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A little over 8 years ago, Stoops became head coach at UK.

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Down by the river
He took the job without visiting the campus or facilities.
Here is a look back at his 1st press conference Q & A at his introduction to the BBN.
He answered a lot of questions very frankly.
I enjoyed listening again and then reflecting on what he said that day and where the program is now.


This is a link to a playlist of vids for that day. (one short vid in the list repeats)
 
He has done an excellent job. He is not perfect, but I don't think many of us could have envisioned how consistently tough our program has become under stoops. Also, the key to UK football success is winning the series against peer programs like South Carolina, Vandy, Miss state, Mizzou, and UL. UK is now dominating each of those series except for Miss state where we are now winning half of those games.

Now if we can start beating Tennessee on a regular basis and beat UF and UGA a bit more often...
 
He took the job without visiting the campus or facilities.
Here is a look back at his 1st press conference Q & A at his introduction to the BBN.
He answered a lot of questions very frankly.
I enjoyed listening again and then reflecting on what he said that day and where the program is now.


This is a link to a playlist of vids for that day. (one short vid in the list repeats)

Thanks for this. Hard to believe it’s been 8 years since Stoops became the UK coach. It’s even harder to believe that when Stoops finishes out next season, he will be tied with Fran Curci as the longest tenured coach in UK football history. UK played its first game in 1892. There have been 37 head coaches but only two with tenures of more than 7 years.
 
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How far we have come!!
There have been some interesting examples in recent decades of assistant coaches and coordinators without any HC experience getting P5 HC jobs and being thrown right into the fire. The most successful example is Dabo Swinney at Clemson. Kirby Smart is another success. But a lot of them have not been successful, such as Will Muschamp, Jeremy Pruitt, Derek Mason, Barry Odom, and Joker Phillips. The SEC is very tough. In that perspective, what Mark Stoops is accomplishing in Lexington is pretty remarkable.
 
I wanted Stoops here as soon as I heard he was interested in the job.. When he was confirmed as the hire I shouted so loud it scared my wife..
He has and is doing an amazing job just like I had hoped he would.. That family name made me very excited to have him..

He has UK in a great position to climb even higher now.. All we need is a really good QB to go with his D that has been mentioned before by those on here and to climb to a higher level will begin..

GBB
 
We really took off when he finally got rid of Eliott and Brumbaugh. Those two were horrible and the immediate replacements were a night and day difference in performance.

The last I heard of LeBlanc is that several NFL teams were inquiring about hiring him. I don't know if he is still is at Arkansas or not. Both schools had a big turn around in Dline play under his coaching. I was a big fan of his while he was here and continue to be even after he is gone.
 
Stoops took over a roster that was totally void of SEC talent; all momentum we had under Brooks had been destroyed. I’ll never forget watching Morgan Newton tackle himself in the WKU game, that’s how bad we were.

When CMS started bringing in his guys and recruiting Ohio I guess it was a matter of seeing how well the staff could coach these kids up and what changes to the staff would be made if necessary. It was kind of like holding on to that stock that had tons of potential but wasn’t exactly performing at the time. I had concerns with several coaching moves like hanging on to Elliott (as mentioned above) and questionable in game decisions such as clock management but altogether saw a program that was growing. I guess the most important thing to me with my 40+ years of watching this team is that I now expect us to be competitive every time we take the field. I know we got smacked by bama and UF last year but I give them a pass because our roster was seriously depleted from the plague.

I love the guy and hope we can keep him until he retires. This could be a huge year for us with a new offense and how the schedule is set up.
 
Coaches taking over programs make a lot of promises and create a lot of initial excitement, unfortunately most of them fail. Stoops took on an extraordinary task and the odds were solidly against him from succeeding, but looking back he has made good on what he said that day, and IMO he has exceeded all expectations in every area. But it's important to remember he isn't done yet. They are brining in high quality players that expect to develop, compete for the East Championship and move on to The League. That will continue and it's only a matter of time before we break the door down to the Mercedes Dome.
 
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Mitch must have made SERIOUS commitments to improving facilities + spend the $$ on assistants and recruiting to get him here. Now we are bearing the fruits of a real SEC organization and being competitive, if not winning, in nearly every game (AL gets a pass). One or two good QBs during the next 5 years, with our defense, and we can challenge for the East division.
 
He took the job without visiting the campus or facilities.
Here is a look back at his 1st press conference Q & A at his introduction to the BBN.
He answered a lot of questions very frankly.
I enjoyed listening again and then reflecting on what he said that day and where the program is now.


This is a link to a playlist of vids for that day. (one short vid in the list repeats)
Was there that day! Lot if excitement.
 
Thanks for this. Hard to believe it’s been 8 years since Stoops became the UK coach. It’s even harder to believe that when Stoops finishes out next season, he will be tied with Fran Curci as the longest tenured coach in UK football history. UK played its first game in 1892. There have been 37 head coaches but only two with tenures of more than 7 years.
If he makes it to 20 years, great(er) things will be happening before he reaches that landmark. I think he will.
 
I wanted Stoops here as soon as I heard he was interested in the job.. When he was confirmed as the hire I shouted so loud it scared my wife..
He has and is doing an amazing job just like I had hoped he would.. That family name made me very excited to have him..

He has UK in a great position to climb even higher now.. All we need is a really good QB to go with his D that has been mentioned before by those on here and to climb to a higher level will begin..

GBB
Was the Stoops name the reason you wanted him so bad? I had no clue who he was at the time. I’m hoping he’s our Bear that loves us, and stays and cuddles forever. Haha
Unless I'm mistaken, Mark Stoops has been at UK longer than any SEC football coach has been at their current school, except for Saban at Alabama.
Pretty sure that’s correct. Crazy. Seems like yesterday he was hired.

and forever ago since Saban was hired at Bama.
 
Thanks for posting that! Love the blue collar feel that our team has. Wasn't really sure if we could recruit well enough to have a defensive reputation, I really am impressed by that. He has really done an impressive job at keeping things rolling, recruiting, developing talent, and staff adjustments when needed. He's been great IMO.
 
I am sure most here already knows this but it is incredible to review:

"A partial accounting of Stoops’ exploits also features:
• Back-to-back-to-back bowl wins – the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, 2019 Belk Bowl and the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019 – the first time in school history that UK won bowls in three consecutive seasons;
* First victory in Knoxville since 1984
• First New Year’s Day Bowl win since 1951 (2018 season)
• First 10-win season since 1977 (2018)
• First SEC Coach of the Year since 1983 (2018)
• First final poll ranking since 1984 (2018) UK was No. 11 in the final USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 12 in the final Associated Press tabulation.
• First bowl win since 2008 (2018)
• First win vs. Florida since 1986 (2018)
• First bowl appearance since 2010 (2016)

In addition to the team accomplishments, several of Stoops’ players have won All-America accolades, along with awards such as the Bronko Nagurski Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Paul Hornung Award, Ronnie Lott Trophy, Ray Guy Award, Danny Wuerffel Trophy, Pop Warner Award, Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award, Academic All-America and National Good Works Team. "

That stuff is amazing when you think that is all about UK football.
 
I forgot to mention, It took awhile for Stoops to get it going but the sweetest victories, so far:
3 of the last four against U6.
(HOME) 2019/11/30 Kentucky 45 - Louisville 13 W
(AWAY) 2018/11/24 Kentucky 56 - Louisville 10 W
(AWAY) 2016/11/26 Kentucky 41 - Louisville 38 W
 
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Was the Stoops name the reason you wanted him so bad? I had no clue who he was at the time. I’m hoping he’s our Bear that loves us, and stays and cuddles forever. Haha

Pretty sure that’s correct. Crazy. Seems like yesterday he was hired.

and forever ago since Saban was hired at Bama.
He was the defensive coordinator for the number 1 team in the nation with the number 1 defense in the nation. It was kinda crazy he wanted the job. And crazy that a lot of people here thought Kentucky was too good for the defensive coordinator of Florida State.

8 years. 5 with bowls. Total number of years Bobby was at Louisville before he destroyed their program. He was probably the number one candidate of this board. That Thanksgiving thread is the stuff of legends. Fortunately, no one in the administration was that stupid.
 
He was the defensive coordinator for the number 1 team in the nation with the number 1 defense in the nation. It was kinda crazy he wanted the job. And crazy that a lot of people here thought Kentucky was too good for the defensive coordinator of Florida State.

8 years. 5 with bowls. Total number of years Bobby was at Louisville before he destroyed their program. He was probably the number one candidate of this board. That Thanksgiving thread is the stuff of legends. Fortunately, no one in the administration was that stupid.
Yeah I know who he was now. I really only follow the SEC than and now.
 
Thanks for sharing the press conference. Good to look back and think about the process, changes and the steadfast determination Stoops has displayed. It is a process and there is more to come.

I never thought I would again be a season ticket holder and now I cannot wait to renew each year.
 
Wellllll.....young guy with no experience in the big seat takes over and is 8 years later one of the longest P5 tenured coaches (same school) around. Of course, that says too much about the bottom of the barrel program he got. Barnhart had the luxury of falling back on a world class basketball program to start feeding bigger crumbs to football....after almost throwing all the fan base away with terrible statements himself.
Stoops has grown painfully for us fans as a coach. Had to build the program and his staff.....and himself. His thin skin and passion are sometimes a toxic mix that bleeds into questionable antics by him and his players on the field. But I like the passion. And you have to credit him with turning UK into more than a school that players look at as "....well...best I can do I guess.."
Like the rest of us, he has a lot to improve on. He has made an effort thought.....even though it has seemed to be a roller coaster rather than a gradual progression.
Last season was looking in....poor....with all the talent he had back. Realistically though with a normal season schedule, that team would have been an 8 win team. With a couple breaks, it still would have been 6-4 instead of 4-6.....land finishing with a win over a top 25 school (wasnt as close as it ended...largely thanks to that out of control thing) made it a lot easier season to think about.
We could have done a lot worse. and historically we have.
 
The last I heard of LeBlanc is that several NFL teams were inquiring about hiring him. I don't know if he is still is at Arkansas or not. Both schools had a big turn around in Dline play under his coaching. I was a big fan of his while he was here and continue to be even after he is gone.
Pittman let him go because he wasn't satisfied with his recruiting. Definitely seems like a guy who would prefer the NFL if that's the case, don't think he's a bad coach. Arkansas couldn't get any pass rush at all but that may be because the scheme we played only rushed 3 most of the time.
 
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Wellllll.....young guy with no experience in the big seat takes over and is 8 years later one of the longest P5 tenured coaches (same school) around. Of course, that says too much about the bottom of the barrel program he got. Barnhart had the luxury of falling back on a world class basketball program to start feeding bigger crumbs to football....after almost throwing all the fan base away with terrible statements himself.
Stoops has grown painfully for us fans as a coach. Had to build the program and his staff.....and himself. His thin skin and passion are sometimes a toxic mix that bleeds into questionable antics by him and his players on the field. But I like the passion. And you have to credit him with turning UK into more than a school that players look at as "....well...best I can do I guess.."
Like the rest of us, he has a lot to improve on. He has made an effort thought.....even though it has seemed to be a roller coaster rather than a gradual progression.
Last season was looking in....poor....with all the talent he had back. Realistically though with a normal season schedule, that team would have been an 8 win team. With a couple breaks, it still would have been 6-4 instead of 4-6.....land finishing with a win over a top 25 school (wasnt as close as it ended...largely thanks to that out of control thing) made it a lot easier season to think about.
We could have done a lot worse. and historically we have.
Bill, there’s a few back handed compliments there.... it has t been pretty sometimes I admit, but I think you’ve been hanging around the Cards site a little too long

I don’t see the toxicity you and the Cards apparently see
 
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Pittman let him go because he wasn't satisfied with his recruiting. Definitely seems like a guy who would prefer the NFL if that's the case, don't think he's a bad coach. Arkansas couldn't get any pass rush at all but that may be because the scheme we played only rushed 3 most of the time.
LeBlanc started out slow here as well. Good coach though. Brad White and Matt House primarily coached our edge rush from the outside backers. Recruiting wasn't necessarily a strong suit of his.
 
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