Harris not commiting to UK sent a message to other recruits.

[Kampus Korner]

Since Damien Harris rejected UK there has been an ever growing number of decomitments. I suspect previous UK commitments concluded that if Harris, who many felt would choose UK , opted for Bama that maybe UK's football future was not as bright as Stoops had been selling. Selling hope and proposed improvement can be effective for only a limited time. Losing the last 6 games of the season, some by blow out margins, has really cast serious doubt on Mark Stoops marketing slogan , "Why not UK?" Stoops inherited an "empty cupboard to be sure, but that realty apparently doesn't carry much weight in the eyes of recruits and their parents who may have erroneously concluded that nothing has changed about UK football except the slogans the new head coach uses to try and portray a different image. The old timers will remember John Ray, previously the Defensive Coordinator at Notre Dame before he became UK's head coach at UK in 1969. Ray had thousands of bumper stickers printed and used all over state proclaiming, "We Believe". Coach Ray lasted 4 years before he was fired.

Mark Stoops future at UK may very well be determined by next season's record. If he doesn't win at least 6 games it is doubtful that he will be able to convince higher quality recruits that his "Why not UK?" moniker has credibility. Here's hoping he pulls a "Rich Brooks". Being the head football coach at UK has proven to be one of the most difficult jobs in college sports.

This post was edited on 1/29 5:50 PM by Kampus Korner

 

[Spica Orbit]

Re: Harris not commuting to UK sent a message to other recruits.

Hmm, I commuted to EKU, I wonder what message that sent?

Spica Orbit

 

[Kampus Korner]

Re: Harris not commuting to UK sent a message to other recruits.

Ha! I agree. "Commuting" can send an awful message.

 

[Mills_for_Three]

Re: Harris not commuting to UK sent a message to other recruits.

Conversely one could argue that Harris regarding UK so highly during his recruitment helped Stoops and Crew get exposure to other highly rated recruits. I will agree that Harris' commitment to Bama sucked the wind out of any momentum UK had built up on the recruiting trail.

I had hoped Marrows reaffirmation to the Wildcats earlier in the month would have provided a little boost in recruiting energy to grab a commitment, but nothing doing. If Stoops was holding a commitment in his pocket, the ever popular silent verbal theory, now would be the time to let the "wild" cat out of the bag.

 

[C1180]

I think that you are right on the Harris deal to the extent that his spurning UK likely gave the fence sitters the go ahead to jump to the other side of the fence. They were already sitting on the top of the fence ready to jump and some of them would have jumped regardless of Harris's decision. Some might have stayed with UK if he had signed with UK but not all.

You are right that the 2015 season will go a long way in deciding the success or failure of the Stoops coaching staff at UK. Talk will only get you so far and then you must show you can back up the talk.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

Re: Harris not commuting to UK sent a message to other recruits.

I agree that Harris going elsewhere has cause pause among our commitments and potential commitments but that is just a part of the snowball that is occuring. Not to mention off the field issues and very very poor play and coaching the last 5/6 games.

 

[qwesley]

Well, he probably met every single recruit since he came to every single game.

 

[BlueRaider22]

Maybe Harris thought twice about coming to UK when we played so poorly down the stretch?

 

[MrHotDice]

The only thing recruits learned from Harris is how to use people. Harris is dead and buried.

 

[C1180]

I wonder if Harris was telling recruits that he was going to UK to bolster his charade and some were shocked by his decision when he picked Alabama. The dude is some what of a shyster.

 

[TBCat]

Harris had no negative impact at all. No doubt had he came here there would have been a coat tail effect and we are clearly missing out on that but it didn't cause current commits to not come. Nor did it have any impact on those still considering UK. With the exception of the Dowells the commitments we lost were borderline and on the fence even before Harris' decision. Dinson has been trying to decommit for what feels like a year now. Hamilton never felt solid to begin with. If Harris picked UK we almost certainly still lose those guys.

A couple things that did impact negatively our recruiting are the demise of the SEC. This is why we should root for the likes of Alabama against OSU and why Bama fans should root for us. The SEC was the thing for about a decade. If you wanted to be someone you had to go to an SEC school. If you could get an offer from Bama or LSU then fine. If not then UK is better than the likes of Michigan State because who cares about the Big 10. That's no longer the case. The Big 10 is now the hot conference and that is more likely why we are losing these prospects more than anything else. If Alabama won the title and Auburn, LSU and MSU won their games and if Michigan State lost then we would probably still have some of those prospects. Not just those that decommitted but some of the ones that were apparently looking at us and suddenly decided to not really consider us.

Also the way we played down the stretch was a disaster for recruiting. Myself and several others tried pointing that out at the time but several people didn't want to hear it. Losing games to LSU and Georgia isn't a big deal. In fact it is expected in year 2. What isn't expected is that we got destroyed in most of those games. We didn't even look like a division 1 team out there. Tennessee isn't really that good and they crushed us. I felt like UT would have had a tougher game if they were play a low rated school like UAB or Tulane than what we gave them.

Those losses were as ugly in reality as anything that happened during Joker's tenure. Except of course for the "forfeit" at Arkansas during Joker's last year. You simply can't let things get out of control like that. Losing the way we did for as long as we did had consequences that we are now reaping. You can't expect Stoops to win games that he shouldn't but you can expect a team that competes and we just didn't.

 

[catben]

Harris not committing to UK had very little effect on the other recruits de-committing from UK. Kids are going to go to the school that they feel will help them the most. For some reason, these kids that de-committed felt that UK wasn't the best place for them. Would love to know why?

 

[chaisey]

Guys we truly have to give Mark stoops a extra year maybe two more years to truly evaluate what a great recruiter he is and coach he's proven time and again that he is a great defense of coach and will get the offense of coordinator needed to win being in the SEC give the man a little time,he really didn't have a true Lembach her other than Flanagan last year and to try to win without a true linebacker is really suicide in the SEC the reason why we play the 34 is we had two defense ends trying to play linebackers and Lord knows or not fast enough to cover in space next year will be huge as far as development players and coaching wise to win at a decent next year. Go big blue!

 

[railroadkat_1]

I see the glass as half full and I believe a lot of you see it half empty. The only thing I have against Harris is he knew 6 weeks before he announced he was going to Bama, he should have let the staff know Losing George Brown from Ohio started the downward spiral Larry Wells another Ohio lineman. The 3 star wide receiver from Ohio flipped to Ohio St and now has his 4th star. Sorry when you stand toe to toe with the major programs you win some and lose some. That's the nature of the beast.

I'm firmly behind coach Stoops and believe we will bring some new names in before or right after signing day or save a couple of scholarships. He will figure what is best for the long haul. A lot of good things going on that will only help our program build for the future. I love the 5 early entries and like the rest that want to be UK Wildcats! GBB

 

[Poetax]

Originally posted by catben:
Harris not committing to UK had very little effect on the other recruits de-committing from UK. Kids are going to go to the school that they feel will help them the most. For some reason, these kids that de-committed felt that UK wasn't the best place for them. Would love to know why?

Very true, he was already going to Michigan before Stoops got here, its amazing that we even got a smell with the schools he had been involved with. Honestly, I would have loved to have him, but actually that position has some good kids in it if we get an oline that can block.

 

[GonzoCat90]

No, Harris chose Alabama for the same reason the other recruits decommitted--they had better offers from bigger programs that hadn't lost their last six games. Show me a recruit that flipped that, objectively, made a "bad" decision.

This is a process, and we're on the right track, but programs like Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State and Michigan State can pull a power move late and we've been the victim of that. The positive side of things is that our staff is good at identifying and reeling in guys who ultimately become desired by elite programs. Once we put together on-field results to keep them, that will all build on itself.

 

[Cal-El]

I doubt it. How many recruits in the country have the same options of Harris?

 

[southindycat]

OP will read this post again on NSD 2016 and come to understand that following UK football since the Pleistocene has made him too negative. We are still raising up some fine young players. They will improve. We do not replace them each year as they "jump to the league" after glorious frosh campaigns. We already possess the critical mass of talent that is going to turn the corner enough for greater things to follow, and the will do so soon. Simple fact: the success of UK basketball for decades has made microwave fans out of most UK sports fans. If this class does not meet the standard set in 2014 on paper, that does little to affect the team's ability to improve on the field this season. We are going to have some talented kids in this class. As far as D.H. is concerned... get over it. Let him go, without our blessings or curses... forgotten. I refuse to consider it possible that one child's decision is going to make or break this enterprise.

 

[robo222]

I disagree... don't think next year determines his future... the next 5 maybe.

 

[Calsarmy]

First on Harris. One of the most BUSH LEAGUE moves of all time by the kid. If the excuse was he is just a kid, its bull. He knew exactly what he was doing and he did it too hurt UK. Enough said,

Truthfully its like politicans at the moment in regards to UK Football. Im tired of all the flowery speeches by political types, I want only the results.

Same with UK Football. I love Coach Stoops. And like most here was caught up in his recruiting efforts the last 2 years. Today I could care less about recruiting and who is coming and not coming. Im not interested in how we just gave Stoops a new contract for whatever amount of years. Not interested in how we kept whatever assistants.

Only interested in one thing at this point. Wins.

Ive never been a big supporter of Barney, but you have to give him credit as he and the admin threw in huge sums of money to redo CWS. Also vast improvement in the football facilities. I honestly did not believe that would happen in my lifetime.

At this point though its only about wins.

We didnt win a game after the beginning of October. That plays huge in a recruits mind.

Again at this point show me the wins. Coach Stoops needs 6 wins and a bowl game. It doesnt happen and well at that point not sure what the future holds for him or UK football from the average UK football fans view.

I saw my first UK Football game in the mid 50s so like most my age I have invested a lot into UK football both emotionally and money wise. Just time for results now,,,,,,,,,,

 

[law1127]

It will take Coach Stoops 5 years to see the true results of his tenure. You have to have redshirt fifth year seniors to have an accurate appraisal of how successful Stoops will be,when you are in the SEC!

 

[stenchymouse]

I was disappointed in what Damien Harris did but I still expect Stoops to keep the program moving upward.

The talent level at UK is better than it's been in a long time and I still expect a solid class this year.

I agree with the above poster that Harris' decision likely swayed the fence sitters but we'll still salvage a good class.

All I know is, those of you saying that "next year determines Stoops' stay at UK" and "he'd better win 6 games and go to a bowl next year" are wrong.

We need to get behind coach Stoops and be patient.

If Stoops fails, then where in the hell do we go from here?

I believe 100% that he'll build a competitive program if we'll just support him and chill the f@#k out!

 

[TuckyFan]

The only thing UK lost was (1) class ranking, (2) a good RB signee, and (3) the ability to sell other recruits that a top prospect was coming, you should too. It didn't paint UK in any negative light. He went to Bama, not Louisville. I haven't reached the same conclusion on him others have. I don't see that he did anything necessarily nefarious other than he won't wear blue. There is a difference between "knowing" at the Iron Bowl and the Iron Bowl being the moment you kept coming back to when you decided down the stretch--though both may be talked about the same to media. So I don't buy the idea that he is the devil and then started getting other recruits to pee on UK.

UK did about what they were supposed to in terms of wins, but the hot start made that look kinda bad when they finished soft. Add that to the fact that UK has been going after more elite recruits, and you will have more decommits, more misses. That's all.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[jauk11]

I saw my first game in the fifties also, I saw Lou Michaels destroy the little team from Knoxville.

Next year will be a critical year, and this years class should have little effect on it, if we keep all our players involved in playing football instead of just playing we will be OK and 16 will be a bumper class. But we DO have some VERY good players committed in the 15 class STILL and likely to stay that could help some of the positions of need, although Stoops is wisely choosing to redshirt even some that could help early.

And if we have a couple of players that have been catching footballs all their life drop passes in their gut with a clear line of sight and no one close then we may lose a couple of games we shouldn't again. It's football, crap happens, which has usually been good for us, because we should have lost a lot of games we have won based on the talent of the two teams on the field.

In fifteen the raw talent we have on the field will be the best we have had BY FAR in a long time, I think we will win enough to have a very good class in 16. I KNOW that this staff is very good at recruiting (and we have some support now) AND evaluating underrated talent, I expect them to show that they can also coach this year.

 

[devilpuppet]

Who is Harris?