ADVERTISEMENT

Coaching changes that Stoops will...

Definite defensive changes but I think philosophically we have to change also - more aggressive. Take chances, bring more blitzing, tighter coverage AND open the O up. Run something similar to what Ole Miss and Missouri runs.

Yes, we will give up more big plays but we will make more big plays with creates momentum and excitement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Soupbean, *Bleedingblue* and kev69
Coach Stoops is a "take no chances" defensive coach. He doesn't want to give up big plays. He will continue to give an 8-10 yd cushion on 1st down, play a base set most of the game and blitz or stunt very little.

He loves to be able to shorten the game on offense. Running the ball will be priority #1. However he also likes to stretch the field, so we need a QB that can throw the deep ball.

I don't see him changing much this off-season. I just want him to pay more attention to detail, teach his players how to tackle, cover receivers, catch the football and NEVER rough the Punter!

He has to demand discipline from himself and his players.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JHannibalSmith, bluebornwildcat, sluggercatfan and 8 others
Crums Bald Spot said:
Definite defensive changes but I think philosophically we have to change also - more aggressive. Take chances, bring more blitzing, tighter coverage AND open the O up. Run something similar to what Ole Miss and Missouri runs.

Yes, we will give up more big plays but we will make more big plays with creates momentum and excitement.
Click to expand...
Play a lot of Madden football?
 
I think you have to look at Clinkscale as well. Guys like Baity and Westry who looked promising early in their careers have regressed significantly.

Other than that, I think you probably keep everyone else. Unless UK can bring in a top notch DC I don't think sacking House just to go out and make another pedestrian hire(which, let's be honest, is probably what we'd get) will help much.

For the guy saying we should run an offense like Ole Miss/Missouri: our offense flat out is not built for that. Ole Miss and Missouri both have NFL caliber QBs and receivers. UK's strength the last two seasons have been at RB with Benny and the interior OL, and as a result our team is naturally going to focus on running the ball. If we had more elite talent at receiver/QB then this would be a more reasonable request IMO(even then I'd still want us to run the ball a fair amount), but we just don't have that right now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BlueRaider22 and JC CATS
kev69 said:
...have to make after this season?

I have to think that our secondary coach has to go. Clinkscale has this secondary reminding me of the Bill Curry teams.

I think Gran is safe.

Personally, I think we need a new DC also. House seems in over his head.

Thought? Comments? Concerns.

I say this with all due respect.
Click to expand...
Losing receivers has been a trademark of this team. Offense has been good enough. Defense just woeful .
 
mrschwump said:
Let's sign Square/McCall first.
Click to expand...
It’s certainly not unheard of for head coaches to relieve underperforming assistants of their duties AFTER NSD and the LOIs are safely signed sealed and delivered.

If Stoops wants to keep the cards he’s got that’s his perogative.
 
I suppose DC would be an interesting slot. Could be you see Mason out at Vandy, Hoke from UT and Randy Shannon from Florida. Hoke was pretty much the reason Jones is gone. I think both Mason and Shannon have that sickness we have seen before....real good coordinator, not so much head coach.
 
billoliver40 said:
I suppose DC would be an interesting slot. Could be you see Mason out at Vandy, Hoke from UT and Randy Shannon from Florida. Hoke was pretty much the reason Jones is gone. I think both Mason and Shannon have that sickness we have seen before....real good coordinator, not so much head coach.
Click to expand...
I don't see Mason being let go. Shannon and Hoke are interesting.
I would like to see us go after Dave Huxtable from NC State.
 
I'd be in favor of wholesale changes on defense side of ball....but can you realistically see Stoops doing so considering the entire staff is in their first or second year?

You'd think with Stoops pedigree he'd have access to better grade of assistants on that side of ball. Why nobody touches Bo Pelini is odd...he was a really good DC at LSU when they won the title.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WildcatDJ, bluecoon1 and kev69
K_TIME said:
I'd be in favor of wholesale changes on defense side of ball....but can you realistically see Stoops doing so considering the entire staff is in their first or second year?

You'd think with Stoops pedigree he'd have access to better grade of assistants on that side of ball. Why nobody touches Bo Pelini is odd...he was a really good DC at LSU when they won the title.
Click to expand...

I'd love to have Pelini and his Youngstown connection
 
I think we need a bigtime DC that is also a great recruiter, because at the end of the day it is the Jimmys and Joes that win games and we seem to have a lot of Jenny's and Flo's instead. So whoever is the DC next year is in for trouble until we can up our talent level on that side of the ball!
 
kev69 said:
...have to make after this season?

I have to think that our secondary coach has to go. Clinkscale has this secondary reminding me of the Bill Curry teams.

I think Gran is safe.

Personally, I think we need a new DC also. House seems in over his head.

Thought? Comments? Concerns.

I say this with all due respect.
Click to expand...
Interesting that the one guy that is safe is THE BIGGEST weakness on the team...that being said, I do not blame him because it comes from higher up. We have way to many offensive weapons on this team that are being wasted because of the HCS hard headness.
 
  • Like
Reactions: crestcat and willievic
uofkFTW18 said:
I think you have to look at Clinkscale as well. Guys like Baity and Westry who looked promising early in their careers have regressed significantly.

Other than that, I think you probably keep everyone else. Unless UK can bring in a top notch DC I don't think sacking House just to go out and make another pedestrian hire(which, let's be honest, is probably what we'd get) will help much.

For the guy saying we should run an offense like Ole Miss/Missouri: our offense flat out is not built for that. Ole Miss and Missouri both have NFL caliber QBs and receivers. UK's strength the last two seasons have been at RB with Benny and the interior OL, and as a result our team is naturally going to focus on running the ball. If we had more elite talent at receiver/QB then this would be a more reasonable request IMO(even then I'd still want us to run the ball a fair amount), but we just don't have that right now.
Click to expand...
Have they regressed,or is stoops and house just bringing there safety down in the box to give more run support!
 
kev69 said:
...have to make after this season?

I have to think that our secondary coach has to go. Clinkscale has this secondary reminding me of the Bill Curry teams.

I think Gran is safe.

Personally, I think we need a new DC also. House seems in over his head.

Thought? Comments? Concerns.

I say this with all due respect.
Click to expand...
I believe they are all safe except Clinksdale, I am not totally sold on House.
 
uofkFTW18 said:
I think you have to look at Clinkscale as well. Guys like Baity and Westry who looked promising early in their careers have regressed significantly.

Other than that, I think you probably keep everyone else. Unless UK can bring in a top notch DC I don't think sacking House just to go out and make another pedestrian hire(which, let's be honest, is probably what we'd get) will help much.

For the guy saying we should run an offense like Ole Miss/Missouri: our offense flat out is not built for that. Ole Miss and Missouri both have NFL caliber QBs and receivers. UK's strength the last two seasons have been at RB with Benny and the interior OL, and as a result our team is naturally going to focus on running the ball. If we had more elite talent at receiver/QB then this would be a more reasonable request IMO(even then I'd still want us to run the ball a fair amount), but we just don't have that right now.
Click to expand...


I agree.

I don't think it's as much of a problem with House and the defensive philosophy. The bend-not-break defense is not my personal style, but it's very proven and effective.....especially at schools like UK......and especially with our style of offense.

The run defense has been fairly decent for the most part this yr. Especially when you consider that we don't have a true NT nor is our front 7 chock full of seniors and depth.

The problem has been the secondary. Guys like Edwards, Baity, Westry, Randolph were all promising in 2016 (we were 6th in SEC yds allowed last yr), but are getting beat much too often this yr. And, of course, the lack of alignment/preparedness.....like with the Florida game.

"If" there is a change, I think it's Clinkscale. Especially since the DB's are Stoops' babies. One possible move to consider is a reshuffling of the deck. Dean Hood was a DB.......and former DB coach. He's currently listed as ST/OLB coach.......I wouldn't mind if he was ST/DB.
 
Sawnee Cat said:
We have to start with the secondary. When we lost our coach to Alabama things started down hill. Our once future superstars turned into a bust to a point one was replaced by a freshman. A new position coach would help or at least it couldn't hurt.

But i doubt Stoops makes any changes.
Click to expand...
Ansley was our best recruiter in the states of Georgia and Florida back at that time, and he is 1 of the best position coaches we have had here in many years. Stoops and Barnhart tried very hard to hang onto him. When he left for Alabama, I knew from day 1 that he would be very tough to replace. But I don't think everyone is being entirely realistic about our secondary. Most problems with our secondary this year have been about 3 situational issues. Blown assignments by safeties in deep coverages over the top. Getting caught with safety in the box when other team throws deep out of play action. And most importantly, we don't have a consistent pass rush. This last problem is why you can't always blame the defensive back. If you give any SEC quarterback 4-5 counts to stand in the pocket without any pressure and survey his entire receiver package, your secondary is going to get killed. Many times, our cornerbacks look bad because our defensive line can't get any pressure on the quarterback. To get this fixed, we need to add more quality edge rushers like Paschal, Wright, Peters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bleeding Blue in DC, *Bleedingblue*, Ridgecat and 1 other person
Crums Bald Spot said:
Definite defensive changes but I think philosophically we have to change also - more aggressive. Take chances, bring more blitzing, tighter coverage AND open the O up. Run something similar to what Ole Miss and Missouri runs.

Yes, we will give up more big plays but we will make more big plays with creates momentum and excitement.
Click to expand...


All excellent ideas. Where are we going to get the players that can do those things? Right now they aren't on campus. But, good dream.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bleeding Blue in DC and Crums Bald Spot
Blue Decade said:
Ansley was our best recruiter in the states of Georgia and Florida back at that time, and he is 1 of the best position coaches we have had here in many years. Stoops and Barnhart tried very hard to hang onto him. When he left for Alabama, I knew from day 1 that he would be very tough to replace. But I don't think everyone is being entirely realistic about our secondary. Most problems with our secondary this year have been about 3 situational issues. Blown assignments by safeties in deep coverages over the top. Getting caught with safety in the box when other team throws deep out of play action. And most importantly, we don't have a consistent pass rush. This last problem is why you can't always blame the defensive back. If you give any SEC quarterback 4-5 counts to stand in the pocket without any pressure and survey his entire receiver package, your secondary is going to get killed. Many times, our cornerbacks look bad because our defensive line can't get any pressure on the quarterback. To get this fixed, we need to add more quality edge rushers like Paschal, Wright, Peters.
Click to expand...
Good post!! Dbs at bama can’t cover for that long a period. Gotta have a pass rush!
 
kev69 said:
...have to make after this season?

I have to think that our secondary coach has to go. Clinkscale has this secondary reminding me of the Bill Curry teams.

I think Gran is safe.

Personally, I think we need a new DC also. House seems in over his head.

Thought? Comments? Concerns.

I say this with all due respect.
Click to expand...

What?!?

The only person on your list is Clink. While not great yet, our defense has looked as good as it has in decades.
 
I just don't think Kentucky should be getting beat like Miss State and Georgia beat us, I know those games were on the road but we should be better than that on defense. I thought our defense was going to be better this year and while looking good at times, our line and secondary still give up to many big plays. One thing for sure we need better talent and or better coaching with our defense. There are a lot of teams that Kentucky out recruits like Michigan state and others who have outstanding defenses year after year. The recruiting services are either wrong or it's coaching, look at the rankings the past 5 years Kentucky has recruited better than a whole lot of big name schools. Part of the problem is playing in the SEC, Finishing in the top 30 nationally and 11th or 12th in the SEC puts things in to perspective I guess. We either need Stoops to get more involved or get a bigger name defensive coach with proven results.
 
Get rid of Clink, help House find another job (he is a good coach but KY's roster is not a good fit for him), and then head to Miami with a blank check and convince Craig Kuligowski to come to KY as the DC/Assistant Head Coach. KY will not take the next big step until it gets much better on Dline and Kuligowski is a proven recruiter and incredible developer of talent from his days at Missouri and now what he has done at Miami.

If you can't get him, hire Bret Bielema when he is let go from Arkansas. Him and Stoops are good buddies, his wife just had a baby (Lexington and the family culture at KY would be a good fit), and he would add instant credibility to the defense and recruits. Try to keep him around for 3 seasons to get the defense on track and then go from there.

Hood is fine. Leblanc would be a decision for the next DC to make.
 
K_TIME said:
I'd be in favor of wholesale changes on defense side of ball....but can you realistically see Stoops doing so considering the entire staff is in their first or second year?

You'd think with Stoops pedigree he'd have access to better grade of assistants on that side of ball. Why nobody touches Bo Pelini is odd...he was a really good DC at LSU when they won the title.
Click to expand...

Bo has the personality of a lion with a toothache, he doesn't get alone with people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bluebornwildcat and shutzhund
Stooptrooper said:
Good post!! Dbs at bama can’t cover for that long a period. Gotta have a pass rush!
Click to expand...
Agree. Our defensive backs sometimes take poor angles. Our safeties still bite too easily on the run fake. I don't like the use of Mike Edwards as a nickel when he is our best safety and best tackler. But the main problem with our defense is still in our front 7. To beat a team like Georgia, we have to get a better pass rush, and we can't give up 5-6 yards regularly on 1st down. Once these things improve, our secondary will look and play a lot better. I honestly don't know if this requires a new defensive coordinator, since Coach House is just playing the hand he has been dealt. Although we have the ability to move the Jack linebacker up and put his hand on the ground in situations, we aren't going back to a straight 4-3 system and we don't need to. So that part of the discussion is moot. But we need more defensive linemen like Bohanna, CJ Johnson, Za'Darius. This must get fixed through recruiting. I think Stoops can recruit at that level here, and is beginning do so. But if Stoops can't, then money alone will not be enough to hire a clearly better alternative for this job.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shutzhund
shutzhund said:
All excellent ideas. Where are we going to get the players that can do those things? Right now they aren't on campus. But, good dream.
Click to expand...

Why aren’t they on campus? Stoops has had 4-5 years to recruit guys suited for that scheme. You are telling me that he couldn’t recruit the talent to run an MO type offense but MO can? That he couldn’t get talent to run an aggressive scheme (exotics blitzes, press coverage when needed, etc)?
 
  • Like
Reactions: *Bleedingblue*
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B

Cynical snapshot

Replies
12
Views
1K
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
K_TIME
K_TIME
PensacolaBlue

I will give credit to Stoops for offseason changes last year.

Replies
0
Views
386
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
PensacolaBlue
PensacolaBlue
WildcatforLife1965

Areas that need improvement/coaching change

Replies
36
Views
1K
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
catben
catben
C

MARK STOOPS & COACHES

Replies
121
Views
5K
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
The-Hack
T
B

One more staff change?

Replies
24
Views
2K
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
Eccain01
E
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back