Title Comes After Rebuilding Effort

That's when his Oklahoma team beat perennial powerhouse Florida State

13-2 in the Orange Bowl to cap a 13-0 season and seal the school's seventh overall national title and first in 15 years.

"It's changed, and it is more difficult that way, but I accept that," Stoops, 40, said in a teleconference Saturday. "But most of the time, people are pretty respectful when you're with your children and family. And I refuse to be a recluse and not go and do things.

"I am certainly congratulated a lot, asked for autographs quite a bit. I do my best to accommodate people always. The only time I really don't is if I'm with my children."

But it's hard to blame the fans in and around Norman, Okla., for their zeal.

Stoops, whose Sooners face off against North Carolina at home in the season opener for both teams Saturday night, performed one of the more impressive one-year turnarounds college football has seen in a while last year.

His predecessor John Blake guided the team through some of its most dismal years, accumulating a 12-22 record from 1996 to '98.

Upon arriving at the school, Stoops set about drilling its storied past into his players' heads, reinforcing to them that their school -- with former coaches like Barry Switzer and former players like Brian Bosworth -- had an impressive past.

The team went 7-5 in 1999, losing the Independence Bowl to Mississippi, before last season's remarkable run.

"I brought it up a lot last year, the past and our tradition and history, because I believe it's important that our players understand, respect it and appreciate what our history and tradition is and that we don't ever run from it," said Stoops, who played defensive back for Iowa from 1979 to '82.

The Sooners needed all the encouragement they could get from their coach, because they certainly weren't getting it other places. Even though they were

12-0, they headed into the Orange Bowl as 10 1/2-point underdogs.

"Our players, what I admire, is their toughness," Stoops said. "As they went through the year, there were a lot of reasons people would give us every week why we shouldn't win. And our players never accepted those. They found all the reasons why we should win."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.