Over his college career he intercepted 10 passes for 80 yards.
Undrafted in 1983, he went into coaching.
Worked his way up as a graduate assistant (Iowa) all the way to defensive coordinator (Florida 1996-’98).
Took the reins as head coach at Oklahoma at 1999, and restored to the school as a national powerhouse.
Won the National Championship in 2000.
In all 17 seasons at the helm of Oklahoma, Bob took the Sooners to a bowl game.
He finished with a 191-48 college coaching record.
Retired from college coaching in 2017.
Opted to return to football for the XFL in 2020 as one of their flagship coaches leading the Dallas Renegades.
Returned in 2023, after the league reorganized due to COVID, coaching the now Arlington Renegades.
After a difficult start, Bob pulled off a trade for Luis Perez, and led the 4-6 Renegades to upsets over the Roughnecks and Defenders to win the XFL Championship Game.
Returned to the Renegades for the ’24 season, and while the team was competitive in every game, they ultimately finished with a disappointing 3-7 record.
ACCOLADES:
College Football Hall of Fame
AP Coach of the Year 2000
Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant Award 2000
Walter Camp Coach of the Year 2000, ’03
NOTES:
Stoops is technically a member of the Hayden Fry coaching tree. Stoops himself has a growing resume of young and upcoming coaches who served under him.
I think what sticks out to me the most, other than Bob’s excellent and well practiced autograph adorning this card, was his response to my request.
Recently I’ve been sending out note cards, to ask coaches to draw me up a play. I love collecting plays and getting an idea of their ‘coaching DNA’- y’know what’s on their mind.
I asked Bob to draw me up a play, and his response was simple and succinctly written on the note card:
CARD: TNT XFL 2023 ACQUIRED: IP 2024, San Antonio Brahmas v Arlington Renegades
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Salvatore Cannella played TE/WR at Auburn from 2017-’19.
Oft used at the majority ground and pound school, he provided mismatches with his unusual size (6’5″, 228), speed, and hands.
He finished his college career with 25 catches for 330 yards and 5 TDs.
Undrafted, Sal played in 2020 for the TSL Generals of the Spring Football League.
He put in his all catching 5 passes for 66 yards and a TD in the Spring League Championship Game.
After a workout with the Colts, he played for the Generals again in 2021.
This led to short stints with a mini-camp at Chicago, and on the off season roster of the Dolphins that year.
The TSL retooled as the USFL, and Sal found himself as the second TE off the board in the positional phase of the league’s draft by the New Orleans Breakers in 2022.
Sal had a great season, catching 34 passes for 368 yards and a TD.
Shortly thereafter he spent roughly a month on the Packers offseason roster.
Cannella was a huge defection for the USFL, when he was drafted and signed by the Arlington Renegades of the XFL in 2023.
He finished second in receiving among TEs with 42 receptions for 415 yards, and was a key cog in the Renegades XFL Championship victory.
After offseason stints with both the Seahawks and Vikings, he resigned with the Renegades for the ’24 campaign.
Sal concluded the season with 53 catches for 497 yards and 6 TDs.
He joined the Bucs for the offseason, but didn’t make the squad.
ACCOLADES:
All USFL Team 2022
All XFL 2023
NOTES:
A little over a week before the game, I went ahead and created and ordered cards of Sal and Luis Perez. (I wasn’t going to be caught flat footed like the previous season.) I was pretty happy with the results.
When I went to the game, I arrived at my normal seats. The players were doing warmups and I flagged down Sal. He looked genuinely touched that I made a card of him and that it was of such high production value. Sal signed the card, and I let him keep the extras I had as thanks.
In 7 contests he had 3 picks, 15 tackles, and 2 FF before the league collapsed.
He was a signee of the Detroit Lions later that year.
Then in 2020 played in the XFL for the New York Guardians.
In the COVID shortened season he had 16 tackles and a pick in 3 starts.
Houston of the USFL would be his next stop in 2022, raking in 26 tackles.
In 2023, Jamar played in the XFL for the Vipers, before finally playing in 2024 for the Renegades.
NOTES:
When the teams were going back to the locker room after warmups, Jamar came over and said that he had mad respect for my AAF jersey. I said to him, “I KNOW WHO YOU ARE JAMAR SUMMERS AND I HAVE CARDS OF YOU!” He excitedly agreed to sign them on the spot. Since I was wearing my San Antonio Commanders jersey, we talked about the matchup between SA and Birmingham for a hot minute.
He was surprised that I remembered it, but he remembered it down to the correct score! I then quipped about how the weather was terrible and there was a tornado watch that day and they played in a torrential downpour. We both also reminisced that we couldn’t believe it’d been 5 years.
When he saw my AAF cards, he was like, “Oh wow! A true fan!” (Especially when he laid his eyes upon the ultra rare Topps AAF Now 2019 card of his.)
Of note, I think I had gotten Jamar’s Topps XFL Certified sometime ago, but because he ham fisted the autograph, I resisted posting it for a while. It will certainly make a good conversation starter next time I see him. In a rush to get out the door, I forgot that he had a Topps XFL 2020 base card as well. There’s always hopefully next year!
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
