Is it just me or did anybody else doubt the hiring of Clinkscale? I never thought he'd have the recruiting abilities that he has shown thus far. He's pulled in some good talent so far. Let's hope he keeps the train rolling!
Clinkscale
- Thread starter Kyhunter110
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A probable big assist to Gran and Hinshaw as id bet there is a good chance they provided insight or recommendation that led to his hiring. It's a steal Stoops was able to find such a talent in the haystack that is cincy.
Once again Stoops shows he not only has a keen eye for player talent, but also for coaching/recruiting talent as well.
Cincy fell apart last year after these guys left. I was big on Gran and Hinshaw but didn't know anything about Clinkscale. I thought the DBs took a step back last year but he's hitting home runs on the recruiting trail.
I was thinking losing Ansley and going to Clinksdale was going to hurt a good bit. Looks like on recruiting not much at all...we'll see how coaching impact in years to come.
Coach Stoops' staff is more stable than it has been since he got here. Salaries are now high enough to keep our coaches here unless they get hired away by a highly ranked program with an inflated pay scale. We have already seen Lamar Thomas come here from Louisville. The next departure will probably happen because someone gets a professional promotion somewhere else. I believe Stoops when he says he likes it here and will stay for the long haul. The Ohio State job might be the only future opportunity for us to worry about with Stoops. Coach Marrow will stay as long as Stoops is here, and I get the feeling Coach House will be here a while. The big concern is keeping Gran and Hinshaw, but both received big raises after the 2016 season. Coach Clinkscale has been an effective recruiter, especially in the Cincinnati area and the state of Michigan. When Clinkscale got here, I was concerned because the loss of Derrick Ansley was huge as a great coach and as a southern recruiter. It is hard to replace someone like Ansley, who could easily be a P5 defensive coordinator or a recruiting coordinator himself. I didn't know much about Clinkscale at the time, but I have been impressed. You have to give Stoops a lot of credit for staff management, which isn't easy. He took heat over Dawson and Eliot, but those mistakes have been fixed well. Our current staff is strong. And contrary to what we hear from some people, Barnhart is doing a great job keeping everyone happy here.
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When the head coach is relatively "safe" it's easier to hold onto assistants, so that bodes to our favor right now, but in reality, most position coaches think they deserve to be coordinators and most coordinators think they should get a chance to be head coaches, so in that regard there is always the chance of being a victim of your own success.
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I agree. This is the most well rounded coaching staff I've seen at Kentucky. Given, I've not been keeping up with sports as long as most of you. It seems like all of the hires Stoops has made have been home runs. Not necessarily when they were first hired, but they've turned out to be good.
This is exactly right, of course. There are 4 factors trending now to hold UK's football staff together, and you mentioned 1 of the biggest factors. Others are, this staff has great chemistry, they are winning now, and Barnhart keeps raising their salaries. Of course, all 4 factors are interrelated to a great extent. That's the intangible advantage of momentum. This is the beginning of the golden years of Stoops' reign at UK. At this point, coaches generally don't leave unless they get a big professional promotion through the move, or they get hired by a traditional power program with a big raise. Even those selling points didn't convince Vince Marrow to move to Ann Arbor. Stoops is a grinder and a detail guy as a program manager, and Barnhart is a patient athletics director. Kentucky football is in the best shape it has been since Bear Bryant. Soon, everyone will see this, even those who wanted Stoops and Barnhart fired just a year ago.
#1 concern for me is keeping Hinshaw. He's younger than Gran, who I think stays for awhile, so may be more apt to want his own program or a top OC job. Clinkscale will also be in demand IMO.
Re-read the way you stated that. Proof positive that depth and talent go a long way to showing the quality of a coach.
Coach John Schlarman was hammered, here and elsewhere, the first two or three years, but received credit for developing a consensus Top 3 SEC O-line in 2016.
The difference between 2014 and 2016? Getting some depth, maturity, and kids he had personally recruited in the mix.
I like this Coaching staff. Not a lot of Mummesc flash and BS, just solid, steady, consistent improvement. This is likely the only way to build sustainable strength in a program. Use flash-and-dash, smoke-and-mirrors, and when there is a coaching change, the spell is broken.
Clinkscale isn't going anywhere for a while. Hinshaw is a heck of a position coach, but nobody is talking about him as a head coach candidate yet. Losing Gran is the big risk now, because Gran already has the resume for a pretty good division 1 head coaching job. Gran is a potent recruiter. Gran and Hinshaw are close, and their relationship is the backbone of our offensive coaching staff. If Gran goes, Hinshaw chooses between becoming UK's offensive coordinator or leaving to be Gran's offensive coordinator. In that scenario, we could probably hang onto Hinshaw but it would not be a sure thing. So keeping Gran for a couple more years is essential. Barnhart knows this, which is why Gran recently received a huge raise.
I still doubt his coaching. The DB's took a big step back imo from when we had Ansley. Now, that could've been because Stoops was supposedly running the defense and his thing is DB's. Whatever the case, our defensive backfield lost something with Ansley's departure.
Ace recruiter or not, I don't know if he'll ever have a more talented group of backs to work with the rest of his time at UK. If he's going to impress me with his coaching aptitude, it'll have to start in a couple of months.
Ace recruiter or not, I don't know if he'll ever have a more talented group of backs to work with the rest of his time at UK. If he's going to impress me with his coaching aptitude, it'll have to start in a couple of months.
![[thumb2]](https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/891/1684387.png "Thumbs Up 2 [thumb2]")
I am happy and optimistic at the present, despite the picture some try to paint. We lost almost ten years though.
I can't wait until the season starts, but I lost money on the opener the past several years. Probably try to recoup that, but never bet too much, it is still gambling, LOL.
I think you need to look at the DBs more individually. Westry may have taken a step back but Baity and Edwards took big steps forward. I look for a big jump forward in the 2nd year under Clink.
IMO it's not a coincidence that no other college team or even pro team has a 6'4" corner. the physics of covering smaller, quicker relievers just isn't on your side. Westry is an excellent tackler and plays the run as well or better than any corner in the league and he can cover certain receivers that he matches up well with, but he can sometimes wind up in a mismatch and get beat.
I think Sherman might be 6' 3" but he's a freak and I still think Westry is taller.
Then don't gamble on sports. BTW, you were not in Lexington during the 10 year period you mentioned, and you have no idea what was involved in the big capital decisions. You seem to think Barnhart should have just snapped his fingers and immediately produced everything you wanted. In the meantime, you lost a couple of bets and that pissed you off.
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I am happy but I still want to let you know that at one time I was miserable. Even though I am happy now I won't ever be really happy until I've convinced you what a terrible AD Mitch Barnhart is. Repeat after me, I hate Mitch Barnhart.
I don't gamble on sports to any significant degree, it just adds a little interest to the game and I used to think I had a little insight into UK sports until I found out you can't even be a fan of a team unless you live in their home town, thanks.
Where I was during the 15 year period when the most disgraceful "recruiting center" imaginable was in operation doesn't change the fact that it was a disgrace and negative that caused Tee to lie about it to recruits. I hate to mention it again but BG High School had much better recruiting facilities, and they aren't even supposed to be recruiting in high school, lol. NCs in 14 and 15, money does matter. Have you noticed any differences since the strike AND the money started rolling in?
If mitch couldn't have just snapped his fingers and gotten rid of that well publicized handicap then what were we paying him the big bucks to run our athletic department for/?
Do you remember the long running thread on here by hundreds of fans saying they would like to donate money to a football project but weren't about to donate anything as long as mitch got control of the money? And what did he do to heal bad feelings, he added fuel to the fire.
Westry is not a good tackler. He avoids most physical contact. The nice tackle he had last season was only because the te jumped in his arms. Otherwise hed been steamrolled.
Baity is way better tackler. Much more physical. Plus just better all around.
I do agree westry is out of position
Great shape now, and the money is rolling in, but I still remember his keeping Brown as the "co" DC which was a joke, so he wouldn't have to pay him about $200,000 in severance pay. And how about Brooks giving part of his already low salary to Joker in order to keep him on ?
I do think he is doing a much better job of hiring coaches when we do lose one, and think this is a very good staff that should stay together for a while with a little more success.
I think Westry played so well so early that we fooled ourselves into thinking he's more than he was. Over time as his performances averaged out instead of accepting he is what he is, we all think back to his first 5-6 games and say, "what's wrong with him how?"
I don't think it's his height, it's not like he gets destroyed on quick hitters and eats up deeper routes, he's just not the All American we built him up to be. Westry is a shade under 6'4 (193 cm) and Baity is a shade over 6'3 (191), and that's the size of guy we're still chasing at corner. If it was as simple as guys that big can't play that spot, Baity wouldn't he excelling and we wouldn't still be chasing guys with this frames.
Westry is a nice college corner. He tends to mentally give up when he gets beat and take the PI instead of trying to get back in the play and risk the reception, he'll get a shot in the league if he irons that flaw out... but what's "wrong" with him is just that a lot of us (I count myself in this group) kinda lost ourselves early talking about how we'd lose him after his true junior year and how he was going to be a first round pick after 3 years, and I'm thinking he never was quite that guy we thought he was.
I don't think it's his height, it's not like he gets destroyed on quick hitters and eats up deeper routes, he's just not the All American we built him up to be. Westry is a shade under 6'4 (193 cm) and Baity is a shade over 6'3 (191), and that's the size of guy we're still chasing at corner. If it was as simple as guys that big can't play that spot, Baity wouldn't he excelling and we wouldn't still be chasing guys with this frames.
Westry is a nice college corner. He tends to mentally give up when he gets beat and take the PI instead of trying to get back in the play and risk the reception, he'll get a shot in the league if he irons that flaw out... but what's "wrong" with him is just that a lot of us (I count myself in this group) kinda lost ourselves early talking about how we'd lose him after his true junior year and how he was going to be a first round pick after 3 years, and I'm thinking he never was quite that guy we thought he was.
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I agree that Westry was probably our best DB starting out, now he isn't, , probably a combination of him not progressing and other improving a lot.
Only two college cornerbacks didn't miss a tackle this year:
Kentucky's Chris Westry
OSU's Marshon Lattimore
(min 50% of team snaps) by Pro Football Focus
I was gonna post this same stat. Chris Westry didn't miss a single tackle. To say he's not a good tackler is, laughable.
Good stat and i stand corrected. What i shouldve said is he isnt a physical/natural tackler, especially given his size. He doesnt look fluid at all when tackling.
IF what ya'll say is correct that westry is playing out of position and isn't a natural tackler then what position would he be best suited at? Nickel? Safety? You have to be a head hunter at safety. Its the last line of defense.
I can agree with that. He probably won't ever have any tackles make the highlight reel. He gets drug around the field a bit by the bigger receivers as well.
Amazing stat, thank you, I stand corrected.
He also wasn't stuck in the mud on pass defense, but I still think my overall impression is that Edwards and Baity were better overall-------and that says a lot about our DBs.
Remember the days when we might have one SEC caliber DB and we were wondering who might also line up in the backfield?
