With Bob Stoops retiring after 18 years, we are reaching out to some of his former players to get some of their thoughts and remembrances of their time with the man who helped rebuild Oklahoma after years of struggles.

The program that Stoops leaves behind is nothing like the one he took over Dec. 1, 1998.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into facilities upgrades, another national championship banner was raised. The Sooners won 10 Big 12 Championships and produced two Heisman Trophy winners.

The Sooners produced 37 first-team All-Americans during Stoops time in Norman and 83 of his players were drafted by the NFL.

One of Stoops most decorated players during his 18 years in Norman was quarterback Jason White. White can even lay claim as Stoops’ first recruit when he landed in Norman. We wrote about the story of Stoops traveling to see Jason White as soon as he was hired.

But we also had some other thoughts from Jason White we wanted to relay here.

Jason White on Stoops asking him how long it took to get to Tuttle and Stoops telling him he would be right there…

“So that was impressive and just to think about the things he said that day. As a young kid, of course those things sound awesome but as I’ve gotten older you think about how ‘oh, that’s a good recruiting spiel.’ But everything he said he did. He brought the program back to where it was in the past and it was just amazing to hear the news today and just to think about all those times.

“And then to think about all the times as a player – that’s one thing I always admired about coach Stoops is in the locker room or in the Switzer Center it was, hey, it’s football, have you watched film on Texas? Have you seen their defense when they do this? But as soon as you got out of that locker room whether you were talking about football or not walking out the door, it immediately shut off and it always went to how’s your mom and dad? What about your sister? It was immediately to that point.

“I always respected that about him because that’s hard to do. I think he realized these are young men that are in college and they have other things in life besides just football. So I always respected that about him.”

White on Stoops personality that sometimes seemed cold from the outside when most players just described him as a “straight shooter”…

“Absolutely. You’re hitting the nail on the head when you said straight shooter. He always told you what he thought. He didn’t really hold back. Whether you wanted to hear it or not he didn’t sugar coat it. He just told you how it is.

“I just remember going through those knee surgeries and the rehab process and things like that, coach would always come down to the training room and ask how it was going. He didn’t have to do that. It was important. It was especially important for me. It was a way to make me feel like I was still a part of the team.”

White on being with Bob Stoops since the very beginning and being such a big part of bringing Oklahoma back as one of college football’s best…

“That’s one thing I’ve always been able to tell people. I was coach Stoops first recruiting class. My class was the first recruiting class that he had. Now granted there were probably kids that were being recruited by coach Blake that ended up coming to OU anyway, but coach Stoops had to hit the trail hard.

“He was announced basically at the beginning of January and he had basically a month to get people to come. If you think about that class that he brought in that year, Quinten Griffin, Derrick Strait, Michael Thompson, all those guys. They all had impacts on the program.”

White on just enjoying watching Oklahoma football since his time under center…

“You know the thing I appreciate the most is something I think I’m kind of – well maybe I made my name with overcoming the adversity. If you think back to all the adversity coach Stoops had to face at the University of Oklahoma, there’s a bunch. There’s players in trouble or illegal benefits or this and that, there’s been a lot.

“Coach Stoops has always found a way to overcome it. That’s what I appreciate the most. Yeah, you’re going to have bumps in the road but you’ve got to keep your team on track. Yeah, there’s a couple of years that maybe weren’t up to par to some people, but sure enough the next year they were right back where they were the previous years.”

White on being in the middle of Stoops bringing Mike Leach to OU and seeing how he transformed the conference by Leach’s offense spreading throughout the conference…

“I remember when he came to my house when we were talking offense. He said, ‘Well, I’ve got coach Leach coming in from Kentucky and he sure likes to throw the ball and I’d love for you to come over sometime and visit with him.’

“I just remember visiting coach Leach and watching coach Leach showing me film that first visit of what he planned on putting in for our offense. As a quarterback you just smile the whole time because you want to throw the ball. That’s all you want to do as a quarterback. To see that brought in, he definitely changed the Big 12 just by bringing him in.”

White on the common theme many are sharing that they wish they could have seen Bob win another national championship…

“I definitely, I know I was a part of two that we didn’t win, but even those two that we didn’t win, I wanted to win them for coach Stoops. I wanted to win them for all my coaches, coach Long and all those guys. Those guys entrusted in you, they believed in you and they gave you the opportunity and what better way to reward them than that.

“Even after I was done, as a fan looking in, you want to see those coaches that gave you opportunity, that stood on the lines with you, you want to see them excel and do well. I really thought in 2008 they were going to win it that year. I always wanted to see him win a couple more because that’s how good of a coach he is. It was definitely a disappointment not to see it but at the same time, he’s been super successful.”