The Sooners still use a few elements of Leach’s offense and practice plan, although much has changed through three offensive coordinators since Leach left.

Stoops’ influence lingered in Lubbock, too, as Leach took the Red Raiders to bowl games for eight straight seasons for the first time in school history.

“I got to see how he put together the program, some of the pitfalls and just how to put it together and how he responded to things,” Leach said. “It really helped me as I came to Tech and did the same thing just a year later.”

And now — as Stoops has an offense that ranks second behind only Leach’s in the Big 12, and Leach has a defense that’s second only to that of the Stoops’ — maybe the two coaches aren’t so different after all.

“The media and even the fan base, they enjoy talking about him or reading about him because of some of the off-the-wall things that he might relate to football or different interests that he had — the pirate comment, or when he was here he was big into Geronimo,” said Heupel, who’s the Sooners’ quarterbacks coach now but still holds Oklahoma’s season records for yards passing, completions and attempts from the 1999 season under Leach.

“In the end, the guy is a football junkie and loves watching film, loves dissecting defenses and trying to put his offense in a great situation.”

The stakes will be the highest yet when the two meet for the ninth time as head coaches. And even though one will be about to get a significant victory and the other a devastating loss, the two figure to meet at midfield and share a few moments over Leach’s pregame cup of coffee just like every other time.

“You go out there, shake hands and maybe talk for a little longer before the game starts,” Leach said. “But once the game starts it’s the same as playing anybody else because you’re just trying to solve the problems the other side presents.”