessed to be around those people. And

5:24

then I go to, I went to

5:26

Kent with Dick Crumb for a year

5:28

and he was wonderful. He was a,

5:31

he was really a great guy to

5:33

work. under, but I was just there

5:35

the one year, and then I was

5:38

with Bill Snyder for seven years, and

5:40

you learn a ton. Coach Snyder was,

5:42

no one is more attention to detail

5:45

more than he is, and I learned

5:47

that from him. And then I think

5:50

I got polished off with going to,

5:52

going to Steve Spur to go to

5:54

Florida for three years, win a

5:56

national championship. And I think the

5:58

experience there was, there isn't any wrong

6:01

or right, but. Steve Spurrier is over

6:03

here and Bill Snyder is over here.

6:05

You couldn't get two people more opposite

6:08

in their personalities and how they teach

6:10

coach everything. So, but, you know, that's

6:12

okay. You know, they both have won.

6:15

Both are Hall of Fameers, but I

6:17

thought my personality was more like Coach

6:19

Spur, so it allowed me going in

6:22

to be the head coach and to

6:24

develop my form of being a head

6:26

coach, I was allowed to be like

6:29

that because all the success he had,

6:31

I wasn't afraid to do it to

6:33

what would fit me the most. What

6:36

do you mean by that? Your personality

6:38

is like spurrier. How would you describe

6:40

that personality? I don't know how to

6:43

explain it. A little more casual, a

6:45

little more, but listen, but make no

6:47

means. You see coach spurrier. He knows

6:50

what he wants and what he wants

6:52

to see. And so he's casual to

6:54

the point he doesn't see it the

6:57

way he wants to see it. And

6:59

a little more casual, but still detailed,

7:01

a little more free-lancing, a little more,

7:04

you know, he's just a little more

7:06

relaxed. And, you know, that kind of

7:08

thing. I don't know how to, you

7:11

know, again, none of them are, there's

7:13

no positive either way. It's just, it

7:15

was more me. It feels to me

7:18

like, those are great examples. of the

7:20

fact that there isn't one prescribed way

7:22

to do it. But what is important

7:25

it feels. is and I know this

7:27

as a player I talk with my

7:29

brother about this all the time

7:31

you got to be authentically you

7:33

as a coach players sniff that out

7:36

instantly if you are trying to be

7:38

somebody else and I think that's also

7:40

that it goes for leadership outside of

7:43

the sporting world as well as yes

7:45

you want to learn from the greats

7:48

like you've been around but you got

7:50

to figure out your own voice in

7:52

your own style and your own personality

7:55

and if you're trying to be somebody

7:57

else I rarely if ever have seen

7:59

that work. You're absolutely correct. You cannot

8:02

be who you are not. You can't

8:04

be somebody else and you cannot fool

8:06

a locker room. You cannot fool players

8:09

and or other coaches. It's too authentic.

8:11

People sniff a rat in the heartbeat.

8:13

So, you know, the locker room guys

8:16

and again, your staff even, they know

8:18

when you're. you know, putting something on

8:20

and I've never tried to you. You

8:23

have to be who you are, be

8:25

authentic. No, and then there are certain

8:27

principles of what you've got to do

8:30

to make it right. But anyway, yes,

8:32

you're totally correct that you cannot, you

8:34

know, you can't be who you're not.

8:37

Never, no. One of the things you

8:39

mentioned about what made your dad so

8:41

good as a fellow Ohio in here,

8:44

so I have a kinship with Ohio

8:46

high school football is awesome, coach, is

8:48

the fact that you said he related

8:51

to his players. so well like he

8:53

got to know them he truly cared

8:55

about them and when I asked our

8:58

fellow friend and your fellow Hall of

9:00

Famer Sherry Cole I said Sherry what

9:02

is something about coach stoops that

9:04

you know that I can't find

9:06

on the internet because she knows I'm

9:09

gonna do my research and she said

9:11

this is quote one of my favorite

9:13

things about him is he's the busiest

9:16

man on the planet. but never appeared

9:18

that way. That's a skill and an

9:20

art that fascinates me. The fact that

9:23

you have a million different things going...

9:25

but she told me when you're in

9:27

the room with him or when you're

9:30

talking with him he makes you feel

9:32

like you're the most important thing in

9:34

the world to him and maybe it

9:37

just comes natural to you or maybe

9:39

you got it from your dad I'm

9:42

curious but when you hear that as

9:44

a compliment given to you what do

9:46

you think of that? Well that's an

9:49

awful kind of cherish she's an awesome

9:51

person coach always enjoyed my time whenever

9:53

I get to see her. I appreciate

9:56

that when you are football with the

9:58

number of people we deal with 120

10:00

players 20 coaches trainers you know on

10:03

and on and on there is a

10:05

lot coming at you and I'd like

10:07

to say I surrounded myself with really

10:10

quality people so I had helped that

10:12

way and then I always knew I

10:14

guess maybe relating to Sherry and I

10:17

always had time to visit with softball

10:19

recruits, gymnastic recruits, basketball recruits, whatever it

10:21

was, I would make time on Fridays

10:24

ahead of games. They would all come

10:26

in for games that I had that

10:28

time because I always felt in college

10:31

ball, my job was to be a

10:33

part of the university also, not just

10:35

to win games, not just to

10:37

be a football coach and worry

10:39

about just my stuff. I felt an

10:42

obligation that I was part of this

10:44

university. And I was part of this

10:46

big coaching tree. And if I could

10:49

help and assist anybody, I was going

10:51

to do that. And it was really

10:53

natural. And again, I think like you

10:56

said, my father was that way. Relating

10:58

to people is a big deal. And

11:00

fitting, you know, and to me, that

11:03

was it. I felt my players would

11:05

do anything for me because I genuinely

11:07

cared about every one of them. And

11:10

when you do, and they know that,

11:12

because you can't fake it like we

11:14

talked. They're gonna do about anything you

11:17

know you ask them to do and

11:19

do it Happily and so anyhow, but

11:21

I I appreciate Sherry saying that because

11:24

again It was my job to be

11:26

a big part of this university and

11:28

to help any of them that I

11:31

could or be a part of it.

11:33

And I was lucky. We had a

11:35

bunch of great coaches like Sherry and

11:38

Patty Gasso, our softball coach, and I

11:40

could go on and on our gymnastic

11:43

coaches are incredible. And anyhow, so it

11:45

was fun to be a part of

11:47

that. You make it sound like it's

11:50

normal to do that. I don't know.

11:52

I've never been a college football head

11:54

coach, but Is that a normal thing

11:57

for the football head coach to be

11:59

making, especially in season, when every second

12:01

is important to be preparing to win

12:04

the game? Because you know, if you

12:06

don't win, they'll run you out of

12:08

town quickly. So you got to win.

12:11

That's just the way college sports,

12:13

especially football is. And at a

12:15

place like Oklahoma where their fans are

12:17

very passionate, but to make time for

12:19

other sports to be an ambassador for

12:22

Oklahoma seems. really cool of you to

12:24

do but how normal is that in

12:26

college athletics i don't i don't know

12:29

what other people do i i can't

12:31

say but i found it if i'm

12:33

not ready by noon on friday the

12:36

day before the game i haven't done

12:38

my job yeah so point being it

12:40

was they you know most of the

12:43

recruits of these other sports came in

12:45

for the game and they would come

12:47

in on friday for their official visits

12:50

and then be a part of they'd

12:52

be on the sideline, a head warming

12:54

up to the spectacle of OU football,

12:57

they'd be there for the games on

12:59

Saturday. So I found it fairly easy

13:01

by noon, somewhere around noon, Friday, or

13:04

might have been in the early afternoon

13:06

to carve out an hour, hour and

13:08

a half, to hey, let's meet, take

13:11

pictures with these people, show them around

13:13

a little bit. And I didn't feel

13:15

it was that hard. I mean, again,

13:18

if you're not prepared by that point,

13:20

you haven't done your job, you haven't

13:22

done your job. One of the other

13:25

things and you briefly mentioned this is

13:27

that you have created quite a coaching

13:29

forest I'm not even a call it

13:32

a coaching forest meaning your assistant coaches

13:34

that have gone on to become head

13:37

coaches. There's so many of them like

13:39

Mike Stoops, brother Mark Mangino, Mike Leach,

13:41

Bo Pelini, Kevin Sumlin, Kevin Wilson, Lincoln

13:44

Riley, and many, many more. Yeah,

13:46

there's so many great ones, great

13:48

ones, right, that are out there. I'm

13:50

curious. How have you been so good

13:52

at one selecting high caliber coaches then

13:55

developing them to become head coaches in

13:57

their own right? Well, I don't know

13:59

that I developed them. I'd like to

14:02

think I had an influence on how

14:04

they coach and I think our success

14:06

led to some of them, obviously, becoming

14:09

head coaches. I always tried to hire

14:11

guys I felt were smarter than me.

14:13

I have no problem with that. I

14:16

want a guy in the room that

14:18

I feel is smarter than I am.

14:20

Then I always tried to hire guys

14:23

that I felt not only is he

14:25

smart in what he's doing. but he

14:27

has the leadership traits to be a

14:30

head coach. And I always wanted to

14:32

hire guys that I thought would be

14:34

head coaches. And so many of them

14:37

did become head coaches, and I'm happy

14:39

for that. And I never held anybody

14:41

back, if anything, I promoted him. I

14:44

didn't want to lose him, but you

14:46

know what? That's going to be good

14:48

for he and his family. I'd go

14:51

to bat for him, I wanted it

14:53

for him. And then it was my

14:55

job to go out and find another

14:58

guy that I thought could be a

15:00

head coach. And I'll be honest, if

15:02

I did anything right, I hired really

15:05

good people. And because I don't believe

15:07

in this profession and football is the

15:09

ultimate team game, there isn't anybody doing

15:12

it by their self. You got to

15:14

be surrounded by good people, each side

15:16

of the ball and special teams

15:18

and players, coaches, everything. And again,

15:20

if I did anything right, I hired

15:23

really good people. Well, let's. Coach, let's

15:25

drill down on that because this also

15:27

has an application far beyond the football

15:30

field or football team. Because leaders, that's

15:32

I think maybe the most important thing

15:35

they're going to do is choose. the

15:37

people to surround themselves with, let's say

15:39

you're a CEO of a business, which

15:42

is basically what a football coach is

15:44

at a huge college like University of

15:46

Oklahoma. And so I would love to

15:49

get inside the process of how you

15:51

first identified who those people are and

15:53

then maybe even your interview process some

15:56

of the questions you ask to see

15:58

wait is Lincoln Riley a genius play

16:00

caller or you know like stuff like

16:03

that like how do you figure that

16:05

out on the front end because it's

16:07

easy now to look back and say

16:10

oh yeah all these guys are great

16:12

it was obvious but on the front

16:14

end That's really hard to do. People

16:17

try and fail all the time at

16:19

hiring great people. We all want to

16:21

do it, but most of us aren't

16:24

that good at it. So what did

16:26

you do to identify that talent as

16:28

well as make the right choices for

16:31

who to hire? I'll give you two

16:33

really good examples because some of the

16:35

guys I hired when I first got

16:38

on, I hired Mark Mann, Geno, Brent

16:40

Venbels, Mike, Stutz. So I worked with

16:42

them at Kansas State. So I know

16:45

what I'm getting. That's easy when you

16:47

know how someone works and how good

16:49

they are. Kevin Wilson, I did

16:51

not know when I hired Kevin

16:53

Wilson, but I hired him after his

16:56

time at Northwestern. And here's a guy

16:58

that was really doing well, having great

17:00

success at Northwestern and under really good

17:03

people. And I thought, well, you know,

17:05

if he can do it at Northwestern,

17:07

we're going to have hopefully better players

17:10

and he's going to do a great

17:12

job here. I also hired Lincoln Riley.

17:14

When I hired Lincoln, I looked at,

17:17

I had my secretary, I said, Julie,

17:19

I want the top 15 offenses in

17:21

America in total yards, total points, and

17:24

then yards per rush and pass it.

17:26

Just show that to me. She pulls

17:28

it up. Well, eight of the, I

17:31

think, top 13 or eight of the

17:33

top 14, I want to say, something

17:36

like that. We're all in the Mike

17:38

Leach Street. And you know, Mike Leach

17:40

was the first guy I hired. I

17:43

did not know Mike. Another example of

17:45

I knew from playing against Kentucky, they

17:47

gave me the biggest headache of anyone

17:50

at Florida that I went against as

17:52

a decordinator. So I hired Mike. And

17:54

now here I am down the roads,

17:57

I'm teen years, and I need another

17:59

offensive coordinator. And here's a list of

18:01

coaches that come from the Leech Street

18:04

and how mommy, the two of them.

18:06

Now some of involved in the running

18:08

a little more than, but anyway, that's

18:11

the gist of it. So six of

18:13

the eight are head coaches. Well, I'm

18:15

like, well, and they're calling plays. So

18:18

I'm like, well, they're not going to

18:20

come. And so there was two, whether

18:22

it be PCU, Doug Meacham, and Sonny,

18:25

Sonny, not Dyke, he was at

18:27

Cal at the time, he's on

18:29

three, though, Sonny, I'll think of this.

18:31

And then, and then I have had

18:33

Lincoln Riley. So I'm like, all right,

18:36

I bring two of them in. Now

18:38

I bring them in. So I like

18:40

what they did. They have proven success,

18:43

not for one year, but for multiple

18:45

years. And that's what I was looking

18:47

at when I hired Mike Leach, Proven

18:50

Success, multiple years. Kevin Wilson, that Northwestern,

18:52

Proven Success, multiple years. This isn't a

18:54

coincidence. Lincoln Riley was at East Carolina.

18:57

And again, he was in the top

18:59

13 in all these categories. And I'm

19:01

like, and then after the interview to

19:04

me, you've got to. I want to

19:06

see what a guy's like. Can I

19:08

be around him every day? Is he

19:11

a leader? Can he, you know, and

19:13

obviously when I had Lincoln, I hired

19:15

him the next day. I did, he

19:18

always tells the story. He went home

19:20

and I didn't call him that night

19:22

and he figured he didn't get the

19:25

job and I called him the next

19:27

day. I always sleep on it, you

19:30

know, and then sure enough, he came

19:32

and did a great job for us.

19:34

So to me is, is there proven

19:37

success? for more than just one year.

19:39

So it's been consistent and can I

19:41

stand in front of that guy and

19:44

he's a leader? And when I talk

19:46

to him, he talks back to me,

19:48

I know he can look at team

19:51

in the eye in front of him

19:53

and lead him. And those guys were

19:55

all that. But so to me, it's

19:58

what's your track record as well

20:00

as I want to stand in

20:02

front of somebody and see what kind

20:04

of leader they are. What is it

20:06

like in that room? Is it more

20:09

conversational? Do you have them up on

20:11

the board? I don't have a lot

20:13

of questions. I want to see how

20:16

a guy goes to lunch, how he

20:18

talks to the waiter, how he talks

20:20

to my secretary, how when I look

20:23

at him and he talks back to

20:25

me, look at me in the eye,

20:27

I don't have a whole page of

20:30

things I'm going to ask a guy.

20:32

That's just not my style. I trust

20:34

my gut, my feelings, my instinct more

20:37

than I do anything else. So it's

20:39

really about, okay, the table stakes are

20:41

track record of success. over more than

20:44

just a year or two. And then

20:46

the second part is, I just need

20:48

to hang with the guy. And I

20:51

want him to be around other people

20:53

in addition to me. I want to

20:55

see how he treats people. So it's

20:58

like that kind of the character stuff.

21:00

And so I know he's got the

21:02

track record of success. And then I

21:05

get a feel for what he's like

21:07

as a person. And then you go

21:09

with your guy. Do I want to

21:12

be around him every day? So we're

21:14

a lot of, we're up there a

21:16

long time. I'll tell you a funny

21:19

story. Steve Spurrier called me. I didn't

21:21

know Coach Spurrier from the man in

21:23

the moon. I was in Kansas State.

21:26

He needs a new de coordinator. Jeremy

21:28

Foley, his athletic director, goes, guess who

21:31

the number one defense is in

21:33

America? And we were number one

21:35

in total defense and number two in

21:37

scoring defense. And he puts it down

21:39

and it's Kansas State. So he says,

21:42

you know what, that's a good idea.

21:44

I'm going to call him. Jim Leavitt

21:46

and I were co-coordinators and Jim had

21:49

already gone to South Florida and as

21:51

a head coach they were going to

21:53

start their program but then Steve Spurier

21:56

coach Spur calls me out of blue.

21:58

And I first I thought it was

22:00

one of my buddies pulling a prank

22:03

on me. I don't know Steve Spur,

22:05

there's no way he's calling me. And

22:07

I didn't even know they had a

22:10

coordinated job open. I was one of

22:12

those guys, I didn't pay attention, who

22:14

did, didn't. Anyway, we got to talking

22:17

for two, three days and he offers

22:19

me the job. And then I said,

22:21

well, coach, I said, I want the

22:23

job. But I said, don't you think

22:26

the two of us ought to ought

22:28

to meet? look at each other get

22:30

along whatever and he goes you know

22:32

that's a good idea and so the

22:35

next day or two whatever it was

22:37

he set up a flight for my

22:39

wife Carol and I had to go

22:41

go visit with him and to see

22:44

him and the staff and and it

22:46

was great and but that was the

22:48

gist so you know don't you think

22:50

we ought to make sure we could

22:53

get along or this is going to

22:55

be okay and then he did say

22:57

to me he says now let me

22:59

ask you have a beer every now

23:02

and then what this right I said,

23:04

oh yeah, coach, I'll have more than

23:06

one. So he goes, oh, we'll get

23:08

along good then. So that's just a

23:11

point being, you know, the personalities mesh.

23:13

Yeah, I think sometimes this stuff gets

23:15

over complicated, you know, coach. And it's

23:17

refreshing to hear that you really had

23:20

this mentality of, yes, they've proven they

23:22

can do it. And I bet they'll

23:24

do it even better with better players

23:26

because they're going to have better players

23:29

at Oklahoma than they did at Northwestern

23:31

or East Carolina or wherever they were.

23:33

And then are you a guy who

23:36

basically is a high character, high integrity

23:38

person is what I'm gathering for. You're

23:40

saying high character, high integrity, meaning you

23:42

want to be around a person like

23:45

that. And that's it. That's pretty much

23:47

it, right? Absolutely. And because that matters.

23:49

Character, integrity, all the things, you're going

23:51

to be with someone. your job, your

23:54

family's lives depend on it. You want

23:56

to be with people with high character?

23:58

And I'll be honest, I tell my

24:00

coach is different times. You intentionally cheat

24:03

or you're a bad person. the field

24:05

and I find out about it, yeah,

24:07

I'm going to be with me. And

24:09

I don't care how good a coach

24:12

you are. That doesn't matter because eventually,

24:14

you know, it's going to reflect on

24:16

you or the program. Have you had

24:18

to make those tough calls where you

24:21

fire assistant coaches for various reasons, whether

24:23

it's performance or character or anything like

24:25

that? Well, I've had to change here

24:27

or there, but never for character or,

24:30

you know, or reasons like that. It's

24:32

just sometimes you get stuck wherever, you

24:34

know, and you just feel you need

24:36

something different to change and to get

24:39

something new going. You said earlier that

24:41

you like to hire assistant coaches that

24:43

are one smarter than you, which I

24:45

think is similar like what Mark Zuckerberg.

24:48

Which isn't hard to do. I don't

24:50

think that's true, but I'll keep going,

24:52

but hire there smart that you also

24:54

think could become head coaches someday. So

24:57

like what, this may be tough, but

24:59

what are some of the qualities or

25:01

the makeup of somebody who is an

25:03

excellent head coach? Well,

25:06

I think a number of things I

25:08

think first how they relate to people

25:10

You know and how they can motivate

25:13

and get their point across You know

25:15

influence people to do explain what they

25:17

want them to do in a clear

25:19

path in a clear way Where there

25:22

isn't any indecision someone who is decisive

25:24

in what they do because I don't

25:26

ever think there's one way to do

25:29

something But whatever you do it, be

25:31

decisive about it, because then people are

25:33

going to follow it and believe in

25:36

it. And if you're not, then you're

25:38

going to get the opposite. So to

25:40

me, it's just having a clear path,

25:43

being able to present it, being able

25:45

to be decisive and motivate people to

25:47

do it. And yeah, and then have,

25:50

you know, have people. connect with you.

25:52

To me, connection's a big deal. You

25:54

could be a smartest guy in the

25:57

room and you don't connect with anybody.

25:59

There isn't anybody going to follow you.

26:01

There are very few people, you know,

26:04

but people that connect and know you've

26:06

got their best interest. This is the

26:08

way we see it. We're all in

26:11

it together. You've got to be able

26:13

to motivate people and to be that

26:15

gathering point that everyone believes in what

26:18

your vision is. Yep, how about the

26:20

players now? Okay, let's shift because Recruiting

26:22

is a tough thing. There's all these

26:25

services guys have stars I'm not even

26:27

gonna get into NIL stuff right now

26:29

I just want to talk about how

26:32

you decide which players to bring to

26:34

your team Certainly you can just say

26:36

let's just get all the five-star guys

26:39

or whatever, but it feel like the

26:41

type of player that played at Oklahoma

26:43

especially for you Seemed like a lot

26:46

of high character guys. I wasn't there.

26:48

I don't know that but I'm curious

26:50

when you were looking to recruit a

26:53

player They obviously need to be good.

26:55

It helps if they're fast and big

26:57

and can catch and run and tackle

26:59

right all that stuff But beyond those

27:02

skills, what were you looking for in

27:04

a player to recruit to come be

27:06

part of your team? Yeah, you know

27:09

like everybody guys that love football tough

27:11

toughness. There's no replacing it that tough

27:13

attitude guys that love to play and

27:16

guys that were physical. You look for

27:18

all those things, but you can't replace

27:20

guys that just love the game, you

27:23

know. And then I, I always was

27:25

pretty emphatic that we're in the state

27:27

of Oklahoma, we're not a big pop,

27:30

a very populated state. Let's make sure

27:32

we give every kid in the state

27:34

of Oklahoma chance first. Of course, through

27:37

the years, we may have missed some,

27:39

but I could, I always said, look,

27:41

man, don't pass up anybody in our

27:44

state. And let's, you know, if we're

27:46

going to make a mistake, at least

27:48

it was here, when I can remember

27:51

First Team All American D.N. Dan Cody.

27:53

Well, he was a tall, skinny guy

27:55

that he knew he was going to

27:58

fill out. I mean, he could run,

28:00

he could do, I mean, he was

28:02

tough, played hard. No one wanted to

28:05

take a, like, tight end, didn't want

28:07

to give him the scholarship. No one

28:09

knew where he's going to play, so

28:12

none of those coaches wanted to offer

28:14

up one of their scholarships. Finally, I

28:16

said, I don't care. I said, we're

28:19

offering him. I said, he's going to

28:21

play somewhere. And he was a tremendous

28:23

player for us for four years. And

28:26

point being, that's just an an example.

28:28

He's an instate guy. I'm not going

28:30

to play against them, hopefully somewhere else.

28:32

And he'll play somewhere, don't worry about

28:35

it. And I had how to make

28:37

some executive decisions once in a while,

28:39

like now I'm offering them. That's just

28:42

an example though, but it tough toughness,

28:44

it's hard, because that travels through the

28:46

out of season, it creates attitude and

28:49

how you do everything. And I'd like

28:51

to think through our years here. In

28:53

my time, if we were anything, we

28:56

were tough. And we didn't always win,

28:58

but it wasn't because of that. How

29:00

do you know if somebody has that

29:03

from just watching film? Because you can't

29:05

get in the room with everybody. I

29:07

mean, you talk to their coaches? I

29:10

can't say that we didn't make a

29:12

mistake here or there. I mean, it's,

29:14

yeah, I don't know, just visiting with

29:17

them, getting to know them, you know,

29:19

talking to their coaches in high school.

29:21

or junior college, whatever it might have

29:24

been. But then you see it on

29:26

tape to some degree too. But coaches,

29:28

assistant coaches and high school coaches can

29:31

tell you a lot too about all

29:33

this guy. They know what he's like,

29:35

what kind of leader is on the

29:38

team. Yeah, coach. I was reading the

29:40

story about Jeremiah Smith recently. He's that

29:42

stud freshman receiver at Ohio State, just

29:45

an amazing player. And after they beat

29:47

Tennessee, or I think it was leading

29:49

up to that game, actually, he went

29:52

to his receivers coach Brian Hartline, who's

29:54

a great coach, and he said, I

29:56

want you to coach me harder. I

29:59

want more, I want to get better.

30:01

you to push me, I need to

30:03

get on me, I want to be

30:05

coach hard. And I found that to

30:08

be a commonality, not only with athletes

30:10

who want to be great and who

30:12

already are great like Jeremiah Smith is,

30:15

but is that they want to be

30:17

coached. And I think this also plays

30:19

in the business world when I've led

30:22

sales organizations where my best people. They

30:24

weren't okay with me just leaving them

30:26

alone and letting them work. They wanted

30:29

to be coached. They wanted to get

30:31

better. Can you talk to me more

30:33

about your some of the greatest players

30:36

that you've coached and their desire to

30:38

be coached hard? The easiest one to

30:40

talk about is Adrian Peters. Wow. Out

30:43

of high school is as talented as

30:45

anybody I've ever seen. He walked on

30:47

campus and won every sprint, won every

30:50

conditioning drill. I mean, I walk in

30:52

the weight room, he's holding like two

30:54

70 pound dumbbells and he's jumping on

30:57

the highest plyometric box. I'm like, we're

30:59

gonna get him hurt. What are you

31:01

doing, Smitty? And he goes, don't worry

31:04

about him. Anyway, Adrian was that way.

31:06

He wanted to be pushed and he

31:08

even kind of said it. I remember

31:11

way back when he committed and came

31:13

with us that he goes, I knew

31:15

they pushed they pushed me that that

31:18

they weren't gonna, and we did. And

31:20

we did. Man, he, any conditioning drill

31:22

we might do after practice, summertime, whatever.

31:25

I remember Alan Patrick, one of our

31:27

other running backs every now and then

31:29

would try and sneak up on him.

31:32

I'm gonna beat him this one time.

31:34

Adrian and see him or feel him

31:36

and boom, he just turned it on

31:38

some more. And I swear he'd never

31:41

let anybody beat him in anything. And

31:43

that's the kind of guy you want.

31:45

And you know, that sets the tone

31:48

for everybody. And but we had a

31:50

good number of guys like that. Like

31:52

I said, if we did anything, we

31:55

were tough and we worked our, you

31:57

know, what off. I mean, our guys

31:59

in the out of season, we killed

32:02

it and then we would promote that

32:04

recruiting. So look, if you're looking. for

32:06

it easy, this isn't your place. And

32:09

our guys are telling that on recruiting

32:11

this, like well, oh, we get after

32:13

it. And if you you're looking for

32:16

a country club atmosphere, this isn't you.

32:18

And because we didn't want those guys.

32:20

We weren't going to change the way

32:23

we did things. And our out of

32:25

season was grueling and tough, but our

32:27

guys kind of took pride in that.

32:30

I think that work done when nobody

32:32

sees it. right is what is what

32:34

one creates evidence for a team that

32:37

they can do hard things and that

32:39

shows up when the lights are bright

32:41

on Saturday nights playing college football I

32:44

feel like that's when teams are actually

32:46

built those off season puking workouts that

32:48

are running the steps or however many

32:51

one tens or get half gas whatever

32:53

you're gonna do that's when teams are

32:55

really forged well that's what we felt

32:58

we felt like we had out worked

33:00

everybody So we deserved the win. That

33:02

was kind of what we built our

33:05

mentality on early on. That, you know,

33:07

because we had when we arrived here,

33:09

we had not had a winning year

33:12

in like five or six years. And

33:14

so our guys didn't know how to

33:16

work. But when we did and we

33:18

lost guys that didn't want to do

33:21

it, they were trying to set their

33:23

own face and we let them go.

33:25

And then the guys that stayed truly

33:28

believed, hey, we deserved the win. We've

33:30

worked too damn hard. not to win.

33:32

I'm sure there someone may have worked

33:35

us here or there, but we didn't

33:37

think so. I was like, you know

33:39

what, we deserve to win, we've worked

33:42

hard for this, and we're going to

33:44

win. And that was the attitude. And

33:46

then year two, we go undefeated. And

33:49

in those guys, they had earned it.

33:51

Like, no, man, we were, this is

33:53

our time. You know, we've worked too

33:56

hard for this not to finish it.

33:58

What was special or unique about that

34:00

national championship? Right, you take a program

34:03

that wasn't great. to one that's the

34:05

best in the country. What was special

34:07

and unique about that team? Their attitude,

34:10

they were tired of being kicked around.

34:12

We had a bunch of older guys

34:14

that had been told they're not worthy,

34:17

they, you know, this, that, the other.

34:19

You know, the image here when I

34:21

arrived was really pretty poor. The self-image,

34:24

the community's view of our program, all

34:26

of it was pretty poor. And we

34:28

just felt their attitude, they were sick

34:31

of it. We're gonna do something about

34:33

it. I was big on promoting what

34:35

the history of Oklahoma had been for

34:38

a good number of years, all the

34:40

championships, which you go back through the

34:42

Wilkinson and Switzerland, and this is, and

34:45

I was big on, this is what

34:47

we're supposed to be. And we're not

34:49

going to shy away from it, we're

34:51

not going to hide from it. And

34:54

that was going to be our, we

34:56

were going to be one of those

34:58

kind of teams. And they, they, they

35:01

latched on to our vision and, and

35:03

believed in us and went and did

35:05

it. You know, I try to do

35:08

this analysis of I've been on winning

35:10

teams and losing teams as a player,

35:12

not as a coach, but as a

35:15

player and then a coach in the

35:17

business world I've been on teams that

35:19

have done really well and teams that

35:22

have not. And there's a number of

35:24

attributes to both, but one of them

35:26

that I found to be a commonality

35:29

among the ones who won a lot

35:31

is the players are so bought in.

35:33

that they become the leaders of the

35:36

entire organization. They hold each other accountable.

35:38

They don't let somebody go this close

35:40

to the line and not touch it.

35:43

They don't let that stuff happen. The

35:45

coaches create the environment for the players,

35:47

usually like on a football team like

35:50

juniors and seniors, usually, not always, to

35:52

keep the standards super high, hold themselves

35:54

to it first, and then hold everyone

35:57

else to them as well, and that

35:59

then creates. the excellence and usually the

36:01

winning. What have you found on the

36:04

teams that win versus the teams that

36:06

don't as well as far as being

36:08

player led and accountability? amongst the players.

36:11

Yeah, that's it's always the best. Yeah,

36:13

when you when you have players that

36:15

that are your top dogs that nobody's

36:18

gonna mess with and they're gonna listen

36:20

to and they're not afraid to speak

36:22

up. Those are the best and we

36:24

were definitely like that in 2000 that

36:27

we've worked too damn hard and we

36:29

got it's right in our grasp. You

36:31

do everything you can and that was

36:34

that was by them. We had a

36:36

bunch of really great leaders. you know

36:38

the Torrance Marshals, Rocky Countless, Roy Williams,

36:41

Trent Smith, Josh Hypell for goodness sex.

36:43

He was our leader on offense, you

36:45

know, along with a few other guys,

36:48

Trent Smith and some other older old

36:50

lineman. So now those guys, they had

36:52

the pulse of the team and that's

36:55

when you know you're really getting somewhere.

36:57

What do you think of Hype now

36:59

as a head coach at Tennessee? Did

37:02

you see that in him when he

37:04

was your quarterback? really happy for him.

37:06

They've done a great job there and

37:09

everywhere he's been, you know, you also

37:11

ahead of that at Central Florida. So

37:13

no, I'm glad he's done so well.

37:16

And yeah, he was our true, you

37:18

know, our big time leader, of course,

37:20

in 2009 to get us started as

37:23

well as 2000. And I've said it

37:25

before, I said it in my book,

37:27

the making of a head coach that

37:30

I've had other players, Heisman trophy winners.

37:32

Josh was a runner up, but first

37:34

picks in the draft and whatnot. But

37:37

he's the most valuable recruit I've ever

37:39

had because he started. He came in

37:41

year one. Mike Leach wanted Josh. That

37:44

was his pick. I trusted Mike. This

37:46

is who he wants to get us

37:48

started when he did an incredible job

37:51

and then Mike moved on to tech

37:53

and then we win the national championship

37:55

in 2000. So now definitely he's he'd

37:57

be the most valuable recruit that I

38:00

ever signed. Mike Leach is quite a

38:02

character coach. I miss him and I

38:04

didn't even know him but I knew

38:07

him. from afar. What made him tick?

38:09

He just seemed like a different bird,

38:11

but one that it's hard not to

38:14

love the guy. No, he was genuinely

38:16

that. Just watch all his crazy interviews

38:18

and in front of the podium and

38:21

he was truly just a natural character.

38:23

Easy guy to be around, really a

38:25

peaceful guy. Like I love bike. It's

38:28

sad, but just But truly, that was

38:30

just him. He wasn't trying to be

38:32

funny. He wasn't, you know, he was

38:35

just that way, naturally that way. But

38:37

here's the thing about Mike. As casual

38:39

as he came across, as funny in

38:42

those interviews after games or whatever, I

38:44

mean, he was so bright, he could

38:46

go off on tangents, which we've all

38:49

seen. But when his offense, what he

38:51

wanted done right, he was demanding. and

38:53

he was a leader in front of

38:56

that team. So he didn't come across,

38:58

he might casually come across, but they

39:00

knew we better get this stuff right

39:03

or they're gonna be held to pay.

39:05

Mike was very demanding on how he

39:07

wanted his offense to run to look

39:10

and in practice what he, and if

39:12

he didn't see it, you'd see some

39:14

blow-ups now. So anyway, so it's, unless

39:17

you work with them, you wouldn't see

39:19

that. It seems like those types who

39:21

make it, it's like a stand-up comedian

39:24

that just like wanders out on stage,

39:26

making it seem like it's effortless, even

39:28

though they've repped it a billion times.

39:31

I feel like that's Mike Leach. One

39:33

other thing that's purely a football thing

39:35

and maybe only for me that I

39:37

find fascinating. Mike Leach, Lincoln Riley, there

39:40

may be others. Their play cards or

39:42

sheets are like this big. They're tiny.

39:44

They just have like little... What? They're

39:47

not. What do you mean? What do

39:49

you mean? It's the whole sheet? and

39:51

they just fold them. Okay. So like

39:54

when I look watch them though, they

39:56

look like they have this tiny little

39:58

piece of paper in their hands. up

40:01

close. They'll if they'll be that, but

40:03

then they'll flip it over and it's

40:05

like for third downs. So they just

40:08

don't want to have a big like

40:10

strong specialty in their specialty plays. They

40:12

know where they're at. It's, it's, it's

40:15

a little bit of a rubic cube.

40:17

Oh, I was like, why did they

40:19

do it? You're right. Why do they

40:22

do it that way? Big sheet. It's

40:24

just a regular piece of paper that

40:26

they fold different ways so that they

40:29

fold folded up piece of paper in

40:31

their hand. Well, obviously, rather than, you

40:33

know, why not? And they know how

40:36

to find what they're looking for. Okay.

40:38

All right. Okay. Because I was going

40:40

to say, well, don't get me wrong.

40:43

They're, they're, they're very smart on not

40:45

having too many plays, but they don't

40:47

have just eight plays. Okay. So they're,

40:50

they're all in different spots. versus like

40:52

I was just watching Sean Peyton he's

40:54

got this giant like most offensive coordinators

40:57

giant I know laminated thing that has

40:59

a thousand plays on it I would

41:01

probably get lost on that thing well

41:04

they're they're very good though it not

41:06

having too many there that's word to

41:08

that tree of coaches they they're they're

41:10

smart about that like first year with

41:13

with with Mike Leach man Geno wants

41:15

to put in this play that play

41:17

whatever And Mike goes, that's fine, but

41:20

which one you're getting rid of? In

41:22

other words, he's not having too many

41:24

plays. And he, Mike was big on

41:27

what we do. We don't do what

41:29

everyone else does. In other words, he'd

41:31

say, well, this is a really good

41:34

play. He would agree. You know what?

41:36

That's a hell of a play, but

41:38

we're not running it. He knew what

41:41

we did, and that was it. I

41:43

think there. Is there a, there is

41:45

something about the simplicity of, for example,

41:48

Steve Jobs. They could do 20 different

41:50

things, but he said, we're gonna do

41:52

three. We're gonna do five. And then

41:55

you become an. at those five plays

41:57

or those 10 or those 20 and

41:59

you rep them like crazy and you

42:02

run like maybe you change the formation

42:04

you put in motion you shifts or

42:06

whatever you gotta do to confuse the

42:09

defense a little bit but it's about

42:11

getting excellent at what we do not

42:13

trying to do everything. That's exactly what

42:16

Mike was and our offense early on

42:18

absolutely that he was we're gonna do

42:20

it better than you can defend and

42:23

we know all the ends and outs

42:25

of it and that was it. And

42:27

he's not going to sit up at

42:30

night trying to dream up another play.

42:32

We're just going to run these better

42:34

than you can deal with them. I

42:37

think there is something to be said

42:39

for that for all of us when

42:41

we're trying to get exotic and crazy

42:43

and all over the place when it's

42:46

like, how about we get really good

42:48

at what we do? Like excellent at

42:50

what we do as opposed to looking

42:53

all over the place. And I feel

42:55

like that's almost been the synopsis of

42:57

our entire conversation. to be a coach.

43:00

This is what I think it's going

43:02

to take. This is what I look

43:04

for in a player. This is how

43:07

we build culture. This is how we

43:09

build a team led by players. And

43:11

then we go. And I think there's

43:14

a beauty in that simplicity and that's

43:16

why it's led to you having so,

43:18

I mean, you won titles in college,

43:21

titles as a pro, your MVP of

43:23

your team as a player in college.

43:25

It seems like all of this has

43:28

worked over decades worth of your life.

43:30

I've been, like I said, I've been

43:32

incredibly lucky, fortunate, all the breaks in

43:35

my life. Maybe the biggest break, you

43:37

get in the chance to go to

43:39

Iowa, you know, out of Youngstown. No

43:42

one else big time school recruited me.

43:44

And at the time, Iowa had a

43:46

winning year and probably 16, 17 years,

43:49

so it was not. So anyway, and

43:51

then it's led, it's just been around

43:53

great people. And I've been smart enough

43:56

to pay attention. you know, the what's

43:58

out there with different ways of doing

44:00

things. And I think too, if I'm

44:03

anything, I'm relational. I relate to my

44:05

coaches well, to my my administration, I've

44:07

related to my. you know, and yeah,

44:10

I've always knew I didn't have all

44:12

the answers, but search for them and

44:14

then do the best you can and

44:16

work, work and be tough. One of

44:19

the other people that you've surrounded yourself

44:21

with that Sherry Cole told me about

44:23

was your wife. And she said that

44:26

Carol was like an amazingly successful Mary

44:28

Kay national sales director. Right. And so

44:30

she like did her own thing while

44:33

you are the guy, your Bob Stoops.

44:35

What's that like? I mean, I'm always

44:37

looking for marriage advice too. I always

44:40

want to improve everything. Like I'm curious

44:42

about that. No, she was amazing. Amazing

44:44

career. And a great leader. Initially, that

44:47

wasn't her nature to be outgoing like

44:49

that. And then she made herself into

44:51

that. and created this great business and

44:54

not, you know, with it's a great

44:56

company, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and she became

44:58

a national director. She was a teacher,

45:01

initially a great school teacher, and she

45:03

came home one day and she was

45:05

gonna quit, and she was gonna be

45:08

a Mary Kay director. I was like,

45:10

oh, time out here. I was still

45:12

in my first couple years at Kansas

45:15

State, I wasn't making any money yet.

45:17

And I was like, don't you think

45:19

you ought to see if you're good

45:22

at this before you just going? So

45:24

she waited a year or two and

45:26

did both. And then she just kept

45:29

getting better and better and earned a

45:31

car, which she earned a car for

45:33

probably 18 years. The Cadillac, right? Oh

45:36

yeah. So that's awesome. On an assistant

45:38

coach's budget, it was fantastic. Anyway, and

45:40

then, but on top of it, she's

45:43

raising my daughters at the time. She's

45:45

raising three little kids. I had identical

45:47

twin boys. When I got to Oklahoma,

45:50

she was born here. and my daughter

45:52

was three when we got here and

45:54

she's doing that while she's doing that

45:56

business and funny story great story I

45:59

had been gone recruiting for a week

46:01

on December like we do I come

46:03

home and I ring the doorbell. I

46:06

didn't have my key with me and

46:08

it's like a Friday at four in

46:10

the afternoon. We have recruits coming in.

46:13

I just got back from being on

46:15

the road and my son Isaac opens

46:17

the door and he's like five at

46:20

the time. He yells back in the

46:22

house. He says, hey everybody, Bob Stoops

46:24

is here. So that's kind of, you

46:27

know, so she did an amazing job.

46:29

What little kids, big job. And then

46:31

I'm I'm gone a lot where even

46:34

at the office, we don't have nine

46:36

to five jobs. So she managed it

46:38

really well. So good. Coach, I'm curious

46:41

one more before we run. Let's say

46:43

like somebody's fresh out of college, maybe

46:45

they played football, maybe not, but they

46:48

want to leave a positive dent in

46:50

the world, they want to do well.

46:52

What are some general pieces of life

46:55

slash career advice you'd give to that

46:57

person? You know, much is anything, be

46:59

true to yourself. Go hard, play hard,

47:02

be tough, and enjoy the struggle. I

47:04

think too many times people shy away

47:06

from the fight, and you can't. And

47:09

I think it's great business advice, anything

47:11

you're gonna do, it isn't anything worthwhile

47:13

isn't gonna be given to you, or

47:16

at least usually not. And you gotta

47:18

be willing and ready to fight for

47:20

it in the proper ways, is what

47:23

I'm saying. And it's usually it ain't

47:25

gonna be easy. Don't don't let that

47:27

surprise you and Go up every day

47:29

and go get it. I met my

47:32

son played at oh you I tell

47:34

him every day I said Hey son.

47:36

I said look forward to the fight

47:39

and enjoy it and play hard. You

47:41

know that was it. You know play

47:43

a player man. He's a great player.

47:46

Thank you. He's done a good job

47:48

and but yeah, I mean playing hard

47:50

that that that that that equates everything

47:53

You know, you got to go, you

47:55

got to go earn it in business

47:57

world or whatever you're doing. Every

48:01

quarterback wants one of those tough

48:03

guys in the slot who's gonna

48:05

go anywhere and everywhere Who would

48:07

be the guy you look for

48:09

maybe when you're scrambling? He'll go

48:11

up and catch the ball over

48:13

the middle like we love those

48:15

guys. We gotta have those guys

48:17

No, no doubt Coach, this is

48:19

awesome and I, you mentioned before

48:21

we started recording, you got some

48:23

of your own stuff going on,

48:25

I want to give you a

48:28

second here to maybe, maybe share

48:30

what that is, where people could

48:32

go to listen or watch or

48:34

pay attention to some of the

48:36

things that you're doing, especially the

48:38

Matthew Conneh conversation you had recently.

48:40

That I didn't record, or I

48:42

thought I did and at some

48:44

reason it didn't, but yeah, just

48:46

go to the your app store,

48:48

the Bob Stoops app. It's free,

48:50

it's right there on your in

48:52

your in your app store. And

48:55

I have interviews, players, coaches, or

48:57

predict games, you know, all that

48:59

kind of stuff from time to

49:01

time. And there's a ton of

49:03

already videos through the last couple

49:05

of years that are on there.

49:07

Anyway, like I said, it's free

49:09

to download. Love it. Well, thank

49:11

you, Coach. I really appreciate this.

49:13

And I'd love to continue our

49:15

dialogue as you both progressed, ma'am.

49:17

All right, Ryan, all the best.

49:19

And yeah, you keep going to

49:22

get it. Sounds like you're doing

49:24

it. Thank you. learning leader.com. Let

49:26

me know what you learned from

49:28

this great conversation with Hall of

49:30

Fame coach Bob Stoops. A few

49:32

takeaways from my notes. Hiring. He

49:34

said, I always tried to hire

49:36

people smarter than me. I think

49:38

a lot of leaders say this,

49:40

but not all of them actually

49:42

do it. It takes a lot

49:44

of humility to hire people who

49:46

you genuinely think are smarter than

49:49

you. But Coach Stoops looked for

49:51

people who had a track record

49:53

of performance. They've actually done it.

49:55

more than just a few years

49:57

and then he used his gut

49:59

instincts after he spent time with

50:01

He paid attention to how they

50:03

treated his secretary, how they treated

50:05

the waiter at lunch. Some call

50:07

those the little things, but they

50:09

were very important and they are

50:11

the big things to coach stoops.

50:13

Then, what makes a great head

50:16

coach? They relate to people. They

50:18

genuinely care about people. They can

50:20

motivate and influence by clearly sharing

50:22

the vision of the program and

50:24

inspiring others to want to get

50:26

on board. They are decisive people,

50:28

but most importantly, they know how

50:30

to connect with people. All leadership

50:32

is a people business. Businesses and

50:34

teams are made up of people.

50:36

If you cannot connect with people.

50:38

you will probably struggle. It's all

50:40

about connection. And then the overarching

50:43

theme of the entire conversation was

50:45

I felt the simplicity with how

50:47

Coach Stoopes built his program. He

50:49

didn't try to overcomplicate anything. He

50:51

knew he wanted coaches who were

50:53

accomplished high character people and he

50:55

wanted tough players who loved. football.

50:57

Their offenses may have looked exotic,

50:59

but they didn't have a ton

51:01

of plays installed. They focused on

51:03

what they did and then practiced

51:05

it relentlessly so that they would

51:07

execute better than their opponents. And

51:10

I think there's something beautiful and

51:12

the simplicity with how he's built

51:14

his program. And obviously the results

51:16

speak. for themselves. Once again, I

51:18

want to say thank you so

51:20

much for continuing to spread the

51:22

messions and telling a friend or

51:24

two. Hey, you should listen to

51:26

this episode of The Learning Leader

51:28

Show with Bob Stoops. I think

51:30

he'll help you become a more

51:32

effective leader and because you continue

51:34

to do that and you also

51:37

go to Apple Podcast and Spotify

51:39

and you subscribe to the show

51:41

and you rate it hopefully five

51:43

stars and you write a thoughtful

51:45

review by doing all of that.

51:47

You are giving me the opportunity

51:49

to do what I love on

51:51

a daily basis and for that.

51:53

I will forever be grateful. Thank

51:55

you so, so much. Talk to

51:57

you soon. Can we? you.

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