wanted to post a little about this because I’ve heard so much lately about how “Everyone wanted Brent gone and look how stupid they look now!!”
From 04-07 the Big 12 had normal offenses and good defenses.
Starting in 08 we saw our conference explode with elite offenses. We still had the talent at that point but we saw our defenses balloon to allow 23+ ppg after years of seeing us allow sub 20ppg. As a fan base we weren’t used to that.
In 09 we saw the best defense for Oklahoma we’ve had 6-7 years in my eyes. BUT We also were starved of QB talent in the big 12 at that point minus Colt McCoy.
Through the years from 10-12 we had good players but our position coaches were a lot of the same and had fallen off. The offenses started to change even more and the spread offenses were used by EVERYONE and had changed what a defense structured by Brent was able to defend.
As a fan base we saw a change from a big 12 known for defense from 2000-2009 to a conference that was full of jaugernaut Offenses, that were all torching everyone’s defense . Instead of looking around and saying “Hey everyone’s defense is getting lit up in this conference.” We said “We are Oklahoma, we should never get points put up on us like this.”
We were being unreasonable in expecting Brent to defend offenses that no one in our conference was defending particularly well at that point because no one had built their defenses to defend that yet.
Before 2010 we were used to being one of the leaders in the country in defense and we went to a sub 30 defense. Of course as a fan base seeing that big of a change made us believe something was wrong and we needed a change.
What we didn’t realize is we were hands down playing the best offenses and were staying near the top in the Big 12 in defense.
Should we have appreciated Brent? To an extent yes. He was facing the top offenses in the country but we looked at the conference like we had looked at it since 2000...a conference that you should be able to field a top 15-20 defense.
That was unrealistic in the New Age Big 12.
Honestly Brent wasn’t even ready, AT THAT POINT, to defend offenses that had come out fo nowhere and changed the conference.
Why the Mike Stoops situation is different is because we are no longer expecting a top 10 defense. We realize that is impossible in a conference in which we face offenses of this caliber week in and week out. BUT what is a TOTALLY realistic expectation is to be battling Texas as the TOP BIG 12 DEFENSE. We have the 2nd best talent in the league and there is NO EXCUSE ZEEEERO to not be at the top of the conference in defense. We DAMN sure shouldn’t be behind teams like Iowa State, TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and in their down years Texas. Those teams play in the SAME conference against the SAME teams with FAR LESS TALENT(besides Texas).
Mike may very well go to the sec and become a great DC again. But I will never look back and say “Damn we fvcked up on letting him go” because Mike Stoops proved time and again that he couldn’t defend the Big 12 defenses while Iowa State did with players that would have to walk on at OU.
All we want is to be as good as last years Iowa State defense ...this time I don’t think we are being unreasonable.
From 04-07 the Big 12 had normal offenses and good defenses.
Starting in 08 we saw our conference explode with elite offenses. We still had the talent at that point but we saw our defenses balloon to allow 23+ ppg after years of seeing us allow sub 20ppg. As a fan base we weren’t used to that.
In 09 we saw the best defense for Oklahoma we’ve had 6-7 years in my eyes. BUT We also were starved of QB talent in the big 12 at that point minus Colt McCoy.
Through the years from 10-12 we had good players but our position coaches were a lot of the same and had fallen off. The offenses started to change even more and the spread offenses were used by EVERYONE and had changed what a defense structured by Brent was able to defend.
As a fan base we saw a change from a big 12 known for defense from 2000-2009 to a conference that was full of jaugernaut Offenses, that were all torching everyone’s defense . Instead of looking around and saying “Hey everyone’s defense is getting lit up in this conference.” We said “We are Oklahoma, we should never get points put up on us like this.”
We were being unreasonable in expecting Brent to defend offenses that no one in our conference was defending particularly well at that point because no one had built their defenses to defend that yet.
Before 2010 we were used to being one of the leaders in the country in defense and we went to a sub 30 defense. Of course as a fan base seeing that big of a change made us believe something was wrong and we needed a change.
What we didn’t realize is we were hands down playing the best offenses and were staying near the top in the Big 12 in defense.
Should we have appreciated Brent? To an extent yes. He was facing the top offenses in the country but we looked at the conference like we had looked at it since 2000...a conference that you should be able to field a top 15-20 defense.
That was unrealistic in the New Age Big 12.
Honestly Brent wasn’t even ready, AT THAT POINT, to defend offenses that had come out fo nowhere and changed the conference.
Why the Mike Stoops situation is different is because we are no longer expecting a top 10 defense. We realize that is impossible in a conference in which we face offenses of this caliber week in and week out. BUT what is a TOTALLY realistic expectation is to be battling Texas as the TOP BIG 12 DEFENSE. We have the 2nd best talent in the league and there is NO EXCUSE ZEEEERO to not be at the top of the conference in defense. We DAMN sure shouldn’t be behind teams like Iowa State, TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and in their down years Texas. Those teams play in the SAME conference against the SAME teams with FAR LESS TALENT(besides Texas).
Mike may very well go to the sec and become a great DC again. But I will never look back and say “Damn we fvcked up on letting him go” because Mike Stoops proved time and again that he couldn’t defend the Big 12 defenses while Iowa State did with players that would have to walk on at OU.
All we want is to be as good as last years Iowa State defense ...this time I don’t think we are being unreasonable.
