Stoops Won’t Go to Browns

Talk that Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops was thinking about taking the Cleveland Browns’ head coaching job turned out to be just that.

Stoops said Saturday that he plans to remain at Oklahoma “for a long time,” ending speculation that the coach who led the Sooners to a national championship might move on after only two years.

“Regardless of what you hear, I plan on being at Oklahoma for a long time,” Stoops said to thunderous applause from a near capacity crowd during halftime at the Kansas-Oklahoma men’s basketball game in Norman, Okla.

“I still believe it’s a privilege to be the head football coach at Oklahoma,” Stoops said.

“I’ve got the very best assistant coaches in the country and I get to coach the best players in the country.”

The Browns fired Chris Palmer as coach on Thursday, and Stoops said he would talk to representatives of the Browns if they called. That night, Stoops said Cleveland President Carmen Policy had been trying to reach him for two days.

“But my cell phone went dead for two days and I just got it working again and got my messages,” Stoops told the Tulsa World.

“I don’t know if that [job opening] is why Carmen Policy has been trying to call me, or if he just wanted to offer congratulations on winning the national championship.”

But Stoops declined to say Saturday whether he had been contacted by the Browns.

“I’m not getting into any of that,” he said. “In my life right now, I’m fortunate to be the head football coach here. Hopefully they’ll have me here for quite a while. I plan on that.

“Life’s never certain of anything, but right now I believe I have the best football job in the country and that means college or pros.”

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The name alone is enough to evoke nostalgia in Houston: “Phillips.”

This time it’s son of Bum, Wade, coming in for consideration as head coach of the expansion Houston Texans. Bum Phillips became a cult figure in Texas, leading the Houston Oilers to the brink of the Super Bowl in the late 1970s.

“I was here at the time, and those were great days and great memories,” Wade Phillips said Saturday after talking with the Texans.

“But I think they are starting a new era with new memories for everybody here.”

Phillips, an assistant to his father with the Oilers, who have since become the Tennessee Titans, became available after he was fired Monday as coach of the Buffalo Bills. Still, being a native Texan doesn’t make him a shoo-in with the Texans, who begin play in 2002.

Phillips was the fifth coach interviewed by the Texans.

General Manager Charley Casserly plans to interview Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak on Monday.

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The Detroit Lions received permission from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to interview assistant Herman Edwards about their head coaching job, a football source said.

The New York Jets also are interested in Edwards. He is expected to meet with Jet General Manager Terry Bradway within the next two days.

A date has not been set for an interview with Matt Millen, Detroit’s new president and chief executive.

Millen agreed to a five-year, $15-million contract earlier this week. He has complete control over all football operations.

Millen said he had not set a deadline for deciding on a coach, though he said “we’ve got to draw it to a close, and make a decision to move on.”

Edwards has been the Buccaneers’ assistant head coach under Tony Dungy and has also worked with the team’s defensive backs for the last five seasons.

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New San Diego Charger General Manager John Butler hired longtime associate A.J. Smith as assistant general manager and pro personnel director.