Bob Stoops should root for Josh Heupel over Oklahoma in 2024 and it shouldn't even be a hard decision

Former Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops thinks the Tennessee Vols are in for a "strong" season in 2024.

Stoops, who won a national championship at Oklahoma in 2000 with current Vols head coach Josh Heupel at quarterback, was asked about his expectations for Tennessee this week in a video posted to his YouTube channel.

"I think they're going to be strong," said Stoops when asked about the Vols in 2024. "Obviously, our (Oklahoma) first SEC game right here in Norman, OK. So that'll be exciting for everybody. But they've done a good job. When Josh Heupel took that job I thought 'this is going to take a while', because of the recruiting penalties and what had happened ahead of Coach Heupel being there...because usually all those effects of penalties take effect two, three, four years later. But they've overcome them -- he and his staff have really done a great job of putting together strong teams. [They] beat Alabama a couple of years ago. I forget what they were a year ago, I think 9 or 10 wins, so I would think they would be at the same or trying to push to be better than that."

The matchup between Oklahoma and Tennessee on September 21 is one the most anticipated college football games of the 2024 season.

For starters, it's the Sooners' first ever SEC game after officially becoming a member of the conference earlier this year.

Secondly, and this is why the game has so much intrigue, it's Heupel's first time returning to Oklahoma as a competitor since he was unceremoniously let go by Stoops as the program's offensive coordinator after the 2014 season.

It'll certainly be interesting to see where Stoops' loyalties lie on September 21. Will he be rooting for Heupel, his former quarterback, who is regarded as a legend by his former teammates for his incredible leadership and elite competitiveness? Or will he root for the program that he coached from 1999 to 2016?

It seems like an easy call if you simply look at it from the human aspect. If you're Stoops, you can root for the player who brought a locker room together and literally sacrificed his well-being* for his teammates. Or you can root for a logo. Seems like an easy choice. But based on how Stoops treated Heupel after 2014 , I'm guessing the choice has already been made.

Obviously, it took every player on Oklahoma's roster in 2000 to win the natty. Heupel didn't do it alone. But it was Heupel's belief in his teammates after a 7-5 season in 1999 that truly got the ball rolling for the Sooners in the 2000.

"He (Heupel) told everybody (before the season) 'we're going to win the national championship'," said Cale Gundy , an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2022, late last year.

"It was the perfect recipe," added Gundy. "It was the right chemistry. And it was across the board with the players, our coaches, the administration. Everybody in our office. Everybody had one goal. But I just keep going back to Josh Heupel and those meetings and him saying 'why not us?'. I think it just really hit everybody in the face, like, why not us? We can do this."

Heupel was the glue that brought Oklahoma together in 2000. It was a team full of competitors, but it was Heupel that believed the team could win every game. And many of the players/coaches on that team often reference Heupel when asked how the Sooners won it all in 2000.

How could you not root for Heupel's continued success if you're Stoops? Some relationships are bigger than sports. And this should absolutely be one of those instances. After all, Stoops doesn't have a natty on his résumé without Heupel.

* Here's a quote from former Sooners tight end Josh Norman on how Heupel sacrificed his body for the team in 2000: "If you go back and watch the first game against Kansas State, shoot both games against Kansas State that year, they ran that 4-6 defense. They were bringing cover zero like 80 percent of the time. And the air raid ain't known for seven/eight man protections. You got five or six at the most. They were coming after him. And they were getting to him. He was getting the ball out, but they were lighting his tail up. And you see that -- literally like peeling him off the ground. And he'd just get up and you could just see the hurt and the pain in his face. But he'd look to the sideline, get the play, walk in the huddle, he'd call it, he'd make the play. He'd deliver every time. And just hearing that, it does something to you. So he was a great leader, man. We have so much respect for that dude. And that's the reason all of the guys that played with him just love seeing what he's doing even to this day."

Related: Former Tennessee HC Butch Jones really does not want you to forget that he was an analyst under Nick Saban at Alabama