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.