Can Stoops elevate this program higher than what Brooks did?
- Thread starter screwduke
- Start date
I think he already has in all categories except wins. To me, the most important thing to change was the mentality of UK football. The players now seem to have a winners mentality.
I agree with stupid,he already has with recruiting.Know just follow up with coaching and we will be good.
Stoops will take us to a Championship game sooner than anyone thought possible so I will say YES!!!!!!
He has to get to Brooks' level first. And that will be done this year. Brooks was 9-25 his first 3 years with a 4-23 mark against the SEC + UofL. His breakthrough year was year #4 when the Cats went 8-5 with a bowl win and a 4-5 mark vs the SEC and UofL.
Stoops and Co. need only 3 wins to surpass Brooks 3 year win total. Stoops is 2-16 against the SEC + UofL. So Stoops and Co. will almost certainly pass Brooks' 3 year total mark but needs 3 wins from the SEC + UofL group to pass him in "tough" games.
But the real question is can Stoops and Co.reach/maintain/surpass what Brooks' and Co. did in years #4 and #5 (2006 and 2007; 16-10 overall, 8-10 vs. SEC + UofL)?
Peace
Stoops and Co. need only 3 wins to surpass Brooks 3 year win total. Stoops is 2-16 against the SEC + UofL. So Stoops and Co. will almost certainly pass Brooks' 3 year total mark but needs 3 wins from the SEC + UofL group to pass him in "tough" games.
But the real question is can Stoops and Co.reach/maintain/surpass what Brooks' and Co. did in years #4 and #5 (2006 and 2007; 16-10 overall, 8-10 vs. SEC + UofL)?
Peace
Stoops' quality of talent/ depth > than Brooks' talent/depth...by far IMO
Remains to be seen......yes Stoops has recruited like no other UK coach ever has, but developing players and winning games is the bottom line. CRB didn't get a bunch of 4* players, but he developed a whole bunch of 3* and even 2* recruits like no other coach before him. He also won over LSU, UGA ,UofL, Ole Miss, MSU, Auburn, Clemson, FSU, and ECU some solid and Big time programs.
I do believe that CMS will get us back to being an annual bowl team, with some bigger and better bowls than we got used to from 2006-2010 !
I do believe that CMS will get us back to being an annual bowl team, with some bigger and better bowls than we got used to from 2006-2010 !
Agreed...let's see what his coaching can do with "on paper" better talent.
I'm eager to see how the 3-4 defense can unfold with Stoops as defensive guru.
Absolutely! I love papa Brooks but he could never quite get us over the hump in the SEC and part of that is because we lacked in facilities and we lacked recruiters. We now have a perfect opportunity to move ourselves up to the middle of the pack in the SEC and that's a good start. Let's get there and keep climbing up.
I would be content with a bowl every year. I LOVED the Brooks era, we were competitive every week and had a lot of big wins. But it feels different with Stoops. He expects more than a bowl and soon enough a winning culture will catch on. It's a great time to be a CAT.
brooks first 2 years at oregon he went 2-9 and 2-9. i know what i saw while he was at UK and it was a well coached and fairly talented team. auburn, lsu, fsu, clemson, and uga all had more talent but he had enough to win.
oregon didn't start getting crazy nike money til the end of his tenure and he bolted for the pros. so he had some 8 and 9 win seasons mixed in with some losing records. but all in all oregon is in much the same boat we are in. small talent base, smaller population in relation to its conference foes, and no real history compared to its foes.
brooks had california right next door and im not gonna look up how effectively he used that talent base for his program but i know that every one of us that has been following UK football for years has been saying "get 8 or so kids from ohio every year, get a couple from penn, and keep the instate talent... instate!!! then finish off the class with the best you can get from fl, ga, bama, miss, and tenn." we'll we've traded penn for dmv but the rest still stands and stoops is freaking out perfoming our "ideal" scenario. if he can "coach" as well as brooks then he will out pace brooks because he's getting better talent.
brooks records seem to show that when he had talent, he won. when he didn't, he lost. no shocker. stoops record so far shows that as talent improves... he wins more. i would love for him to get that "magic" that certain coaches just seem to have where they win games they shouldn't and beat teams worse than they should of and dont lose close games that they should... but those guys are rare and it's still too early to know exactly what we have as far as "head coaching".
oregon didn't start getting crazy nike money til the end of his tenure and he bolted for the pros. so he had some 8 and 9 win seasons mixed in with some losing records. but all in all oregon is in much the same boat we are in. small talent base, smaller population in relation to its conference foes, and no real history compared to its foes.
brooks had california right next door and im not gonna look up how effectively he used that talent base for his program but i know that every one of us that has been following UK football for years has been saying "get 8 or so kids from ohio every year, get a couple from penn, and keep the instate talent... instate!!! then finish off the class with the best you can get from fl, ga, bama, miss, and tenn." we'll we've traded penn for dmv but the rest still stands and stoops is freaking out perfoming our "ideal" scenario. if he can "coach" as well as brooks then he will out pace brooks because he's getting better talent.
brooks records seem to show that when he had talent, he won. when he didn't, he lost. no shocker. stoops record so far shows that as talent improves... he wins more. i would love for him to get that "magic" that certain coaches just seem to have where they win games they shouldn't and beat teams worse than they should of and dont lose close games that they should... but those guys are rare and it's still too early to know exactly what we have as far as "head coaching".
It definitely remains to be seen, but Stoops is the most exciting coach UK has had in my lifetime. I think hiring a guy like Stoops, with no coaching experience, is a high-risk, high-reward gamble. So far it's paid off and I expect him to succeed, but I'm not sure what the ceiling is. I guess we will find out in the next 3 years.
I try to focus on the known rather than unknown.
Brooks
-coaching - above average. he was just a good, solid coach. Probably his best attribute was his ability to develop his players
-recruiting - fair. His recruiting wasn't spectacular. About the best you can say was that he was good at finding talent that he could develop. He did better than his predecessors at finding admin support and $ donors.
-success - for UK standards it was above average. Consistently went to bowl games but couldn't beat UT/UF.....nor get a winning conference record.
Stoops
-coaching - incomplete. Seems decent so far but we don't really know how well he develops players as a HC. I feel fairly good about his on-field coaching though. It seems like we have lost based on lack of talent and developed players rather than coaching blunders.
-recruiting - borderline elite. To come to a program like UK, as a first time HC, now having 2 losing records, and turn in classes that are considerably higher than anything in UK's history is certainly a head turner....and not just turn the BBN heads but the nation. Admin and donor support is the highest it has ever been at UK.
-success - incomplete. 7-17 record seems like a let down, but Stoops is just getting started as a HC. It's hard to tell how good your cake tastes when you are still trying to mix ingredients......but it does appear as if these are the best ingredients UK has ever had. I look forward to some cake.
Brooks
-coaching - above average. he was just a good, solid coach. Probably his best attribute was his ability to develop his players
-recruiting - fair. His recruiting wasn't spectacular. About the best you can say was that he was good at finding talent that he could develop. He did better than his predecessors at finding admin support and $ donors.
-success - for UK standards it was above average. Consistently went to bowl games but couldn't beat UT/UF.....nor get a winning conference record.
Stoops
-coaching - incomplete. Seems decent so far but we don't really know how well he develops players as a HC. I feel fairly good about his on-field coaching though. It seems like we have lost based on lack of talent and developed players rather than coaching blunders.
-recruiting - borderline elite. To come to a program like UK, as a first time HC, now having 2 losing records, and turn in classes that are considerably higher than anything in UK's history is certainly a head turner....and not just turn the BBN heads but the nation. Admin and donor support is the highest it has ever been at UK.
-success - incomplete. 7-17 record seems like a let down, but Stoops is just getting started as a HC. It's hard to tell how good your cake tastes when you are still trying to mix ingredients......but it does appear as if these are the best ingredients UK has ever had. I look forward to some cake.
Does anyone think he did a bad coaching job at FSU and NOW needs to prove himself at UK? That's a joke, right?
What he has done is show something that most everyone already knew. You've got to have SEC football players if you want a winning football team.
A commodity that UK has been dirt poor in for decades. All the way back to Fran Curci.
^HC is different than DC. Many, many, many have been successful in one and not the other.
Will Muschamp
Joker Philips
etc, etc, etc.
Will Muschamp
Joker Philips
etc, etc, etc.
I could give a rats ass about going to some know nothing bowl because it really does not help recruiting. Having a winning SEC record will especially since we now recruit in Ohio. For UK to be the player we all want in SEC football the fan base must expect more from the team than 6 and 7 win seasons and just any bowl game.
Original question, YES EMPHATICALLY, and it will be more than proven on the field this very season
Couple people on here questioning his coaching ability, see I just don't get that. At all. Unless you did not have eyes in your head I watched a team that played much harder and much better in his 1st year than what the same players demonstrated a year before, even if the results did not improve in the win column. Then demonstrative improvement occurred in every way possible from Stoops year 1 to Stoops year 2, most importantly in wins.
There is no question, none at all, that more improvement and wins will happen in 2015. The man is a damn good coach, not just a good recruiter, stop with this nonsense.
Couple people on here questioning his coaching ability, see I just don't get that. At all. Unless you did not have eyes in your head I watched a team that played much harder and much better in his 1st year than what the same players demonstrated a year before, even if the results did not improve in the win column. Then demonstrative improvement occurred in every way possible from Stoops year 1 to Stoops year 2, most importantly in wins.
There is no question, none at all, that more improvement and wins will happen in 2015. The man is a damn good coach, not just a good recruiter, stop with this nonsense.
True, but few head coaches' only past experience was as being a head coach?
But, you know what I meant already.
Other than the great start to the 2007 season Brooks' tenure here was mediocre on the "big boy stage". By UK standards it was phonomenial going to that many straight bowls and winning, but Stoops doesn't want to succeed by UK standards of old. He has the mentality that we can compete on the SEC level and will not settle for simply Music City Bowls.
So, my answer is ABSO-FREAKING-LUTLEY Coach Stoops will have more success here than Brooks did. He is already on his way with the recruiting and considering we were a couple plays away from being an 8 or 9 win team in his 2nd year (Florida, UL, Miss St.). This year will be more successful than many are predicting.
All in. Lets go. We're Just getting started Bro'.
So, my answer is ABSO-FREAKING-LUTLEY Coach Stoops will have more success here than Brooks did. He is already on his way with the recruiting and considering we were a couple plays away from being an 8 or 9 win team in his 2nd year (Florida, UL, Miss St.). This year will be more successful than many are predicting.
All in. Lets go. We're Just getting started Bro'.
I don't think anyone is questioning whether he is better than Joker Phillips. Some people just aren't sure what his ceiling is, whether that be a bowl game every year, winning divisions, winning conferences, etc
At the end of the day, every single fan young or old do not believe UK can win in football. Yes, the recruiting is the best ever and the coaching staff is very likely the best UK has experienced since the 50s. But, can they win?
We have been burned since the 60s and the program's fan support is at an all time low. There are no sell outs this season despite a 120+ million renovation and a 46 million dollar football facility that will be total state of the art in the SEC.
This season's prognosticators gIve us a dismal chance to be better than 5-7.
This is the sad state of our football program going back five decades. Can we win?
Why not?
We have been burned since the 60s and the program's fan support is at an all time low. There are no sell outs this season despite a 120+ million renovation and a 46 million dollar football facility that will be total state of the art in the SEC.
This season's prognosticators gIve us a dismal chance to be better than 5-7.
This is the sad state of our football program going back five decades. Can we win?
Why not?
I think both are great coaches but Brooks had ZERO chance of having UK compete for SEC championships with his support from the administration AND not enough emphasis on recruiting. Still a great coach that had most of his stars come in as underrated and overlooked players that he found and developed into stars.
No doubt in my mind that Stoops WILL have UK competing for at least Division championships (which means you could get into THE playoffs) because of the total emphasis on recruiting AND the support Football has now. All that is left to be proven is the coaching ability and I am not that worried about that, the overall talent differential in the past was overwhelming.
No doubt in my mind that Stoops WILL have UK competing for at least Division championships (which means you could get into THE playoffs) because of the total emphasis on recruiting AND the support Football has now. All that is left to be proven is the coaching ability and I am not that worried about that, the overall talent differential in the past was overwhelming.
In a word "Yes". He already has the Kentucky football giant awakening.
The amazing thing is he is using southern Ohio almost like a home state recruiting ground, getting players out of the Tidewater area of Virginia, Maryland, and DC, and keeping the best in state players that in the past had leaked out to out of state teams.
I am a long suffering UK football fan that has seen and experience the heart break of UK football for almost 60 year but I just this time feel it is different and Stoops is going to get the job done. The fact that the football seems to be getting the support it needs in house boost that confidence. I also wonder if Brooks might not have done much better if he had more support. Shiny new facilities, a decent recruiting room, and a seeming new attitude by the UK athletic department toward football also figure big in my optimism that this time it could be the real deal.
The amazing thing is he is using southern Ohio almost like a home state recruiting ground, getting players out of the Tidewater area of Virginia, Maryland, and DC, and keeping the best in state players that in the past had leaked out to out of state teams.
I am a long suffering UK football fan that has seen and experience the heart break of UK football for almost 60 year but I just this time feel it is different and Stoops is going to get the job done. The fact that the football seems to be getting the support it needs in house boost that confidence. I also wonder if Brooks might not have done much better if he had more support. Shiny new facilities, a decent recruiting room, and a seeming new attitude by the UK athletic department toward football also figure big in my optimism that this time it could be the real deal.
I think so. First off I'm not sure Brooks ever aspired or believed he could get UK football much further than he did. He was late in his career, and I think just had the goal of making UK a reasonably competitive program, which he did. He also never had the support Stoops has. Stoops has come in at one of the few times the UK admin has stepped up to support the football program both with words, and more importantly with money behind those words. I believe Stoops thinks, and is motivated to build the program to the point where it can win the SEC East, and play in the SEC title game. If he can do that just about anything is possible beyond that. His job certainly isn't on the line, nor should it be, but this is a big year for Stoop's and the program. 7-8 wins I believe will bring back some fans who are waiting before putting an emotional and financial investment in his era, as well as bringing in new fans who've never cared about football. This time next year there could be an unprecedented excitement about UK football. I sure hope so! I hopped on board from the beginning, and nothing I've seen so far makes me stop believing Stoops can do this.
I don't think that full stands can any longer be the end all of the measurement of success of football programs. Teams are now on TV every game and big screen HD TV puts you right on the field right in the action. IMO as far as viewing the actual game you can see it better at home. The only reason to go to the games is for the atmosphere and at my age I just no longer need that. TV money is what supports football now anyway.
I will continue to go to a game from time to time but it too long of a trip and too much hassle for me to do it more than a game or two a year and like I said with the seats I can get it much better to stay home and watch it on my large screen HD TV.
I will continue to go to a game from time to time but it too long of a trip and too much hassle for me to do it more than a game or two a year and like I said with the seats I can get it much better to stay home and watch it on my large screen HD TV.
