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Annual “Who Would You Like To Have If Stoops Goes?” Thread

Another real problem we have in keeping Stoops is all of his assistances will be looking for a new job with a little more security than Stoops can offer. Stoops going forward is a week to week coach. He will either quit or get fired by season's end. Assistants know this and they don't want to be caught getting fired with Stoops.
He's not getting fired. People need to get that possibility out of their head. That is not happening. One...Mitch isn't doing that anytime soon regardless of a buyout. Two...we don't have $47 million sitting around to do it.
 
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Coen had a “pressure induced “ health issue and had to move to the box because he couldn’t get college kids to digest and implement what he was trying to run . He also was responsible for the hiring of Scangarello, Yenser, and Scott Woodward. So….NO !

I'm not saying he's the guy for sure. I'm just saying let's see what he does at Tampa this year.

There are some sour feelings with how he left so soon after returning, and in general how last season went and I get all that.

However, we forget that we we're about to rename Keeneland to Liam Coen horse park after what he did his first year here.

He's an up-and-coming guy and will probably be a HC in the league within a few years. He'll probably get some college interviews too.

Will Levis and Devin Leary under LC are the only two QBs we've had sniff 25 tuds and 2500 plus yds passing since Andre Woodson, maybe Hartline. One was a B10 back up, the other was an ACC QB who clearly wasn't totally over an injury.
 
I'm not saying he's the guy for sure. I'm just saying let's see what he does at Tampa this year.

There are some sour feelings with how he left so soon after returning, and in general how last season went and I get all that.

However, we forget that we we're about to rename Keeneland to Liam Coen horse park after what he did his first year here.

He's an up-and-coming guy and will probably be a HC in the league within a few years. He'll probably get some college interviews too.

Will Levis and Devin Leary under LC are the only two QBs we've had sniff 25 tuds and 2500 plus yds passing since Andre Woodson, maybe Hartline. One was a B10 back up, the other was an ACC QB who clearly wasn't totally over an injury.
I think Coen would be an intriguing choice, but if he is successful, his time here will be limited, probably only a year or two more than before.
 
He's not getting fired. People need to get that possibility out of their head. That is not happening. One...Mitch isn't doing that anytime soon regardless of a buyout. Two...we don't have $47 million sitting around to do it.
Sadly not. But I think, ala Cal, he gets so unhappy he leaves on his own.
 
I have nothing against Sumrall but , what has he done that Neil Brown didn’t do at the same point in his career? And no one wants Brown . Neil Brown won at LSU and came close to beating Clemson (I’m thinking that won the National Championship).
Hopefully Sumrall turns out to be great , but does he have 1 win over a P4 conference team?

It's who Barney will hire. He played here and has done well where he's been at.

I mean Popes only qualification to get hired at UK was he played here and barney hired him. If he played at any other college in the 90s he wouldn't have got an interview. Fortunately, off the court he has it together. On the court, wait and see.
 
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I agree that would be a good thing, but I wonder if we keep White.

He might feel as though he were passed over if Sumrall gets the nod, and might take a head coaching spot elsewhere.

White is content in Lexington and doesn’t want to leave. I don’t think there would be a problem but maybe I’m wrong.
 
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USC went 3/12 on third down. What more can you ask for? I agree it happened way too much last year but 3/12 is pretty damn good. Secondary has struggled since Clink left.
And I believe two of those were 3 and long. It's wild. He's actually decent except for that particular down situation.

3rd and 4? No problem.

3 and 9+? Uh-oh.
 
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Easily John sumrall.
Elite Coach here, one of our best recruiters during stoops tenure.

Played here and Loves this place. (Ala Mark Pope on the basketball side)

Would probably hitch hike here like Mark Pope would've if he had to for the head job.

Very likeable character in the Blue grass who runs a upstanding program who you never seem to hear much of anything negative about. We hired stoops with 0 experience at all being a head man.

Regularly punches above his weight class and talent level.

He was 11-2/12/2 in his 2 years at Troy 23-4 and has Tulane looking pretty good. Can't hold a loss against a decent AP ranked team against him.

Sumrall just has it. You can tell. One day that man is going to be regarded as one of the best in the sport if he's not already peeking that way. He's definitely twords the top of the "up and comer list".

And best of all we would still have John and Mark running UK
From John Cal and Mark Stoops
To John Sumrall and Mark Pope.
From 2 pretty lazy guys to guys with fire in their bellies.

I'd hire JS tomorrow (if he was interested) and show CMS the door if I was in charge....... But I'm not. If not I sure would see after season.
 
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Four consecutive Top 20 National/Top 3 SEC finishes in defense sold a lot of people, as he did not have Top 20 recruiting classes to draw talent from.
I know and I don’t disagree, but he isn’t getting it done recently. Especially against teams with an offensive pulse. The Clemson game was an abomination
 
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Sumrall would be the one Barnhart hires without even searching and while I would support him I think we need to look elsewhere

And that elsewhere to me is:

Alex Golesh

6 win improvement in year one at USF.

2022 offensive coordinator of the year where he called plays at Tennessee for one of best offenses in recent memory.

Tennessee offense was in the 100s in 2020, he came on in 21 and took them to 7th and then 1st in 2022.

All 3 teams he was coordinator of finished in top 10 in scoring and total offense

Tennessee, Iowa state, Illinois and Toledo all went from 3 -4 wins to 9 plus while he was coordinator.

Strong recruiter with highest ranked Mac and highest ever at Toledo.

Has ties to area graduated from Ohio state and coached at Tennessee.


While he is offensive minded, his team at USF isn’t a slouch on defense. Two years in a row played Bama better than most and better than stoops could dream of with not as good of talent. They weren’t just hanging with Bama playing a terrible game either. They were taking it to them. Scheming blitz packages around alabamas weakness (wonder what it’s like to see a scheme actually take place).

I think Golesh is EXACTLY what we and he would be looking for.
 
USC went 3/12 on third down. What more can you ask for? I agree it happened way too much last year but 3/12 is pretty damn good. Secondary has struggled since Clink left.
But let’s not act like USC is Tennessee or Ole Miss . They are a horrible passing team .
 
USC went 3/12 on third down. What more can you ask for? I agree it happened way too much last year but 3/12 is pretty damn good. Secondary has struggled since Clink left.
Gave up 32 yards on a 3rd and 14. Gave up 13 yards on a 3rd and 11. Many of us have posted on here that we are more optimistic about them stopping a 3rd and short than a 3rd and long.
 
And that is about how it is with Jon Sumrall.

His defenses have been great at Troy and Tulane, but his offenses have not been chopped liver.

His biography began in Northern Alabama, where he lived and played HS football. He was once Kentucky’s leading tackler. His recruiting at Kentucky was stellar . . . along with the 4 Star signees he was responsible for signing, he spotted Jamin Davis, an overlooked 3 Star player who went in the Top 15 after three years.

One could reasonably argue that Sumrall’s
departure has led to a lowering of success at UK, obviously along with Coach Schlarman’s untimely passing.

Maybe it isn't actually true but it seems coaches are looking a t their alma mater more. All of them don't work out, Frost at Nebraska for one.
But if UK is ready to make a change, he is no more a risk than anyone else. UK would likely lose Marrow, which would likely hurt Ohio recruiting, but just part of the deal when you make changes. Whatever you guys decide good luck with it, except not too much this weekend.
 
I can't believe fans actually believe our defense was good last week? 3 total breakdowns in the secondary- 2 resulted in TD and a huge play that lead to a TD. A good defense shouldn't have any blown coverages let alone 3. Do you think Bama or UGA fans and coaches would say this's a good defense?
 
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He's not getting fired. People need to get that possibility out of their head. That is not happening. One...Mitch isn't doing that anytime soon regardless of a buyout. Two...we don't have $47 million sitting around to do it.
No but the scenario I do see playing out if cards fell right is the Iowa job opening up and Stoops realizing its his out. When things start declining it limits the opportunities a coach has to relocate and that would keep Stoops here because of that and Mitch's commitement to him. But the Iowa job opening is the out for both Stoops and Mitch should things continue to sour.

Just hope if it does it times out to where Sumrall is still available and not moved onto a bigger job already.
 
Gave up 32 yards on a 3rd and 14. Gave up 13 yards on a 3rd and 11. Many of us have posted on here that we are more optimistic about them stopping a 3rd and short than a 3rd and long.
Idk why everyone doesn't abuse us with crossers. We don't have a safety one who has any idea how to switch. In our pretty much only zone scheme you better understand switches and handoffs or you'll end up 2 on 1 with a man wide open...... Oh wait...🥴🥴
 
No but the scenario I do see playing out if cards fell right is the Iowa job opening up and Stoops realizing its his out. When things start declining it limits the opportunities a coach has to relocate and that would keep Stoops here because of that and Mitch's commitement to him. But the Iowa job opening is the out for both Stoops and Mitch should things continue to sour.

Just hope if it does it times out to where Sumrall is still available and not moved onto a bigger job already.
I don't see the Iowa job being in play now. 2 years ago? yes. If he has a 6-6 or less this season (which is looking likely), no way they will want him.
 
Sumrall is a guy I’d love to have sooner rather than later honestly! Justin Haddix is making a believer out of me as well. I know he’s probably a lifetime High School guy but I’d love to see what he could do here. Never gonna happen of course but I think he could really be something special if given a chance. With that out of the way, lol, yeah, John is about the best hire I could think of as of this moment. There has to be some high profile Coach’s who would love a shot at an SEC school, especially here where the money is unbelievable and the expectations aren’t Championship or you’re fired every year. I really hate Dickie Lyons Jr didn’t go all in to become the coach here by now. Would’ve become a legend I believe.
Any P5 coach from the ACC or B12 would likely consider taking the Job (doesn’t mean they ultimately would bc the easier path to the playoffs may keep them there) to get into the B10/SEC dominant new era and not have to worry about TV money and competing against the 2 mega conference warchest. Especially if they are a school that may get left out of realignment if the ACC collapses.
 
Any P5 coach from the ACC or B12 would likely consider taking the Job (doesn’t mean they ultimately would bc the easier path to the playoffs may keep them there) to get into the B10/SEC dominant new era and not have to worry about TV money and competing against the 2 mega conference warchest. Especially if they are a school that may get left out of realignment if the ACC collapses.
I doubt that we would be able to realistically get a single one of these names- Swinney, Mack Brown, Brohm, Leopold, Kleimann, Whittingham, Campbell, Gundy, Norvell, O'Brien, or Cristobel. I wouldn't want some of them, anyway.
The only guys who might be realistic targets from those conferences, who would be possible good choices are Fran Brown, who is not yet proven, and Key, who might never want to leave Ga. Tech. There are some other guys like Neal Brown or Dave Doeren who might be gettable but are not really inspiring.
Our best bet will be same as usual- top P4 coordinator, top midmajor HC.
And I expect it to be a moot question for at least two more years, anyway.
 
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