The relationship goes back further than one season as head coach and secondary coach in 2004. It goes back longer than being opposing coaches in the Big 12 Conference in 2003. The only thing deeper than the roots between Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Nebraska coach Bo Pelini is the historic rivalry between the Sooners and Huskers.
The coaches’ connection goes back nearly four decades. Back to the 1970s, on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio, and two large families that have had an indelible impact on college football over the last decade.
Those roots were woven together at Youngstown’s Cardinal Mooney High School. Stoops was one of six children who made their way through the school. Pelini was the last of eight.
“We were all intertwined in school. We all knew each other,” Stoops said.
Stoops graduated from high school with Pelini’s older brother Vince. During his first season as a defensive assistant at Kansas State, Pelini’s older brother Carl, now Nebraska’s defensive coordinator, lived with Stoops and his wife Carol, while serving as a graduate assistant.
Stoops’ younger brother Mark and Bo Pelini were high school classmates.
Then there was the 2004 season when Bo Pelini served as OU’s defensive backs coach.
What’s unusual is finding a time when members of the Stoops and Pelini family have been pitted against one another, but one of those times is due to take place at 7 p.m. Saturday when No. 4 OU plays host to Nebraska at Owen Field.
Coaching against one another won’t be a big deal.
“It’s not going to change our relationship. It’s not going to change how I approach it,” Pelini said. “I’m sure it’s not going to change how he approaches it. That is pretty irrelevant once you line up. Number one, we’re not playing. That doesn’t change how you do your job.”
Playing against one another might be different, just as it was on the basketball court at St. Patrick’s Church in Youngstown.
“That was a lot more fierce than what we’ll deal with on Saturday,” Pelini said.
Instead, what you’ll get is a lot more respect in a rivalry that has always been characterized by the outpouring of respect both sides have always shown over the years.
Pelini speaks of Stoops in the terms of a role model.
“I learned a lot from him. Obviously, he’s had tremendous success. Right now, I’m at a (different) point in my career. I believe Bob has been there about 10 years, and I don’t know if I’ve been here 10 months, so it’s a little bit different,” Pelini said. “When he took over the Oklahoma program, it was very similar to the situation when I took over. I don’t know if it was exactly (the same). One thing I do know, once the season is over, I will probably visit with him about moving forward and the things that he needed to do to move forward, as I will with a lot of the guys I’ve coached with.
“You learn from people. That is one thing I understand in this profession.”
Twenty-five years ago, no one could have guessed that two coaches from the same eastern Ohio town, even the same high school, would be in charge of two of the Big 12’s most historic football programs. Anyone hoping for animosity is going have to look elsewhere. When it comes to Stoops and Pelini, there’s too much history to disrupt the water.
“It is kind of ironic, two guys from the same town in Ohio, coaching Oklahoma and Nebraska,” Stoops said. “But it is exciting and we both pull for each other.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Stoops, Pelini go way, way, way back
- OU Sports
-
-
Sooners make winning look easy
As Oklahoma’s players locked arms around the pitching circle, coming together for what passed as a celebration following Saturday’s 7-1 NCAA Super Regional-clinching victory over Arizona, three gloves remained near second base....
-
There are no easy outs in the lineup
Looking for a gameplan to stop Oklahoma? Well, one may or may not be available, but walking two of the first three Sooners you face certainly isn’t part of it. Just ask Arizona’s Kenzie Fowler....
-
Sooners will play for Big 12 championship
OKLAHOMA CITY, — It’s been 16 years since Oklahoma won the Big 12 tournament. It’s closer now than its ever been to ending the streak. The Sooners rolled through Baylor, 7-2, on Saturday at Bricktown Ballpark to advance to the tournament’s ...
-
Sooners send five more to nationals
AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahoma track and field teams had five more individuals qualify for the NCAA Championship on Saturday evening at the NCAA West Preliminary. The men’s 4x100-meter relay team also advanced to the national semifinals....
-
OU sophomore Jao-Javanil wins NCAA golf title
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Oklahoma’s Chirapat Jao-Javanil made Oklahoma golf history Friday, becoming the first Sooner, man or woman, to win an individual NCAA national championship....
-
Pitching staff is exactly where Golloway wants it to be
When the Big 12 tournament began, Oklahoma felt like it had the pitching staff to make a deep run. Dillon Overton, Jordan John, Jonathan Gray and Damien Magnifico gave them four quality starters and a closer — Steven Okert — capable of ...
-
Sooners shut out Wildcats, need one more win for WCWS entry
Oklahoma might have scored more runs, not committed an error and starting pitcher Keilani Ricketts could have been just a little more efficient along the way....
-
Sooners send 4 more to NCAAs
AUSTIN, Texas – Oklahoma’s track and field teams added four individuals to the list of Sooners advancing to the NCAA championship Friday at the NCAA West Preliminary. In addition to the four new qualifiers, Brittany Borman advanced to the ...
-
Big 12, SEC deal breaks the mold
It is unclear what the on-the-field product of the game-for-which-there-is-not-yet-a-name will be. Indeed, all we really know is the Big 12 and SEC plan to play a game on Jan. 1, 2015 (and on every Jan. 1, thereafter) that will include ...
-
Rivalry helped shape program
For coach Patty Gasso, it goes all the way back to 1995, her first year at Oklahoma. That was when her Sooners played Arizona six times throughout the season. Those Sooners were “annihilated” in all six of those contests....
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
Sooners make winning look easy
