I see a lot of guys on this team that believe their hype, but are out of touch. We had guys on defense preening and posturing and woofing after making tackles 7 yards down field on a basic off-tackle run play on 1st down Saturday night. What is that? You're getting demolished up front, you're letting the momentum swing the other way, you know what the outcome is going to be unless you get a stop, and you think it's a good time to hop up and pound your chest?
Stoops has had to kiss the asses of some of these 4-star teenagers just to get them on campus. I get it. Whatever. We have to do what we have to do. But it creates a systematic problem of no accountability. That's why you see so many of them pout and prance around and play like they're too good to have to overcome adversity. On the other hand, any other big time program could just bury them on the bench/in street clothes and move on - next man up, if you will. UK football has never afforded this luxury.
That creates an atmosphere of individuals. Whoever said this team has no identity is correct. There is no cohesiveness. There's just a bunch of guys out there that know the team sucks . . . but it's not THEIR fault the team sucks. Bad medicine.
I'm not sure who can fix it or how. Bring in an old-school disciplinarian and these prima-donna skill players would get their comeuppance, but then they'd probably transfer out and you lose top flight talent. It's a catch-22 for Stoops and I don't think he knows how to balance that problem. It shows because his team's have never, ever handled adversity (save the We're just getting started, bro! Special). And his team's have never bought into being a part of a "team."
Personally I think for a program like UK to be successful in football, there has to be a perfect storm of developing overlooked 3-star talent, team identity/gimmick, landing a few troubled 4-star/Last Chaince U type of guys that buy in, and then nab the top 1-2 players in the state. Maybe it all comes together once every 5-7 years and enjoy the ride. At this rate though, UKFB is headed into a cycle of apathy, which is what it has always been, I guess so here we are again.
Great, great post.
Boom Williams and Dorian Baker should be damn good football players and, to an extent, they are. But do they help the team more than a Craig Yeast type?
Kentucky Football: so bougie-rich we built little huts for you to come and ignore reality.