Stoops presented coach of the year award

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma football Coach Bob Stoops accepted the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award on Thursday. <br><br>The award, named for the former Georgia Tech University coach, was presented

Friday, March 5th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma football Coach Bob Stoops accepted the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award on Thursday.

The award, named for the former Georgia Tech University coach, was presented to Stoops during a luncheon ceremony at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Stoops led the Sooners to a 12-1 regular-season record in 2003 and a berth in the Nokia Sugar Bowl in January in New Orleans. Oklahoma lost to Louisiana State 21-14.

Stoops, who led his team to a national title in 2000, was the unanimous choice. The winner is chosen by previous winners of the award, plus a vote from a blue-ribbon panel of high-profile individuals in college football.

``All of us associated with the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation are thrilled at the selection of Coach Stoops for this prestigious honor,'' said George Morris, foundation president.

``Coach Stoops has an outstanding reputation, and we respect his leadership on the field, as well as the many accomplishments of his team in the classroom and in life.''

Scholarship, leadership and integrity are the main criteria for the award, Morris said.

Stoops, a graduate of the University of Iowa, was named head coach of Oklahoma in 1999 after holding assistant coaching positions at Iowa, Kent State and Florida.

Bobby Dodd, a Kingsport, Tenn., native, attended the University of Tennessee. His team went 27-1-2 in his three years there.

He was selected to the National College Football Hall of Fame as a coach and a player.

Dodd died in 1988 at the age of 79.