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Hardley Gilmore is back

Not with just this kid, but how are these kids that transfer multiple times able to stay eligible?

Good question. All i can figure is none of them are taking anything other than basic classes, so they transfer easy AND schools just basically dont care.
 
I would be interested in seeing a link where it was reported he was a locker room problem at UK. They did not want him to leave and were happy to have him back. All I have seen is internet knuckleheads repeating that mantra, but it's never been substantiated by anyone with a modicum of credibility.
Y'know, fair. All we know is that there were serious issues in the WR room last year and that he was in involved in an altercation in Lexington where charges were filed and then he was dismissed from his new team four months later.

I recognize I'm being hard on the kid, and maybe some of that is frustration with Stoops. Maybe part of that is because I don't trust CMS to properly discipline anyone or hold anyone accountable. But yeah, I can ease up on this dude a bit, though he needs an extremely short leash.

And if you can't now see why he rehired Wolf, then you are obviously a basketball only fan or willfully ignorant of the masterful job Wolf has done at recruiting an entirely new offensive line.
I've been cheering for UK football since before I could say Tim Couch's name. Certainly for longer than I've been cheering for basketball. I'm well-aware of Wolf's alleged recruiting chops, and I'm also aware of how he had every resource available to him at Bama and ended up canned because his lines underperformed. A lot of people can hit the green. Not everyone can putt. Wolf seems like he can hit the green, and I'll leave it at that.

Wait. No, I won't. He also left UK high and dry and recruited our guys with him to Bama a year after Schlarman died.

I get being disappointed in last season. It was awful and Stoops knows it, but it is absurd to think he's a bad coach and should be fired given his long track record of producing results exponentially higher than UK's historical avg. He has earned a turnaround chance.
It's not absurd at all. I was one of the "give him time" guys for years when we'd have down-ish years. Got a lot of flak for it on this board, which I'm cool with. We had two ten win seasons thanks to Mark. At some point, though, you've got to admit that the program is speeding at mach f- into the earth. No team discipline, defense that both bends AND breaks, underperforming lines, no QB development, questionable tactics on special teams, and all of this happening when we should've been able to capitalize on a few years of weaker-than-normal SEC teams.

Stoops has had 12 years. Between his off-hand remarks about ponying up (which are completely accurate), coach speak about accountability that never manifests, and the downward trajectory of the program, you can bet that I'm personally ready for a change.

Maybe we win a couple more this year. Maybe. We okay with five wins? Six and a blowout bowl? He's costing the university money and he's not delivering the way a coach of his pay-grade should.
 
It's like this. Teenagers make mistakes. I know I did, and I am 100% sure everyone else here did. Gilmore didn't bust up a fraternity party, as 6 former UK players were falsely accused. He didn't assault a female, as Chuck Hayes was falsely accused.

What are the details of the alleged fight at the storage facility? I haven't seen them. Anyone else? What are the details of Gilmore's dismissal at NE? Nobody has seen them. All we know is Gilmore hasn't violated any UK rules or team rules.

I have explained this several times. Our coaches and other officials aren't cowboys, out there making self serving gut decisions about their personnel. The University of Kentucky has rules. Our coaches don't get to go around University rules. The rules are enforced by the University. Many players have been dismissed, and some of those players were major losses. Students of history know this is true.

Hardley Gilmore was and is respected by Coach Hamdan. When Gilmore left in the portal, it was hailed by every UK website as a devastating blow. Some fans used the development to attack Stoops. Now some of the same fans are criticizing Stoops for taking Gilmore back. LOL!

But the logic is clear. UK needs WRs. Gilmore is an SEC talent who already knows Hamdan's system. Hamdan likes him. If he breaks a rule, he will be treated like any player or student would be treated under that rule.

Give the kid a chance.
 
Sh*tfire, y'all. Don't expect me back much over here till Stoops is gone. Coach has completely lost the plot. Was this kid a locker room cancer or not? If so, why TF would we take him back? Why re-hire Wolf? So many head scratching decisions.

I'll still root for em and chime in on this board, but damn.

Edit: I know that breaks your hearts 😂
I doubt it breaks anyone’s heart that you want be back. lol. I love stoops and where he brought us from but he peaked. I was glad when he tried to go to ATM. I don’t get this. All I can hope for is that kid realizes his mostakes and straightens his a** up. At this point all I can hope for is for Stoops to right the ship. I don’t expect it to happen but this is my team and he is the coach so? I do like the guys from the winter portal. All we can do is hope for the best at this point
 
But the logic is clear. UK needs WRs. Gilmore is an SEC talent who already knows Hamdan's system. Hamdan likes him. If he breaks a rule, he will be treated like any player or student would be treated under that rule.

Give the kid a chance.
None of us know the whole story but there was smoke when he left that it was mutual after he had the assault charge. Then we heard that he was about to come back. Then he left to get kicked off the next team. I don’t care either way. If he is willing to make amends and do what he needs to, then give him another chance. All we see is bits and pieces of every story. We really don’t know much at all. As you said we all have messed up and hopefully he does his best with a 2nd chance. He was never one of the. Ones that were mentioned as a locker room cancer. Hopefully him and stoops can figure things out
 
Never read anywhere that HG was a locker room problem here, in fact, it felt like had he not gotten hurt he would have been another option to play when the others in that WR room weren’t giving 100% to the TEAM. Did he have off the field issues…probably both here and NE. Hopefully he can turn things around for his sake. I got several second chances growing up and glad I did. Made me who I am today.

Secondly, it does appear to me so far that CMS has tried to change the UKFB culture this off season. Will it be enough? IKD. Will we win significantly more games? IDK but if we do then that will fix a lot of the problems. Just win.
 
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I doubt it breaks anyone’s heart that you want be back. lol. I love stoops and where he brought us from but he peaked. I was glad when he tried to go to ATM. I don’t get this. All I can hope for is that kid realizes his mostakes and straightens his a** up. At this point all I can hope for is for Stoops to right the ship. I don’t expect it to happen but this is my team and he is the coach so? I do like the guys from the winter portal. All we can do is hope for the best at this point
I have to admit that I like the winter portal guys. The aTm stunt was where I lost whatever respect I had left for him.

And yeah, I've been thinking about it over the past few days and I've been way too hard on Gilmore. He's a dumb kid. He'll learn or he'll sink.

I'm just doing what I can to not get excited about this year because last year was the biggest letdown I can remember. On paper, we were great, and then the whole house of cards fell almost immediately. Maybe Stoops turns this program around, but I just don't see it.
 
None of us know the whole story but there was smoke when he left that it was mutual after he had the assault charge. Then we heard that he was about to come back. Then he left to get kicked off the next team. I don’t care either way. If he is willing to make amends and do what he needs to, then give him another chance. All we see is bits and pieces of every story. We really don’t know much at all. As you said we all have messed up and hopefully he does his best with a 2nd chance. He was never one of the. Ones that were mentioned as a locker room cancer. Hopefully him and stoops can figure things out

Jmo but i dont think it was mutual. I think nu dropped a bag on the last day and he took it. They already overpaid dane and our wr coach too, on top of their qb. The big 10 is slinging money like crazy.

I dont blame the kid for that or his altercation. I do want to know more about what got him dismissed from the program that openly tampered with him then dropped a bag just a few months before dismissal. Imo that is extremely relevant.
 
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I have to admit that I like the winter portal guys. The aTm stunt was where I lost whatever respect I had left for him.

And yeah, I've been thinking about it over the past few days and I've been way too hard on Gilmore. He's a dumb kid. He'll learn or he'll sink.

I'm just doing what I can to not get excited about this year because last year was the biggest letdown I can remember. On paper, we were great, and then the whole house of cards fell almost immediately. Maybe Stoops turns this program around, but I just don't see it.

You lost respect for Mark Stoops because he may have listened to another SEC school. That's exactly what Gary Henderson, Tubby Smith, Mike White, Chris Beard, and Lane Kiffin did. Did the act of listening cause you to lose respect for all of them too? If not, then something more is involved.

Our 2024 season was no fun. But, compared to other UK football seasons of the last decade, 2024 was an outlier. Mark Stoops came here in 2013 and literally saved our football program. But people have short memories and demand immediate gratification.

I don't respect people who can't weather a period of bad news. But you are a very knowledgeable football fan. I have seen enough to respect your knowledge but this implosion of resolve is disappointing.

Stoops has won more games than any other UK football coach. Yes, I know all the caveats associated with that fact. But the guy righted the program and deserves a chance to do it again. You admit that you like our most recent portal additions. Let's suck it up, behave like mature football fans, and give Stoops the benefit of the doubt (which he has earned) for the 2025 season. If he can't put a significantly better product on the field this time (and I believe he can), then he would need to find something different to do. But for this season, let's show some courage and resolve. Don't listen to the noise.
 
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You lost respect for Mark Stoops because he may have listened to another SEC school. That's exactly what Gary Henderson, Tubby Smith, Mike White, Chris Beard, and Lane Kiffin did. Did the act of listening cause you to lose respect for all of them too? If not, then something more is involved.
Stoops' whole thing is loyalty, getting back to work, and having a blue collar mentality. Talk is cheap. Trying to get the hell out of dodge the minute you have adversity seems counter to that. Might not be the case, but that's sure as hell how it looked.

Our 2024 season was no fun. But, compared to other UK football seasons of the last decade, 2024 was an outlier. Mark Stoops came here in 2013 and literally saved our football program. But people have short memories and demand immediate gratification.

I don't respect people who can't weather a period of bad news. But you are a very knowledgeable football fan. I have seen enough to respect your knowledge but this implosion of resolve is disappointing.

Stoops has won more games than any other UK football coach. Yes, I know all the caveats associated with that fact. But the guy righted the program and deserves a chance to do it again. You admit that you like our most recent portal additions. Let's suck it up, behave like mature football fans, and give Stoops the benefit of the doubt (which he has earned) for the 2025 season. If he can't put a significantly better product on the field this time (and I believe he can), then he would need to find something different to do. But for this season, let's show some courage and resolve. Don't listen to the noise.
The resolve has been shaky the past few years and I won't lie, I couldn't watch a single game all the way through last year. I really started questioning his leadership after hiring Wolf back, his discernment after the pony up comments, and his efficacy as coach with the downturn the last three seasons despite having great talent. I've had a bad feeling ever since the season opener against Ball State in '23. I couldn't place my finger on it, but it felt like we came out flatter than usual. No toughness, no grit – lackadaisical, even. The 2022 Ole Miss game hurt too. We should've won that. It's just been a whirlwind of shots to the foot.

To me, CMS has had every opportunity in the world to maintain or improve the program since the 7 win season in '22. He's antagonized fans from a relatively lower income state who already donate probably too much of their income to the program; stood up to Cal (which I respected), but allowed the affair to messily devolve into a mud slinging boxing match; hired back a Benedict Arnold who couldn't coach up a dozen future NFL players into a decent offensive line; tried to leave after giving us some bs about how we were going to improve and how he was fully committed to UK; forced our Aussie punter to kick the traditional way, which basically nullifies the benefit of an Aussie punter; has had several terrible defenses recently and CANNOT develop a pass rush; and cannot for the life of him discipline a team. It shouldn't be that difficult to make guys run until they puke if they can't memorize the snap count.

It's not a sudden turn by any means. Stoops has been losing me over a span of four years, and it was last year's results that finally put the nail in the coffin. I feel like a lot of fans are that way. The dude got paid $9 million last year to lay a Jurassic Park-sized pile of crap.

To me, it's the same situation as Cal. Barnhart put him into a ridiculously lucrative contract, gave him all the power, and he's lost his edge. It's just time for a mutual separation.

I don't hate Stoops. I am just incredibly disappointed with the whole situation. To me, he hasn't earned another year, but the powers that be, for financial or loyalty reasons, have kept him on. I'll live with it, because I'm an adult, but I will not watch and I will not attend games. It's as simple as that. Maybe Coach wins a chunk of the fanbase back if we win nine games this year. I dunno. What I do know is that it sucks for the fans who've pulled for CMS and defended him, because at this point, the product on the field is just about indefensible.

That's probably my final word on it in this thread. I don't want to hijack it any more than has already been done. Much respect, Rem.
 
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Jmo but i dont think it was mutual. I think nu dropped a bag on the last day and he took it. They already overpaid dane and our wr coach too, on top of their qb. The big 10 is slinging money like crazy.

I dont blame the kid for that or his altercation. I do want to know more about what got him dismissed from the program that openly tampered with him then dropped a bag just a few months before dismissal. Imo that is extremely relevant.
Gilmore entered the portal, a week later according to reports called UKs coaches wanting to stay. Maybe he asked them to match the offer, all I know was it was reported UK said no. I read he got dismissed from Nebraska for stealing something from a teammate but idk that is true or just a rumor
 
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Stoops' whole thing is loyalty, getting back to work, and having a blue collar mentality. Talk is cheap. Trying to get the hell out of dodge the minute you have adversity seems counter to that. Might not be the case, but that's sure as hell how it looked.


The resolve has been shaky the past few years and I won't lie, I couldn't watch a single game all the way through last year. I really started questioning his leadership after hiring Wolf back, his discernment after the pony up comments, and his efficacy as coach with the downturn the last three seasons despite having great talent. I've had a bad feeling ever since the season opener against Ball State in '23. I couldn't place my finger on it, but it felt like we came out flatter than usual. No toughness, no grit – lackadaisical, even. The 2022 Ole Miss game hurt too. We should've won that. It's just been a whirlwind of shots to the foot.

To me, CMS has had every opportunity in the world to maintain or improve the program since the 7 win season in '22. He's antagonized fans from a relatively lower income state who already donate probably too much of their income to the program; stood up to Cal (which I respected), but allowed the affair to messily devolve into a mud slinging boxing match; hired back a Benedict Arnold who couldn't coach up a dozen future NFL players into a decent offensive line; tried to leave after giving us some bs about how we were going to improve and how he was fully committed to UK; forced our Aussie punter to kick the traditional way, which basically nullifies the benefit of an Aussie punter; has had several terrible defenses recently and CANNOT develop a pass rush; and cannot for the life of him discipline a team. It shouldn't be that difficult to make guys run until they puke if they can't memorize the snap count.

It's not a sudden turn by any means. Stoops has been losing me over a span of four years, and it was last year's results that finally put the nail in the coffin. I feel like a lot of fans are that way. The dude got paid $9 million last year to lay a Jurassic Park-sized pile of crap.

To me, it's the same situation as Cal. Barnhart put him into a ridiculously lucrative contract, gave him all the power, and he's lost his edge. It's just time for a mutual separation.

I don't hate Stoops. I am just incredibly disappointed with the whole situation. To me, he hasn't earned another year, but the powers that be, for financial or loyalty reasons, have kept him on. I'll live with it, because I'm an adult, but I will not watch and I will not attend games. It's as simple as that. Maybe Coach wins a chunk of the fanbase back if we win nine games this year. I dunno. What I do know is that it sucks for the fans who've pulled for CMS and defended him, because at this point, the product on the field is just about indefensible.

That's probably my final word on it in this thread. I don't want to hijack it any more than has already been done. Much respect, Rem.

Respect right back at ya, JPF. Seriously. Of course talk is cheap. Everyone knows that. Here is another axiom. Hindsight is 20-20. And I can give you others.

Courage is discovering you may not win, but trying when you know you might lose. -Banking executive Tom Krause

Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. -Sir Winston Churchill

These qualities are articulated by famous successful men. Coaches and players who persevere in competitive sports understand courage. Our coaches haven't given up. The players who gave up are gone. All 28 of them, and that is a very good thing.

Your words make it clear that you have emphatically given up. Of course, that is your prerogative. I just hope you won't do what some habitually negative posters enjoy doing here, by repeatedly dumping their disrespect and unhappiness on the rest of us over and over. If you feel this negatively inclined toward our coaching staff, I sincerely hope you will find something else to do that makes you happy.

Each of us has his/her own limits. For my part, I like the recent roster changes and am willing to give the winningest coach in UK football history another season. If that doesn't get it done, I may use up my own remaining patience. But I won't campaign or pontificate about it to discourage others. I know you aren't consciously doing that, but some other posters do.
 
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Gilmore entered the portal, a week later according to reports called UKs coaches wanting to stay. Maybe he asked them to match the offer, all I know was it was reported UK said no. I read he got dismissed from Nebraska for stealing something from a teammate but idk that is true or just a rumor

Regardless of the exact timing, they made him a crazy offer and uk wouldn't match. To kick him off the team is serious.
 
Respect right back at ya, JPF. Seriously. Of course talk is cheap. Everyone knows that. Here is another axiom. Hindsight is 20-20. And I can give you others.

Courage is discovering you may not win, but trying when you know you might lose. -Banking executive Tom Krause

Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. -Sir Winston Churchill

These qualities are articulated by famous successful men. Coaches and players who persevere in competitive sports understand courage. Our coaches haven't given up. The players who gave up are gone. All 28 of them, and that is a very good thing.

Your words make it clear that you have emphatically given up. Of course, that is your prerogative. I just hope you won't do what some habitually negative posters enjoy doing here, by repeatedly dumping their disrespect and unhappiness on the rest of us over and over. If you feel this negatively inclined toward our coaching staff, I sincerely hope you will find something else to do that makes you happy.

Each of us has his/her own limits. For my part, I like the recent roster changes and am willing to give the winningest coach in UK football history another season. If that doesn't get it done, I may use up my own remaining patience. But I won't campaign or pontificate about it to discourage others. I know you aren't consciously doing that, but some other posters do.
Yeah. Not my intent, but I'm passionate about the team. Better to stay away from the board than spew vitriol, hence what I said about making myself scarce this season.

Hoping it gets turned around but not seeing it. As always, I'll happily eat crow.

Hopefully, Hardley stays on the straight and narrow and lights it up for us this year.
 
Y'know, fair. All we know is that there were serious issues in the WR room last year and that he was in involved in an altercation in Lexington where charges were filed and then he was dismissed from his new team four months later.

I recognize I'm being hard on the kid, and maybe some of that is frustration with Stoops. Maybe part of that is because I don't trust CMS to properly discipline anyone or hold anyone accountable. But yeah, I can ease up on this dude a bit, though he needs an extremely short leash.


I've been cheering for UK football since before I could say Tim Couch's name. Certainly for longer than I've been cheering for basketball. I'm well-aware of Wolf's alleged recruiting chops, and I'm also aware of how he had every resource available to him at Bama and ended up canned because his lines underperformed. A lot of people can hit the green. Not everyone can putt. Wolf seems like he can hit the green, and I'll leave it at that.

Wait. No, I won't. He also left UK high and dry and recruited our guys with him to Bama a year after Schlarman died.


It's not absurd at all. I was one of the "give him time" guys for years when we'd have down-ish years. Got a lot of flak for it on this board, which I'm cool with. We had two ten win seasons thanks to Mark. At some point, though, you've got to admit that the program is speeding at mach f- into the earth. No team discipline, defense that both bends AND breaks, underperforming lines, no QB development, questionable tactics on special teams, and all of this happening when we should've been able to capitalize on a few years of weaker-than-normal SEC teams.

Stoops has had 12 years. Between his off-hand remarks about ponying up (which are completely accurate), coach speak about accountability that never manifests, and the downward trajectory of the program, you can bet that I'm personally ready for a change.

Maybe we win a couple more this year. Maybe. We okay with five wins? Six and a blowout bowl? He's costing the university money and he's not delivering the way a coach of his pay-grade should.
All valid points, so if that adds up to I want Stoops gone, then I would say your blind spot is risk management and lack of macro perspective. As a Wealth Manager/Business Analyst I am constantly evaluating investment performance and looking for entry and exits points. I've been a UK fan for nearly 50 years, so I use that well establish trend line. Before Stoops, UK had averaged around 3.5-4 wins a season. Not SEC wins, but overall. Since his arrival he has blown that history out of our minds. So this "investment" is nearly doubling historical trend and, almost without exception, trends will revert towards mean. It happens with all investments and team with few exceptions. So as an investment manager, when it starts to revert to mean, you put it on your watchlist and give it additional scrutiny. You try to learn why and then determine if the issues are deeply systemic or can be turned around and overcome.

Some fans look at the last three years as a single trend line, but I'm not ready to go there bacue the first two, while maybe disappointing in the moment, are still above avg results for UK's historical trend line, so he has had a single terrible year that is below his trend line, but actually is still avg for UK histrionically. To be clear, I am not saying 4 wins is acceptable, I am merely pointing the fact out for context. If he has another disappointing 4 win season, then we have a negative trend and if I'm Mitch I'm putting him on hot seat notice, but given his track record, I am looking for him to have the ability to reset and reestablish a positive trend. Investors who come in and out of trades as soon as there is a dip are the reason that professionals are able to get rich buying the dips.
 
Y'know, fair. All we know is that there were serious issues in the WR room last year and that he was in involved in an altercation in Lexington where charges were filed and then he was dismissed from his new team four months later.

I recognize I'm being hard on the kid, and maybe some of that is frustration with Stoops. Maybe part of that is because I don't trust CMS to properly discipline anyone or hold anyone accountable. But yeah, I can ease up on this dude a bit, though he needs an extremely short leash.


I've been cheering for UK football since before I could say Tim Couch's name. Certainly for longer than I've been cheering for basketball. I'm well-aware of Wolf's alleged recruiting chops, and I'm also aware of how he had every resource available to him at Bama and ended up canned because his lines underperformed. A lot of people can hit the green. Not everyone can putt. Wolf seems like he can hit the green, and I'll leave it at that.

Wait. No, I won't. He also left UK high and dry and recruited our guys with him to Bama a year after Schlarman died.


It's not absurd at all. I was one of the "give him time" guys for years when we'd have down-ish years. Got a lot of flak for it on this board, which I'm cool with. We had two ten win seasons thanks to Mark. At some point, though, you've got to admit that the program is speeding at mach f- into the earth. No team discipline, defense that both bends AND breaks, underperforming lines, no QB development, questionable tactics on special teams, and all of this happening when we should've been able to capitalize on a few years of weaker-than-normal SEC teams.

Stoops has had 12 years. Between his off-hand remarks about ponying up (which are completely accurate), coach speak about accountability that never manifests, and the downward trajectory of the program, you can bet that I'm personally ready for a change.

Maybe we win a couple more this year. Maybe. We okay with five wins? Six and a blowout bowl? He's costing the university money and he's not delivering the way a coach of his pay-grade should.
This is where I'm at and couldn't have said it better. Totally 100% true.
 
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All valid points, so if that adds up to I want Stoops gone, then I would say your blind spot is risk management and lack of macro perspective. As a Wealth Manager/Business Analyst I am constantly evaluating investment performance and looking for entry and exits points. I've been a UK fan for nearly 50 years, so I use that well establish trend line. Before Stoops, UK had averaged around 3.5-4 wins a season. Not SEC wins, but overall. Since his arrival he has blown that history out of our minds. So this "investment" is nearly doubling historical trend and, almost without exception, trends will revert towards mean. It happens with all investments and team with few exceptions. So as an investment manager, when it starts to revert to mean, you put it on your watchlist and give it additional scrutiny. You try to learn why and then determine if the issues are deeply systemic or can be turned around and overcome.

Some fans look at the last three years as a single trend line, but I'm not ready to go there bacue the first two, while maybe disappointing in the moment, are still above avg results for UK's historical trend line, so he has had a single terrible year that is below his trend line, but actually is still avg for UK histrionically. To be clear, I am not saying 4 wins is acceptable, I am merely pointing the fact out for context. If he has another disappointing 4 win season, then we have a negative trend and if I'm Mitch I'm putting him on hot seat notice, but given his track record, I am looking for him to have the ability to reset and reestablish a positive trend. Investors who come in and out of trades as soon as there is a dip are the reason that professionals are able to get rich buying the dips.
Solid, well-rationed rebuttal.
 
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I was told Gilmore was a good teammate and hard worker. He is young and followed the money. I believe he comes from a very tough background and couldn’t pass of the opportunity.
 
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