Jordan and Greg most of the time on SEC network when discussing Wildcat football did so with a smirk on their face!
Kentucky gets hammered pretty hard on SEC Network
- Thread starter woodson991
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The thing that bothers me most is the kids leaving the state. Don't know if their is any blame to go to anyone...just bothers me and it is what is.
A couple thoughts:
1. We 100% need to do better with in-state recruiting. According to Rivals, there were 8 4-star guys from the state this year. We got 2 of them. That will not lend itself to success. It's not common for Kentucky to put out that many 4/5 star guys, so we have to take advantage of it.
2. I don't care where we fall in the entire SEC. We don't play A&M again until 2025. Who cares where they are ranked. I care where we fall with the SEC east, Mississippi State and UL. Here is the 4 year national ranking average of the last 4 recruiting classes (2016 - 2019:
Georgia - 3.5
Florida - 12
Tennessee - 15.5
South Carolina - 19.25
Mississippi State - 27.5
Kentucky - 28.5
Missouri - 42.25
Louisville - 46
Vandy - 52.25
Out of a 12 game schedule, we have 4 teams that recruit at a higher level than us, one of which we have beaten 5 years in a row. I feel pretty good knowing that in 2/3 of our games, based on high school rankings, we are as good or better than our opponent. We have some work to do, but far from doom and gloom.
1. We 100% need to do better with in-state recruiting. According to Rivals, there were 8 4-star guys from the state this year. We got 2 of them. That will not lend itself to success. It's not common for Kentucky to put out that many 4/5 star guys, so we have to take advantage of it.
2. I don't care where we fall in the entire SEC. We don't play A&M again until 2025. Who cares where they are ranked. I care where we fall with the SEC east, Mississippi State and UL. Here is the 4 year national ranking average of the last 4 recruiting classes (2016 - 2019:
Georgia - 3.5
Florida - 12
Tennessee - 15.5
South Carolina - 19.25
Mississippi State - 27.5
Kentucky - 28.5
Missouri - 42.25
Louisville - 46
Vandy - 52.25
Out of a 12 game schedule, we have 4 teams that recruit at a higher level than us, one of which we have beaten 5 years in a row. I feel pretty good knowing that in 2/3 of our games, based on high school rankings, we are as good or better than our opponent. We have some work to do, but far from doom and gloom.
^^^Exactly, and just beat the team in the second spot with the talent they had at their place and played them even the other two years. 3 years ago beat UGA everyway but the scoreboard with the talent they had the previous three years. The point is the separation between us and others ahead is not the cavern people think, it's a couple more high level players each year that we do need to find a way to get for sure.
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That is it in a nutshell, fix the instate recruiting and keep up the good work elsewhere and we will be a tough team to beat annually
As much as we would like to think that all instate kids just live to play for Kentucky, we would be wrong. You can't grow up with a program and love them going 2-10 and mostly under .500 seasons. Two 7 win seasons got things stirring again, this past 10 win season probably raised eyebrows with the hs sophomores, juniors, and seniors but the media's lack of confidence in us maintaining this level of success is also being read by these youngsters too so they are watching so we have to win to recruit.
We had a good class; filled upcoming needs at DL, LB, CB, OL. We missed some wr options but that’s how it goes sometimes.
Lots of those schools ahead of us recruit nationally wherein we are limited to B-10 and SEC country. If you go through all our recruits you’d be surprised at how many offers there were from SEC, B-10, and ACC schools. Several of our commits with big time offers were early commits and therefore were probably not evaluated again. An example is the kid from Tifton, GA with a monster offer sheet but still rated a 5.5.
If some of these lazy ass services like rivals would get off their ass and do their job we’d probably be in the 19- 22 range.
Lots of those schools ahead of us recruit nationally wherein we are limited to B-10 and SEC country. If you go through all our recruits you’d be surprised at how many offers there were from SEC, B-10, and ACC schools. Several of our commits with big time offers were early commits and therefore were probably not evaluated again. An example is the kid from Tifton, GA with a monster offer sheet but still rated a 5.5.
If some of these lazy ass services like rivals would get off their ass and do their job we’d probably be in the 19- 22 range.
So you are saying that South Carolina beats us in thre recruiting rankings on a yearly basis. You are also saying that for 5 straight years we have beat them on the field. Therefore the recruiting rankings is not a guide saying there is no chance you will win the game. I think you may have won the prize sir...
It is like another poster has said, South Carolina has outrecruited us EVERY SINGLE YEAR and look how they are killing us on the field
Is this for real? He purchased Steele's magazine to refer to on Finebaum lol
Do you really think there is that much difference between 22 and 35? This ain't rocket science
It depends on what you mean by "win". IMO a 10 win season is the ceiling for top 25ish classes. If we want to take the last step up the ladder and win the East we need to ratchet up recruiting a notch or two.
The defense in the Mizzou game gave up zero first downs in the second half. There were some studs, in addition to LB, who won that game for us.
I think we may have lost a couple more games had it not been for Max Duffy. That guy was as important a recruit to this past season’s success as any first year player.
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Most of the fans on this board believed the preseason disappointment spewed by the pundits. If fans here believed, you have to think recruits and their families believed. By the time UK broke into the top 20, many decisions were made or narrowed.
There is probably very little applicable science involved.
And, that is done in stages. Ratcheting up first requires the 10 win season, probably quite a few, if we are going to be honest. Establishing a brand is required at UK. When SEC teams expect to lose to UK or are thrilled with the win, and UK is regularly winning 9-10 games, the staff can realistically ratchet upwards.
IMO, before that can happen, UK needs to land a top tiered QB, by luck or by state affiliation. Now that Stoops has created a blue collar fight in the trenches mentality, he needs a field captain who can do what the average QB cannot. That could be the influential change to this program that changes perceptions.
This is what I have been saying for awhile. If 10 win seasons are the goal, UK is recruiting at a level plenty good enough. But if the goal is higher it's going to require recruiting at a higher level. With FSU and Miami both trainwrecks UF is sitting pretty, UT is back to recruiting nationally like Fuller did in his day. I want both to go 0-12 but they aren't and to not recognize the amount of talent both brought in with this class would be putting your head in the sand.
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But that does not fit the out to get us narrative. People can give a opinion about the team without it all being peaches and cream. We did fail big time finding play makers, especially at WR. That is where i was most disappointed. Now if we strike out THIS year with only 14-18 open spots, we could be in trouble. But as of now, most positions, we have depth, but a few areas are a big concern. QB and WR being two of them.
That 14-18 isn't set in stone, kids will give up football, transfer for playing time, leave early for the NFL. Lots of variables to take in to get a hard number.
I agree, but depth isn't the issue with wide receivers, I think we will have something like 12 on the 2019 roster, what we need is one or two guys with big play potential. Granted the Marquise Browns and the Calvin Ridleys don't grow on trees but they have to find players of that caliber to get the passing game consistent and productive. Bowden is that type player but he is likely gone after 2019 and if he's the only big threat we have on the field it makes it too easy for defenses.
Georgia had 460 yards to UKs 308 that night - you seem to have selective memory. That also was a 7-5 Georgia team that also lost to Vandy and Ga Tech - that type team ain’t coming back for awhile.
I would also say that winning puts us in contention with some higher rated recruits which means we are competing for those recruits against "the big boys". Question: Does going after a top 100 player hard (eg, Devonta Lee) and finishing second hurt you with a top 300 kid who you could have gotten had they not been your plan 'B'?
The next step will be identifying what battles to fight, what level kids we have a good chance of getting and not waste resources/relationships on kids you'd really love to have but are long shots to land. Concentrate on the high 3 */low 4* players for now...keep winning and bump up the standards over time.
Agreed. There has clearly been some exaggeration regarding that game. The thing everyone points to is that 2 sure TD passes were dropped which could have given UK the win. As legit as that is UK didn't beat UGA every which way as some state. We played well enough to have a shot at winning. Georgia was still the better team that night in my opinion.
No question but I think there are steps instead of leaps and bounds. Right now my goal is to sustain a 10 year stretch of 7 to 8 wins with an occasional 10 win season. Do that and you will start getting some more of the 5 star kids. Right now we have a program with only 3 10 win season ever. We aren't in the same conversation right now as those higher level teams.
It would easily be us. Toledo isn't a push over but we should be able to win that one.
Well we’ve never won 10 games in the last 40 years either. But we did with our highest rated class in history. There’s probably some correlation there wouldn’t you think?
No issue with that. Just at my point in life I can't look at timeframes in decades,
gain, recruiting especially football recruiting is very subjective. We had guys rankings drop after they committed to UK coincidence? As also has been said South Carolina has out recruited UK since Daniel Boone crossed Appalachia but have not fared well on the field last 5 years, any correlation there? Recruiting rankings prolly makes more sense in basketball many fewer prospects to evaluate
I agree with this. UK needs a minimum of 10 4*s in the next recruiting cycle to take the next step.
Correct, which is why i added 4 to the 14 open spots. Could be as high as 20-21. But was being moderate with the casualties. Daniel is one we lost today, do not know if we gain a open ride for him leaving, i would think so being he is scheduled to graduate.
Which is why i said i was most disappointed in WR position we signed. It is a problem right now, and will be only more so in the future if we do not address it and sign quality guys. Maybe they took the Lee kid's interest a little to serious and losing Wandale late in the game definitely stung. Just need to buckle down and land some guys. We have actually had some good ones commit, but could not sign. The Eskridge (?) kid a couple years ago out of Florida was one off the top of my head to go along with Robinson and a couple others.
Sure it is. Our Two best players were a 2* and a 3*... can’t speak for everyone but myself I don’t think you can just rely on the services that rate these players out of high school. There’s so many kids to evaluate in football that they miss a lot on the evaluations. Sometimes the difference in a 4* and 3* is minimal. That’s were we make our living in recruiting. We’re not going to get multiple 5* kids right now or maybe ever. But this staff has proven it can win at a pretty high level recruiting the way they have.
No arguments here. Football doesn't exist in a vacuum, there were a lot of guys that contributed to that victory. The one and only point I was trying to make, and you alluded to it in another post about a top notch qb. We need to add a few more game changers. I also agree with you and several other posters, it takes time, relationships have to be built, with hs coaches and players. I just think that's the missing ingredient at this point. Robinson and Lee would have been explosive adds to this class, need to start winning battles like these.
I listen to Finebaum frequently.
He is almost always kind to UK.
He likes Stoops. He likes Calipari.
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I hear people say that recruiting rankings don’t matter but the top 25 polls say otherwise. Usually the teams that recruit the best have the best teams. Coaching matters. Recruiting matters. Look no further than our games with UT and UF. They have out recruited us every year since rankings were started and are a combined 64-3 over the last 67 games. Yes, USCe outrecruits us but we have the better coach. I believe we have outrecruited Mizzou every year since Stoops has been here and we have won the last 5. We regularly out recruit Vandy and we usually beat them. It all matters.
I was just making a smart as remark about how many times we won last year when we were predicted to lose.
I’ve watched all the available film on all of UK’s offensive recruits. I think UK got two stud WR’s. I really like Pope at OL and Ognenovic at TE. I think Tisdale is a nice compliment to Rose. That’s on the offense side. QB is still TBD. I do wish we had signed more OL. I’m no expert, but UK got some players.
Someone mentioned the OL that UT signed last minute. He’s a great athlete with low desire to play football. That is coming from multiple people I work with from Huntington. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to sign with anyone. I don’t see him lasting at UT.
Someone mentioned the OL that UT signed last minute. He’s a great athlete with low desire to play football. That is coming from multiple people I work with from Huntington. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to sign with anyone. I don’t see him lasting at UT.
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