Browns Taking a Look at Stoops

Bob Stoops, who put Oklahoma football back on the map, may get a chance to do the same with the Cleveland Browns.

Stoops, fresh off winning a national championship with the Sooners, said Brown President Carmen Policy has been trying to reach him for the last two days, perhaps to discuss the NFL team’s coaching vacancy.

On Thursday, the Browns fired Chris Palmer, who was 5-27 during two turbulent seasons in Cleveland and Stoops already may be on the club’s short list of candidates.

Stoops, who grew up rooting for the Browns, expressed interest in the Cleveland job when he was informed of Palmer’s dismissal while in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he accepted a coach of the year award.

“Well, I just found it was open,” Stoops told the Tulsa World. “But, sure, I’d talk to them. I’ve always been intrigued by the NFL. And it would certainly be a job close to my home.”

Stoops was returning to Oklahoma from Arizona and could not be reached for further comment.

Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione had a brief phone conversation with Stoops before the coach boarded a plane Friday afternoon. Castiglione said Stoops told him he had not yet been contacted by the Browns.

Policy was not in his office, and his assistant said he was leaving town for a week along with team owner Al Lerner.

“Bob is a wonderful man,” Policy said Thursday. “He’s a very accomplished coach.”

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Terry Robiskie, the interim coach of the Washington Redskins after Norv Turner was fired, has been dropped by new Coach Marty Schottenheimer.

Schottenheimer, hired last week, said that Robiskie and linebackers coach Foge Fazio have been fired.

Schottenheimer also made his first hiring, bringing in Hue Jackson, the offensive coordinator at USC the last four seasons, to coach the running backs.

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Former Buffalo Bill coach Wade Phillips, a former Houston Oiler assistant under father Bum Phillips, will interview today with the expansion Houston Texans. Phillips will be the fifth candidate to visit with the Texans, who begin play in the 2002 season. Phillips, fired Monday by the Bills, will follow Bill defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, who interviewed with the Texans on Thursday. The Texans also have talked with University of Miami Coach Butch Davis, Jacksonville Jaguar defensive coordinator Dom Capers and St. Louis Ram assistant head coach Al Saunders. . . . Jaguar Coach Tom Coughlin promoted quarterbacks coach Bob Petrino to offensive coordinator, ending his own two-year tenure in the position.

Tom Clements, a former Notre Dame and Canadian league star, was hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterbacks coach--the first time the team has filled that position since 1973. Coach Bill Cowher decided to hire a quarterbacks coach after firing offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, who coached the quarterbacks himself. The new offensive coordinator, Mike Mularkey, has little experience in coaching quarterbacks. . . . The Rams hired Ron Meeks as defensive backs coach, to complete Coach Mike Martz’s staff. Meeks has been an NFL assistant for the last 10 seasons with the Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons.

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Former Steeler quarterback Joe Gilliam died of an accidental cocaine overdose, the Nashville medical examiner said. Gilliam died Christmas Day at 49. He struggled for years after his NFL career with drug abuse, living periodically on the streets of his native city. . . . Miami Dolphin quarterback Jay Fiedler, who had only two touchdown passes and 11 interceptions after injuring his non-throwing shoulder, had rotator cuff surgery. Fiedler will have his arm and shoulder immobilized in a sling while he begins a rehabilitation program that could take up to four months. . . . The Steelers signed former Virginia defensive back Dwayne Stukes and allocated him to NFL Europe for the upcoming season.