Former Dogs coach Fabris joins Oklahoma staff

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Posted 6:56AM on Wednesday, February 23, 2005

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA - Jon Fabris had the intensity, experience and philosophy Bob Stoops was looking for in a defensive assistant and he knows a thing or two about developing talented defensive ends, too. Fabris, Georgia's defensive ends coach, was hired Tuesday to fill a vacancy left when co-defensive coordinator Bo Pelini took a similar position at LSU. Fabris will take over coaching the Sooners' defensive ends while former ends coach Bobby Jack Wright shifts to the secondary a position he coached during an earlier stint at Texas. Stoops said he carefully considered what position he wanted to fill on his staff after Pelini departed, and decided Fabris was the best fit. He said he had known Fabris since he coached with his brother, Mike Stoops, and current Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables at Kansas State. ``He has a great feel and understanding of how we play defense and how we coach it,'' Stoops said by phone Tuesday. ``Talking to Mike and Brent, he's a guy that coaches very much the way we do, and has a lot of energy and also has a great, great background with special teams.'' In addition to coaching defensive ends, Stoops said Fabris would assist the Sooners in other areas, including special teams, as all of the team's assistant coaches do. ``I believe this gives us great stability and great experience in both areas and a relatively smooth transition,'' he said. He said there shouldn't be much difference between how the staff operates as it is configured now with how it worked with two defensive coordinators. ``It'll be the same as we've worked for six years,'' Stoops said. ``All of us will be in the room and put the game plan together. One guy will ultimately make the call ... but it never happens without having the plan in place and people conferring during the game.'' Fabris said he considers himself an energetic coach with a lot of adrenaline. ``If you don't have energy, your players won't have energy,'' Fabris said by phone from his office at Georgia. ``If you don't have intensity, they won't. If you don't have an eagerness, they won't.'' Fabris, who coached David Pollack to the Chuck Bednarik Trophy and an AP All-American selection at Georgia, said he's aware the Sooners will lose their top two defensive ends seniors Dan Cody and Jonathan Jackson and he hasn't been able to evaluate the returners next season. But he knows he likes players with a lot of intangibles. ``You can't win the Kentucky Derby with mules, but I love mules,'' Fabris said. ``I was a mule. And don't get me wrong. I think you can win with some mules, but you've got to have playmakers at certain positions.'' He said it's important to have talented players who are willing to work like mules, and have a desire to learn and win. ``I'll give up an inch in height and a tenth of a second on a 40-yard dash to get a kid who plays like his hair is on fire,'' Fabris said. Fabris said he's looking forward to joining the football tradition at Oklahoma, and he has some ties to the state. His father, Frank, was an end on Tulsa's 1953 Gator Bowl team. Stoops said he hopes the hire will bring some stability to his staff, which has lost co-defensive coordinators after each of the past two seasons. Mike Stoops left to become head coach at Arizona following the 2004 Sugar Bowl. ``You never know where things are going to go, but I think it gives us an opportunity hopefully to have some consistency and not have too much turnover, but you never know,'' he said. Stoops said he's confident Wright will excel after switching from Oklahoma's ends to the secondary. ``Bobby has been sitting in all of our meetings and with us from Day One for six straight years now ... He has experience working with the secondary before and is a very bright and sharp guy. I believe Bobby will do a great job working with the secondary.''