Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths

Oklahoma knows what it's doing. Bob Stoops is about to become the game's first $5 million coach (with bonuses by 2011).

I have no problem with that. You shouldn't either. You pay for victories. You pay for championships. You pay because your university has not been disgraced. That's the way it is these days. Heck, didn't Phil Fulmer get a raise last year?

There will be those who ask: Where was Bob Stoops going? Nowhere that I can see but sometimes it pays to keep your most important employees happy.

Oklahoma knows what it is doing because it is rewarding people for specific accomplishments. The entire staff received raises. By percentage, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson topped the list getting a 35 percent raise from $285,000 to $385,000. Quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel was second going from $156,000 to $200,000 (28.2 percent).

What do these two guys have in common? They helped run the highest scoring offense since Minnesota in 1904. Their quarterback won the Heisman Trophy. Their team won a sixth Big 12 title this decade. Yeah, I'd say they earned it.

That raises the question: If Stoops is worth $5 million per year, where does that put Urban Meyer? Florida's coach is going to get another raise after winning two championships in three years. He already makes at least $3.5 million per year. And what about Nick Saban? The school is in the process of extending his average $4 million per year. LSU's Les Miles reportedly passed Saban last year making $1,000 more per year than the conference leader.

What happened to cost cutting? It doesn't touch football.

• Before you start, howling, yes, I do remember the Big Red Motors scandal at Oklahoma. Yes, that was embarrassing but the school was out front on it. Plus, Stoops showed some stones by immediately kicking Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn off the team. That is one smudge and in no way resembles the frat house that Barry Switzer ran during his heyday.

But let's not get all high and mighty here. Schools still pay for wins.

• For fun, see how your salary compares to Saban's with this salary calculator.

• Heat-stroke related deaths are up according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research center at the University of North Carolina. We're way ahead of you. I reported in May that "exertional sickling" a complication of sickle cell trait, is now the leading cause of death of NCAA football players this decade. Sickling is caused by overextertion without proper acclimation to the conditions.

All of the deaths have come in practice or in conditioning, not in games. Five of the 10 deaths in Division I-A football this decade have been caused by sickle cell trait. There have been 25 heat-related deaths overall in football in the last 10 years, according to Dr. Frederick Mueller, who wrote the report.

"This number is unacceptable since heat-stroke deaths are preventable with the proper precautions," Frederick said.

In a recent study, only 64 percent of Division I-A schools even test for sickle cell trait. You can bet that a lot fewer than that know how to accilimate sickle cell trait athletes to extreme heat during conditioning.

Why doesn't this bother anyone else?

• Came off the road, had a lot to do, fighting a cold. Ended up watching Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett retrospectives on Thursday night.

I think Stoops & Saban are the two best coaches in college football. I know this will bring out the cry babies from florida nation. Yes the water lizards won ther big game. But Sabam had the gators on the ropes and were ahead late without even a average QB. If Saban had even a good not even great QB they would have won that game. The nc game the Sooners couldn't punch it in when they got close. But i would't say meyer the mouth out coached Stoops. Meyer the mouth won, but he wins with all his thugs and jailbirds. Most coaches would put half his team in the road for their arrest records, but meyer the mouth just wants wins. You can use a dead girls credit card and steal your roomates laptop and stay on the team. But if you get arrested i might have to cut you. Plus you dont have to study. Flordia's football ranked where last year in grades in the nation, i think it was LAST. So with meyer the mouth you can lie, steal, and cheat and dont have to to study to play for meyer. So dont put him in the class with these two great coaches.

rpd13131 Reputation: 90 Level: All-Star Since: Mar 27, 2007	Posted on: June 26, 2009 12:01 pm Score: 127 Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths If Stoops is getting 5 million per year, than Meyer should at least get 6 million per year. I'm a bull gator with the university of florida program and I don't mind them raising my booster fee to keep a guy like Meyer who is winning SEC and national titles. Stoops was a good coordinator at Florida and he beats up on the average Big 12 (that was proved in the bowl season), but why they call him big game Bob is beyond me. Maybe it should be "I'll get you to the Big Game Bob, but won't win it". SEC still rules and the highest paid coach should be coming out of that league, not the big 12. [ Reply to Comment ]
USC17FAN Reputation: 97 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 26, 2006	Posted on: June 26, 2009 12:18 pm Score: 40 Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths Why don't you go and felate Urban and all of the SEC somewhere else...? [ Reply to Comment ]
Lurchdoggy Reputation: 97 Level: Superstar Since: Feb 27, 2008	Posted on: June 26, 2009 12:21 pm Score: 65 Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths Well put. I'm an LSU fan and agree with you that an SEC coach should be top-paid. But, in the same instance, if you raise one SEC coach, then the other top programs will follow suit: LSU, Florida, Auburn, Alabama... It would get out of hand quick in the SEC. Just food for thought. [ Reply to Comment ]
tat2dpsu Reputation: 95 Level: Superstar Since: Dec 24, 2008	Posted on: June 26, 2009 12:32 pm Score: 117 Its not a raise Bobby its a bullseye Look say what you will, Bob Stoops is one of if not the best coach in CFB, year in and year out. However his Big Game Bob nickname has taken on a different meaning of late. He recruits great teams and through the regular season his is one of the winningest coaches in the country, But come December and January lately he hasn't produced. It seems lately the only way he could win a BCS Bowl game is if it happened to be against Ohio State (as an alum from a fellow Big 10 school, haha). Bobby I hope this money gives you the drive to win in January and quiet those (like me) who delight with every bowl loss you incur. But if you don't, don't think you'll be making $5 million a year for long because one thing history has taught us it is if you coach at the Nebraska's, Oklahoma's, USC's, Michigan's, Ohio State's, and to a lesser extent now Notre Dame's of college football the only thing that matters is the the major bowl victories. I am sure you all have opinions on this...... fire away [ Reply to Comment ]
psu 1 Reputation: 0 Level: Amateur Since: Jan 8, 2007	Posted on: June 26, 2009 12:43 pm Score: 27 This comment has been removed. Post Deleted by Administrator
steel-lions Reputation: 98 Level: Superstar Since: Dec 15, 2008	Posted on: June 26, 2009 12:54 pm Score: 74 Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths Over paid. Both Stoops and Dodd. It's not too hard to have the highest scoring offense since 1904 when you play in a conference that doesn't play defenese (the the exception of Texas... and we know how that turned out.) [ Reply to Comment ]
gmkann01 Reputation: 0 Level: Amateur Since: Dec 1, 2008	Posted on: June 26, 2009 1:37 pm Score: 29 This comment has been removed. Post Deleted by Administrator
gatordude_1 Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Dec 17, 2006	Posted on: June 26, 2009 2:09 pm Score: 108 Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths I have no issues with Bob Stoops becoming a 5 Mil. coach in the college ranks. His success speaks for itself. One could say that the bowl record his team at OU is not where it should be in the win column, however, the ability he and his staff have exhibited year in and year out is a testimony in of itself. Congratulations to Stoops and his family. Congratulations to the Sooner fans. Looks like he's going to reside in OK for sometime. And last time I looked, his arrest record is a tad bit better than ours.........lol. [ Reply to Comment ]
XZMASTERZX Reputation: 79 Level: Pro Since: Aug 18, 2008	Posted on: June 26, 2009 2:44 pm Score: 120 Stoops & Saban the Top Dogs I think Stoops & Saban are the two best coaches in college football. I know this will bring out the cry babies from florida nation. Yes the water lizards won ther big game. But Sabam had the gators on the ropes and were ahead late without even a average QB. If Saban had even a good not even great QB they would have won that game. The nc game the Sooners couldn't punch it in when they got close. But i would't say meyer the mouth out coached Stoops. Meyer the mouth won, but he wins with all his thugs and jailbirds. Most coaches would put half his team in the road for their arrest records, but meyer the mouth just wants wins. You can use a dead girls credit card and steal your roomates laptop and stay on the team. But if you get arrested i might have to cut you. Plus you dont have to study. Flordia's football ranked where last year in grades in the nation, i think it was LAST. So with meyer the mouth you can lie, steal, and cheat and dont have to to study to play for meyer. So dont put him in the class with these two great coaches. [ Reply to Comment ]
1GoBlue Reputation: 96 Level: Superstar Since: Aug 24, 2006	Posted on: June 26, 2009 3:01 pm Score: 131 Stoops' raise and heat-stroke deaths Well I agree and disagree with you. First, I agree in that Stoops is getting paid a whole lot of money to not be able to win the big one. That does not take away from the fact that he is a good football coach but his BCS record is pretty atrocious. However, he runs a good and a clean program, which leads me to where I disagree with you. Meyer does not deserve more. OK he may be able to win a big game but he also has no control over it. He is leading UF to the hallowed halls of the old "U" of Miami notoriety. 26 arrests...yep he is a heck of a role model to his players that is promoting self control and doing the right thing. There is more to a program than winning and Meyer is failing there. Furthermore, if the guy gets paid any more money and doted on much more then he can quit coaching to become one of those huge floating blimps in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. His head and ego keep him floating. Finally, just like an SEC fan to have to throw into every post and debate how "my conference is better than your conference". I bet in elementary school you bragged that your Dad was better than the other kids Dad and in high school you liked to throw out there that your manhood was longer too. I live in Florida and these SEC fans are fanatical over something mythical. Have yet to see a conference battle all star game. [ Reply to Comment ]

Dennis Dodd

Dodds and Ends