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Mike Stoops reportedly headed to Alabama as defensive analyst

Mike Stoops, who was fired as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator this past October, is reportedly headed to Alabama to work as a defensive analyst on Nick Saban's staff. Mike Stoops, who was fired as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator this past October, is reportedly headed to Alabama to work as a defensive analyst on Nick Saban's staff.

By David Paschall January 31, 2019 2 min read

Mike Stoops, who was fired as Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator this past October, is reportedly headed to Alabama to work as a defensive analyst on Nick Saban’s staff.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban has hired former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops as an analyst for the 2019 season.

USA Today was first to report the move.

Stoops, the younger brother of former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and the older brother of current Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops, had two stints as defensive coordinator with the Sooners. The first of those occurred from 1999 to 2003 and included Oklahoma’s national championship season in 2000, when the Sooners allowed 14.9 points per game.

His success resulted in a head-coaching opportunity at Arizona from 2004 to ’11, but the Wildcats were 41-50 during his tenure with consecutive 8-5 seasons in 2008 and ’09 serving as the highlights.

Stoops returned to Oklahoma as the coordinator in 2012, but his Sooners defenders could not replicate the same productivity as before. Oklahoma allowed 28.8 points per game during 2016 s and yielded 27.1 a contest in 2017.

After a 48-45 loss to Texas in the sixth game this past season, Stoops was fired by head coach Lincoln Riley. The Longhorns racked up 501 total yards, and their 48 points represented the most they’ve ever scored in that rivalry.

Stoops would follow a growing line of former head coaches who have become analysts with the Crimson Tide, a list that includes Butch Jones, Mike Locksley and Steve Sarkisian. Saban reportedly has hired Sarkisian for a second time as offensive coordinator, with Sarkisian replacing Locksley, who is the new head coach at Maryland.

Jones coached Tennessee to a 34-27 record from 2013 to ’17 and spent last season as an Alabama offensive analyst.

There were reports Wednesday that former Houston Cougars head coach Major Applewhite could interview for an offensive analyst role at Alabama. Applewhite was the offensive coordinator on Saban’s first Tide team in 2007.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.

David Paschall

David Paschall has covered sports at the Chattanooga Times Free Press since 1999 and wrote for the Chattanooga Free Press in the nine years before that. David has mostly covered college athletics, with a focus on the University of Georgia from 2000 to 2019 and the University of Tennessee since 2020. He grew up in Chattanooga and is a graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received multiple writing awards and has served as a Heisman Trophy voter since 2003. He has also worked in radio in Chattanooga and has been on the SEC Network's "Classic Rewind" series since 2014. David and his wife, Kelly, have three children — Conner, Emily and Spencer.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.