Speculation about staff no surprise to Stoops

Monday, November 5th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The firing of Kansas football coach Terry Allen has prompted speculation that Mike Stoops or other Oklahoma assistants could be candidates for the job, something that head coach Bob Stoops said comes as no surprise.

``I'm sure they will be on a lot of people's lists,'' he said Monday on the weekly Big 12 Conference coaches call. ``That comes with the territory. We've been winning, they're excellent coaches, their resumes speak for themselves and what we've done here has been pretty decent.

``I understand that's going to happen, but that's OK.''

Bob Stoops said he had not spoken with his brother about the Kansas job.

``There's a lot of circumstances that go into whether any job is good for a coach,'' he said. ``Is it the right fit? What's the university's commitment to its program? What's the leadership like? What's the potential? I don't know that right now, whether it's a good fit for him right now. I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it, really.''

Allen, in his fifth year, was fired Sunday after compiling a record of 20-33. Defensive coordinator Tom Hayes was named interim head coach.