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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 12-01-2017, 09:17 PM:

According to Sporting News Mark Stoops it is possible that Mark Stoops could be possible to replace Jimbo Fisher after he received a record contract at Texas A&M.

Stoops is listed among nine possible repacements classified in three tiers.

Link

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 12-01-2017, 10:30 PM:

It will never happen, once the search committee sees UK'S defensive stats, they'll take him off the list.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 12-01-2017, 11:50 PM:

If I thought there was a chance we could hire a better coach, then I would love to see him go back to Florida State. But our ability to attract great coaches has been non-existent.

Careful what you wish for.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-03-2017, 08:14 AM:

I would love for Stoops to be hired away. UK is not the crap job it used to be. Facilities have been upgraded and the team is going to its second bowl in a row.

Posted by Cold Spring Cat (Member # 14751) on 12-05-2017, 04:50 PM:

It'll end up being Willie Taggert from Oregon.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 12-05-2017, 09:59 PM:

Please let it happen!! I personally think Stoops is one of the worst coaches in the Power 5 conferences.

[ 12-05-2017, 10:01 PM: Message edited by: Trey Ball ]

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 12-05-2017, 10:51 PM:

It is Willie Taggert. Stoops is safe for two more years.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 12-05-2017, 11:01 PM:

coaching records

Bryant 8 60-23-5
Collier 8 41-36-3
Bradshaw 7 25-41-4
Curci 9 47-51-2
Claiborne 8 41-46-3
Curry 7 26-52
Brooks 7 39-47
Stoops 5 26-35

Looking at this we can see we have had only 2 coaches with a winning record at UK. Stoops has already passed Bradshaws record. Curci stayed 9 years, most for UK. Stoops could possibly pass him in the next two years in only his 7th year. In 3 more years like Claiborne he could catch him. Forget Curry. In two more years he could pass Brooks. When you look at the records Stoops could be in good shape if he wins 8 or 9 more games in each of the next two years. The problem is if he only wins 6 or 7 games he may not last more than two more years.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-06-2017, 07:24 AM:

After this season, I don't see any other team wanting to hire Stoops away. Kentucky is not that lucky.

Stoops' team looks like a chinese fire drill, out of position and making a ton of mistakes.

Football is about striving for perfection and keeping errors to a minimum, because one mistake can cost your team a touch down.

Twice against a Florida team that Kentucky should have beaten, there was a receiver left wide open in the flat that any middle aged man could have floated a pass to for a TD. The result? 14 points, of course.

Barely beating the lesser teams in the first part of the schedule was a very bad sign for this year's team. They just looked like they weren't prepared to play. Any team can have a bad game here or there. Kentucky has had two good games against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. The rest were below the performance that they should have displayed on the field. Since those games included teams that UK was supposed to beat, I don't blame lack of talent. I blame the coaching staff.

Posted by Cold Spring Cat (Member # 14751) on 12-07-2017, 08:57 AM:

Guys, let's face it. The SEC will always continue to reload in terms of talent. As much as UK brings in 3-star and 4-star recruits, the other big dogs continue to bring in 5-star kids. There will never be an level playing field.

I do think that the culture is there, it is the need to turn that culture into actual wins. The coaching pedigree in the conference has improved even more in recent weeks and that means more talent. Cats will need to continue to make in roads to stay competitive.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-10-2017, 09:43 AM:

I don't get upset about great plays. I do however, scratch my head when it appears that nobody knows how to play the game.

The play that the Ole Miss receiver made against the UK defender in the end zone was a great play made by a great player. UK lost, but it was great football, great drama, and the defender was there, but did not make the play. I have no issue with that.

There is no excuse for a team leaving a receiver wide open on an island several times in a game, that is a result of not lining up on them at the snap. If a kid gets beat on a route, that's understandable. To not line up and account for a guy, leaving him unaccounted for, is just bad football and poor coaching.

If a fan can see this, why can't the coaching staff get things worked out?

UK beat UL, last season. UL didn't go out and replace half their players with All Americans. Yet, UK made the Cards look like the most dominant team in college football. Ridiculous.

Those two games were not the result of disparity in talent, they were the result of bad preparation.

Posted by uncSUCKS (Member # 2148) on 12-11-2017, 01:18 PM:

I am okay with 7 wins a year but I'd prefer more excitement like Neil Brown could bring to our program.
Realistically I dont see any coach winning more than 7-8 games/year here.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-11-2017, 03:22 PM:

Before the upgrades to the facilities, I would be happy with 7 wins. That is not what this program should be shooting for, anymore.

They should be shooting for 8 to 9 wins a year and have a shot at a championship once every 5 or 6 years.

Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 12-11-2017, 04:49 PM:

I think our odds of winning a national football title are about the same as Vandy or Bama winning it in Basketball.... Maybe not even as good.

[ 12-11-2017, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: Old Norm ]

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-11-2017, 08:57 PM:

Playing for the Sec championship.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 12-12-2017, 08:47 AM:

I think 8-9 wins per year is expecting much, and I would be ecstatic if we won our division about once a decade... but it will require much more than a facilities upgrade. It would require fixing our structural disadvantages.

Stoops has done wonders on the most glaring structural disadvantage, which is the lack of talent in our state. He has wisely done what Curci did -- stop trying to compete with the SEC teams for talent in the south, and recruit the relatively talent-rich areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Selling hot prospects in Big 10 Country on playing in the SEC seems to be working.

But, even so, there is a lot more work to do to fix our recruiting problems. UK should be investing in building up HS football in Kentucky. If the quality of high school football here was the same as in Georgia, or Alabama, or Florida, we would have a lot more home-grown talent in the pipeline.

The other structural disadvantage the UK faces is contextual. Our fans, our sports coverage, even apparently our Athletic Association have historically tended to favor basketball over football. That is true despite the fact that our football program brings in much more revenue than our basketball program. Barnhart has made great progress in addressing this within the AA, but the core UK football fan is cynical, yet loyal, but most are just waiting for basketball season to start.

As far as coaches, I would not be so quick to replace Stoops. He has kept the program relatively clean, and recruits well. But muzzle him, in the sense that we should hire some A+ coordinators, and the AD should make it VERY CLEAR that they will run the game. Coach Stoops runs the program, but the coordinators call the plays.

[ 12-12-2017, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: Tiptree ]

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-13-2017, 07:35 AM:

I disagree. If your standard is a certain level, that is what you will be.

If your standard is set at a higher level and you don't achieve it, you don't give up and lower your standards. You keep working to achieve the goals and standards that were set.

It is blatantly obvious that the UK administration has a standard that is 7 wins. They will not make a leap forward with the program, with such a low bar that has been set for the coaching staff.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 12-13-2017, 07:58 AM:

I think Barnhart is doing this the right way, given the realities he is operating under. He is gradually upping the game. To wit:

* Setting the goal at 7 wins is, historically, a very high bar for UK football.

* Stoops was hired to recruit, and he really has delivered in that regard

* The investment in the facilities, plus the improved level of players, plus routinely winning seven games or more a year will set the stage for getting a big-name coach.

Gradually, but steadily, UK football is improving. To expect to suddenly swoop up to the upper echelons is frankly unrealistic, but I see the trajectory. Perhaps in 5-6 years, when the foundation is really solid, UK can say goodbye to Stoops and bring in the coach that will get us to 8-9 wins a year. But that is really quite a stretch goal.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 12-13-2017, 10:23 AM:

Yes, Stoops and staff (especially Vince Morrow )have improved the recruiting by a large margin.

My take of this past season:

Preparation and execution have been lacking, for most of the season. This is not because of a huge talent disparity between the haves and the have nots. This team looked out of sorts from the start of the season.

Had this team beat the weaker teams, like they should have, and had a better showing against UL, I would not be complaining about the team winning only 7 games this season.

When a team only looks good for two games and looks like they just weren't ready to play in all of the others, then recruiting can only take you so far. At some point, the players have to be coached up and be ready when the game starts. The receivers have to run the correct routes. The QB can't float a ball in the air for an eternity allowing the defender to catch up on the play or have tunnel vision and miss wide open receivers while throwing into double coverage. Can't have a secondary that allows a receiver to go unaccounted for, several times in a close game, and just give touch downs away.

Stoops won't get fired for winning seven games. But, hell fire, when are they going to start looking like a well coached ball team? Is the time they spend on recruiting the reason why the team looks so unprepared on the field? What is the motivation for the staff, when they get an extension for getting to seven wins?

I have no delusions about Kentucky winning a national title in football. I do think that the program should have as a goal to strive to get to the SEC championship game and the expectation should be that at least one out of five or six seasons, that they have a shot to do so. The stars would have to align, ie a star QB and few other star O players with a stingy, veteran defense. Of course injuries to star players can throw any promising season in jeopardy. Again, if you don't have high expectations, you don't achieve greatness.

[ 12-13-2017, 10:30 AM: Message edited by: boomdaddy ]

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 12-13-2017, 01:35 PM:

Boom,

I agree fully with the importance of high expectations. That is a must. And I agree that the staff seems to have failed the players greatly this year. Honestly, I would give Stoops and ultimatum:

Fire your coordinators immediately after the bowl game. Hire three new coordinators, and let them decide the fate of each position coach. Then let them do their thing, and stay out of the play calling. Focus on being in charge of the program, inspiring and supporting the coordinators, but be the executive, not the meddler.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 12-13-2017, 04:43 PM:

We are playing a 9-3 team in the Music City Bowl. I believe they picked us because we were really also a 9-3 team, without the 9 ever being obtained due to 2 losses to FL and MS. It wouldn't have been hard for us to have 9 wins with just a light bit more effort. But if it had been 9 instead of 7 where would that put us next year? With the schedule we have coming up in 2018 I think 7 wins is a stretch.