- Luke Fickell is favored to be the next Oklahoma Sooners coach with +300 odds.
- Bob Stoops has +425 odds to be the next Sooners coach.
- Kliff Kingsbury has +1400 odds to be Oklahoma’s next head coach.
NORMAN, Okla. – In shocking fashion, Lincoln Riley has announced that he will be leaving the Oklahoma Sooners football team to become the head coach at USC.
With Riley now out, online gambling sites have odds for who is going to take over as the Sooners next head coach, and Luke Fickell is favored to do so.
Next Oklahoma Head Coach
- Luke Fickell +300
- Bob Stoops +425
- Matt Campbell +450
- Mark Stoops +600
- Brent Venables +750
- Josh Heupel +800
- Jay Norvell +900
- Dave Aranda +950
- Alex Grinch +1200
- Kliff Kingsbury +1400
Luke Fickell
Riley leaving Oklahoma proves that no coach is set in stone and Luke Fickell is no exception. Fickell is currently the coach of Cincinnati and is on the brink of leading the first Group of Five school to the college football playoffs.
Fickell is at the top of the Sooners list and he will surely listen to what they have to offer. It would mean a move to a Power 5 conference in the Big 12 before the Sooners move to the SEC in 2025. This is a huge opportunity for Fickell to move into a larger coaching role and with his resume exploding right now with Cincinnati, it is not hard to see why his college football odds are favored.
Bob Stoops
Bob Stoops is an obvious candidate here given his ties to the Sooners as their former head coach from 1999 to 2016. Stoops became one of the most decorated coaches during his time at Oklahoma having won 10 Big 12 championships and a national title in 2000.
Stoops was replaced by Lincoln Riley in 2017 and did stick to coaching as he went on to coach the XFL’s Dallas Renegades. Stoops is certainly in consideration and it is hard to believe he would turn down an opportunity to coach at an elite level one last time.
Josh Heupel
Josh Heupel is no stranger to Oklahoma as he was their starting quarterback when they last won the national championship and also served as an assistant coach for them from 2006-2014. Heupel has made a decent name for himself as a head coach as he went 28-8 during his time at Central Florida and has turned Tennessee into a bowl team going from 3-7 last season to 7-5 this season.
Being that everywhere he has gone he has made the best of his situations and also his deep ties to the Sooners, he could be back on the Sooners sideline very soon.
Kliff Kingsbury
Kliff Kingsbury is considered a longshot for the Sooners job being that it would mean going from the NFL to college. However, that shift backwards has happened before. Most notably with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh who took the step back after four years coaching the San Francisco 49ers and even leading them to a Super Bowl appearance. It is also worth noting that Kingsbury was mentioned in the potential candidates for Riley’s replacement.