What does Stoops do well?
- Thread starter PensacolaBlue
- Start date
Well, for starters, he took a non-existent joke of a program and turned it into a legit SEC football program.
I’m not convinced any realistic coach could have done that. I mean, what coaches were begging us to hire them? Mark MFN Stoops, the ornery rascal from Youngstown. He did EXACTLY what he told us he was going to do.
This board is flat out stupid now. I don’t know if most posters started following football 2 years ago or what. Stoops literally built this program brick by brick. Had so much success that now some irrational fans believe that we can just fire that man, who accomplished something damn near impossible here, and go hire Lane Damn Kiffin or something.
We lost Liam Coen…who ditched us after 1 year. Gee, thanks, Liam. We had a beat up QB who did not perform as expected. Our OL was awfully inexperienced and bad. We literally could not long snap the football for most of the season. We’re 7-5. Relax.
I’m not convinced any realistic coach could have done that. I mean, what coaches were begging us to hire them? Mark MFN Stoops, the ornery rascal from Youngstown. He did EXACTLY what he told us he was going to do.
This board is flat out stupid now. I don’t know if most posters started following football 2 years ago or what. Stoops literally built this program brick by brick. Had so much success that now some irrational fans believe that we can just fire that man, who accomplished something damn near impossible here, and go hire Lane Damn Kiffin or something.
We lost Liam Coen…who ditched us after 1 year. Gee, thanks, Liam. We had a beat up QB who did not perform as expected. Our OL was awfully inexperienced and bad. We literally could not long snap the football for most of the season. We’re 7-5. Relax.
Give us the list of SEC coaches $$$$
Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. What’s he make?
Stoops deserves more than him, for example.
This is UK. We have to pay Stoops more, and he deserves it.
He’s a great defensive mind. Typically produces a strong secondary. He’s recruited better than any coach ever has here. I wish he’d take a few clues from his Brother Bob though. Bob wasn’t afraid to roll the dice with guys like Mike Leach and Lincoln Riley as OC’s. I know we took a shot at Riley ourselves, but Mark conceded him to his brother.
LOL...this isn't exactly a "doing well" bullet point.
He has a losing SEC record in 3 of his last 4 years (that is 8th in the SEC if you want to check)....not exactly jaw dropping. He can't keep an OC....at some point you have to look at the man in the mirror and we are well past that. Thankfully there are cupcakes and he has caught UL in a down era. His teams are notoriously undisciplined (a reflection of the HC) and his off the field antics have no place in his HC career.
^^^^^^
THIS!
Stoops stripped away the last vestiges of BB-on-grass - "Mumme-ball" and the throw 50+ times a game, not be able to close out a win in the 4th with tough running, defense is optional, ST be d@mned, and so on.
I was not a fan of the hire and slow turn around; however, Stoops ultimately found success by building talent, strength and depth in the OL and DL. With good but often not great skill position talent, we were able to "out hit" opponents, run the ball in the 4th, win TOP, choke out teams in the final minutes.....all on the backs of tough O and D stemming from good OL and DL play. With this formula, we started to win more than we lost and participate in bowl games with regularity which was a sea-change at UofK.
Up until this season, the OL/DL-centric formula served him exceedingly well.. This year he hit a speed bump with a misfire hire of OC and an OL that failed to support offensive stability through good run blocking and decent pass blocking. We doubled down by pressuring our super-man QB into remaining in the pocket and we couldn't protect him. We got our QB hurt which further complicated matters. New OC hire forthcoming with a focus on OL fundamentals I am sure.
Bottom line--Stoops turned us from SEC FB freeloaders into a football team and a football program worthy of peer respect in our own conference....the best conference in the land.
Finally, he has UK's BB HC and BB-centric Cats fans panicking because of our recent FB success at the same time their BBHC deity is imploding with going-on 8-straight years of painful underperformance shielded by AD's short-sighted lifetime contract at $9M per year.
GBB!
That’s the worst argument I’ve heard this far. Jimbo Fisher has had a bad year, but he’s also won a national championship. Stoops hasn’t even won the East!
So, just because Fisher is overpaid means Stoops should be overpaid? Don’t see every other AD doing that. Not to mention, Fishers deal hasn’t changed since he got hired….Stoops got a raise last December and now got another one. What changed to give him the latest Brinks truck?
Good:
I think for the most part he’s a good motivator, good recruiter, and a good defensive-minded coach.
Bad:
-Insists on playing a boring, outdated offensive style of football where it seems like his goal is to win scoring the least amount of points possible. (even with LC last year there were several times where the offense looked completely stagnant.)
- He seems to be clueless with in-game situations and clock management.
- His teams are highly undisciplined with penalties galore.
- Doesn't have a killer instinct.
- Takes his foot off the gas in games where we have 10-14 point leads with way too much time left. Always resorts back to the ground and pound which usually involves several 3 and outs that takes only a few seconds off the clock, leaving the other team plenty of time score to get right back in the game.
I think for the most part he’s a good motivator, good recruiter, and a good defensive-minded coach.
Bad:
-Insists on playing a boring, outdated offensive style of football where it seems like his goal is to win scoring the least amount of points possible. (even with LC last year there were several times where the offense looked completely stagnant.)
- He seems to be clueless with in-game situations and clock management.
- His teams are highly undisciplined with penalties galore.
- Doesn't have a killer instinct.
- Takes his foot off the gas in games where we have 10-14 point leads with way too much time left. Always resorts back to the ground and pound which usually involves several 3 and outs that takes only a few seconds off the clock, leaving the other team plenty of time score to get right back in the game.
At this point, those who do not appreciate Mark Stoops will not change their minds. They are locked into their positions with heels dug in, and will use anything that does not go right to argue their position against Stoops all over again. Everyone who can be moved by what Stoops has done to recruit and win football games is already on board for him. What is left now in the miserable group are those who resent Barnhart for removing influence from boosters and who never liked Stoops in the first place. Many wanted Bob Petrino and do not have the integrity now to admit they were wrong. So they blast Stoops and Barnhart whenever they feel like they have an opportunity. Then they pretend the accomplishments have not happened.
I have never seen a perfect coach. To be fair, there are things to love about Stoops and things to be concerned about. As an example of the latter, he has made some boneheaded decisions about managing the special teams, that have cost the program. On OC hires, he brought in Brown, Dawson, Gran, Coen, and Scan. Some worked and others did not. But when you look at the whole package, Stoops is winning games Brooks and Joker would not have won, signing impact players Brooks and Joker could not have signed, and taking the program in a positive direction unprecedented since Bear Bryant was at UK, even with the mild regression of 2022.
On that last point, I have heard Stoops say we are two penalties away from being 9-3. While that sort of sounds like an excuse, it is literally true. It does not alter the fact that a few plays win or lose football games, but it offers a window into how this season burns him. If you and I think the season burns us, just consider this is the team Stoops built. All we do is watch and comment in hindsight. He lives it.
Passes Bear Bryant in wins at UK.
I'm not disagreeing that our defense has been stout but scoring D can also be attributed to the style of offense we play in running the ball and limiting possessions for the opponents. I would be curious where we stand in yardage allowed during that time. One area that we have made huge strides in would be YAC. We do a lot better job of making tackles in open spaces than we used to.
Stoop's has elevated KY football from where it was before he arrived. No doubt about that. My only issue is paying someone this sort of salary while losing to vandy and South Carolina. But that is more directed at our AD than Coach Stoops. I like Stoops, but he has done nothing to justify this kind of salary, and if we don't get a handle on this NIL stuff, we are going back to being the doormat of the SEC. Top 10 salaries are fine, but you better be producing top 10 results.
Sorry, but this is unprovoked alarmism. I know what the SEC doormat looks like, because that is what we were when I was in school. Despite this season, we are headed in the opposite direction to what you say. Our facilities are some of the best in the league. Our defense has been one of the best in the league for several years. Our offense can be fixed. The portal is important. NIL is also important, but not quite the anchor you say. If NIL was so decisive, how come Clemson, Texas A&M, and Auburn suck, Bama is down, and Vandy is getting better? Things are never that simple. I am confident in our school and our coaches.
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I have my criticisms of Stoops, but I went 4 years as a student at UK without the Cats sniffing a bowl game. He must be doing something others before him could not.
He deserves the money.
He deserves the money.
The something he’s doing others could not is coach during a period where everyone goes to a bowl game.
All I know is in my decades of time in the Navy, we had periods where we were putrid in FB and being a UK fan was an exhibition in masochism.
Specifically, I was stationed in Mayport FL....the heart of Gator country..... from 94-96 where we lost to Spurriers Gators 73-7.....42-7.....and 65-0 respectively over those three years. Life was miserable as a UK fan back then. UK football was helpless, hapless, and hopeless.
No more.
Under Stoops, we've beaten UF and UT more than once. We go to bowls every year and now we win our bowl games. In our division, we have only Georgia to solve in the east (a tall order but not the impossible task as were our UF games in the Spurrier vs Curry....Spurrier vs Mumme days).
For those saying "what has he done?"....you might be too young (or too old with failing memory) to remember when we were arguably the worst program in the conference...one of the worst programs in P5 FB.
We were SEC FB freeloaders looking for a check from the revenue model....again....no more!
He isn't perfect, but he is a darned good coach for UofK.
GBB!
Specifically, I was stationed in Mayport FL....the heart of Gator country..... from 94-96 where we lost to Spurriers Gators 73-7.....42-7.....and 65-0 respectively over those three years. Life was miserable as a UK fan back then. UK football was helpless, hapless, and hopeless.
No more.
Under Stoops, we've beaten UF and UT more than once. We go to bowls every year and now we win our bowl games. In our division, we have only Georgia to solve in the east (a tall order but not the impossible task as were our UF games in the Spurrier vs Curry....Spurrier vs Mumme days).
For those saying "what has he done?"....you might be too young (or too old with failing memory) to remember when we were arguably the worst program in the conference...one of the worst programs in P5 FB.
We were SEC FB freeloaders looking for a check from the revenue model....again....no more!
He isn't perfect, but he is a darned good coach for UofK.
GBB!
Should have stopped, right there.
Someone posted, above, that Stoops is nationally ranked 7th for wins among Power 5 coaches the last five years.
Hence, his salary has moved to top 10 range.
Again, it has been noted he is Top 10 in Power 5 for wins the last five years.
How many 2-10, 3-9, 4-8, 5-7 teams go to bowl games? That’s where we were in 2012, and for most seasons dating back to 1954.
What does Stoops do well? Ignore idiotic internet posts.
When is the last time we finished a season in the top 10?
Once again, I like Stoops he's just way overpaid for the results he's producing. If you are going to pay Saban or Sweeney salaries,.pay a few million more and go get a Saban.
Can you honestly not grasp the fact that college football has changed dramatically over the last 15 years (let alone since 1954…)? Do you truly not understand that becoming bowl eligible has become a much easier task than in the past?
More bowls, better facilities, larger budgets, more exposure, weaker division, easier OOC opponents. Things change. In fact, in the rapidly evolving, ever-changing world of college football, one of the only constants has been Stoops’ inability to win his own division, despite TEN YEARS of trying.
I get you’re a good UK fan and reasonable people can disagree, but arguing that he has posted a better record when comparing different eras is the worst argument imaginable imho.
And I just don’t don’t buy that half the fanbase is somehow ridiculous to question the direction we are headed, especially in light of this new contract. Let’s be real, if you had to bet 10 thousand dollars on whether Stoops will win the East if given ANOTHER ten years to try, which side would you take? Because if we can’t say with confidence that we believe he can at least win our division (or whatever that looks like in the future) even one time in 20 years, then what are we even doing?
Unprovoked alarmism? 😁 Nope, just a realistic look at our current recruiting class in light of NIL and the simple fact that will not get it done in the SEC. We clearly took a step back in recruiting and that seems to correlate to NIL. That must be rectified, or Stoop's long build of this program will be for naught. Now back to your unprovoked irrational exuberance for the AD.
Yes.
In the early 2000’s the SEC signing classes averaged about 30th.
Today they average about 17th, meaning Stoops is facing far harder circumstances than did his predecessors.
The same is seen in the NFL Draft —annually more slopped toward the SEC.
Attrition would be my guess, OSU probably isn't in there because of coaching change. Baylor the same, I'm sure there are a few more.
This is all very good. On the other hand, the bar was set extremely low. And now fans want more.
There is ample room for improvement. Since his approach is unlikely to change, then he has to get even better on recruiting which imo is what he’s done best.
He isn't John Ray, Joker Phillips, Bill Curry etc. He recruits well(for UK standards), he generally hires good people, he recruited Ohio, his D is generally very, very, good. His teams are lauded by top teams in the country as hard hitting, he develops 2 and 3 ^ players very well, RB are great in college, mediocre in NFL, had 2 10 win seasons at UK so there's that! Winningest coach in UK history, if he could only get a QB and have him stay healthy
Imo, you’re misinterpreting the data- it actually supports the position that the Kentucky job has gotten easier than in the past.
The top SEC schools have ALWAYS gotten top talent, while teams like ours fought the rest of D1 for what was left.
Now, EVERY program in the SEC signs highly ranked teams. Every player worth a damn not headed to OSU and a few other schools wants in the SEC. So now our talent level is head and shoulders above our OOC opponents, and we have at least a puncher’s chance against the Georgia’s and Alabama’s. Hell, even Vandy now recruits top 30 classes.
The nation’s talent has essentially coalesced in the SEC during Stoops’ tenure, all but guaranteeing a bowl. He’s at 5 wins a year beating Vandy, Louisville, and three other teams that had no chance (talent wise) when they stepped off the bus. Winning one more game out of the remaining 7 does not warrant a parade. Imo, the fact that Stoops has had a winning conference record only twice in ten years is a much more telling stat than bowl eligibility.
Same as above ha. He’s at 5 wins beating teams you, me, and the next 9 posters could hang with. He’s winning the games against the teams where he has a distinct talent advantage, and not even breaking even against the rest. It’s easy to run up the body count when you now get to play 4 OOC opponents and the toughest one is pathetic-ass Louisville.
You would sound a lot more reasonable if you just said you don’t like Stoops and won’t give him credit no matter what.
I’m sorry. I guess I should’ve been more specific instead of snide. I appreciate very much how far Kentucky has come during Coach Stoops tenure thus far. I sat in commonwealth through the Curry and Phillips years so I feel I have paid some dues and do understand how far we’ve come. I just can’t help but wonder why every season, other teams seem to progress and get better while we don’t. Take away the cupcake wins each year and where are we? Have we peaked with Stoops? Is this as good as it gets?
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