Let’s clear this up.

[Gromcat]

1. Our AD isn’t interested in winning big. Every time you hear “Stoops has the best job in the country” you should puke. It means he can be a multi millionaire safely for mediocre results. It needs to stop.

2. We are not a football school. Every time a low level program has a few decent seasons they all say the same thing. We are not a football school or a serious program until we take our program serious. And that means we expect to win at the highest levels. we don’t pump mediocre coaches, even if Stoops is the right fit for today


3. Stoops might be a good fit for where we are in this time, but he’s not elite. Stop pretending he’s elite. To date, UK is the best job he’s been offered. That should tell you something.


Can we at least accept this as it is?

 

[Fast3ddy]

1. Our AD isn’t interested in winning big. Every time you hear “Stoops has the best job in the country” you should puke. It means he can be a multi millionaire safely for mediocre results. It needs to stop.

2. We are not a football school. Every time a low level program has a few decent seasons they all say the same thing. We are not a football school or a serious program until we take our program serious. And that means we expect to win at the highest levels. we don’t pump mediocre coaches, even if Stoops is the right fit for today


3. Stoops might be a good fit for where we are in this time, but he’s not elite. Stop pretending he’s elite. To date, UK is the best job he’s been offered. That should tell you something.


Can we at least accept this as it is?

No. This is a stupid ass take. I’m frustrated with how the last two weeks have gone, but are you blind to the fact stoops has done things that haven’t been done since the 70s?

 

[thepip]

A sheep reply.

 

[Gromcat]

No. This is a stupid ass take. I’m frustrated with how the last two weeks have gone, but are you blind to the fact stoops has done things that haven’t been done since the 70s?

What the hell does that have to do with my post. I clearly said I still think for where we are he’s the right fit in this moment. But my issue is with other ideas that UK clearly needs to get away from.

 

[Gromcat]

Listen you either want to be the best or you don’t believe this program can do it. If you’ve got issues with the post, you’ve essentially admitted defeat and are okay with a mediocre program. And if that’s the case just say it.

 

[know1]

Best coach we've had in ages and most successful program we've had in about the same amount of time.

 

[HagginHall1999]

Listen you either want to be the best or you don’t believe this program can do it. If you’ve got issues with the post, you’ve essentially admitted defeat and are okay with a mediocre program. And if that’s the case just say it.

It is is going to take a heroic effort to get to the level of an Alabama or Georgia tbh. The issue isn't the skill of the starters IMHO, it is the 2nd and 3rd string, the depth. You have Weaver and Jones last night and you probably win.

If Weaver doesn't play against Florida we probably lose.

Problem UK has right now is high level depth.

I would be shocked if we are ever on that level.

 

[wildcatglenn]

Stoops is the best UK coach I'm my 40+ years. But he is not without his aggravating faults.
1. His teams let a loss turn into another loss. Damndest thing I ever saw.
2. He's too conservative for modern football. He coaches scared, he needs to be more aggressive as a coach
3. For whatever reason, he doesn't seam to value special teams. Having a grad assistant over that side makes no sense.

 

[FltDoc]

3. Stoops might be a good fit for where we are in this time, but he’s not elite. Stop pretending he’s elite. To date, UK is the best job he’s been offered. That should tell you something.

100% agree... Good, but not elite....

 

[Girthang]

1. Our AD isn’t interested in winning big. Every time you hear “Stoops has the best job in the country” you should puke. It means he can be a multi millionaire safely for mediocre results. It needs to stop.

2. We are not a football school. Every time a low level program has a few decent seasons they all say the same thing. We are not a football school or a serious program until we take our program serious. And that means we expect to win at the highest levels. we don’t pump mediocre coaches, even if Stoops is the right fit for today


3. Stoops might be a good fit for where we are in this time, but he’s not elite. Stop pretending he’s elite. To date, UK is the best job he’s been offered. That should tell you something.


Can we at least accept this as it is?

Thank you, Morg for today's overreaction.

 

[kats23]

Listen you either want to be the best or you don’t believe this program can do it. If you’ve got issues with the post, you’ve essentially admitted defeat and are okay with a mediocre program. And if that’s the case just say it.

I mean, if you think we’re going to be Alabama or UGA in the next 5-10 years, you’re delusional. Look how long it took Stoops to build it up to where we are a middle of the pack SEC team where a 7-5 season is disappointing. I’m not saying that to diminish Stoops’ accomplishments, I’m saying that because it’s really freaking hard to build a program and Kentucky stuck with Stoops instead of canning him. Had they listened to fans like myself, we would still be a bottom of the barrel program today.

we’re up against history of other programs and their long endowed money into their programs. Something we just recently started tiding ourselves. We need to stay patient and keep digging bc we have a big hole to dig ourselves out of. This season will likely end in disappointment but 4 years ago, this would have been a good season. My overall point is we’re getting there.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Listen you either want to be the best or you don’t believe this program can do it. If you’ve got issues with the post, you’ve essentially admitted defeat and are okay with a mediocre program. And if that’s the case just say it.

I dont think we can do it. It's just too high a mountain to climb. Certain teams just have too many advantages over us and too much history of winning results.

I'm a Titans fan and know we are probably never winning a super bowl. We almost did it in 99 but haven't been back since.

The cardinals haven't won it all since 2011 and uk basketball since 2012. Winning big is tough in sports.

It's all just mindless entertainment and an obsessive hobby for most of us. Instead of hiking or fishing or reading we obsess over college kids or rich guys (this applies to both college and pro players now with NIL) playing a game and hoping they win the title which gives us some sense that our lives are better on the rare occasion it happens.

 

[Cawood86]

It is is going to take a heroic effort to get to the level of an Alabama or Georgia tbh. The issue isn't the skill of the starters IMHO, it is the 2nd and 3rd string, the depth. You have Weaver and Jones last night and you probably win.

If Weaver doesn't play against Florida we probably lose.

Problem UK has right now is high level depth.

I would be shocked if we are ever on that level.

True. Recruiting is the lifeblood. Right now, there are no real dudes on defense. No game changers. Why?

O line is just awful. Why? Answer to both is recruiting. It doesn't show up as much until you go up against equal talent. Then it's scheme and execution. Ky's scheme is not good, their execution is awful..

UK has been fortunate that Florida and UT have been our of sorts for a while. UT seems to have figured theirs out. Not sure about FL.

Stoops has yet to sign a top QB in 10 years. Why? Recruiting has been good, it has not been great. Marrow talks more than he produces.

Getting them to visit is good, actually signing them is not happening yet. One injury wrecks this team? Gotta have more players than that.

 

[FltDoc]

I mean, if you think we’re going to be Alabama or UGA in the next 5-10 years, you’re delusional. Look how long it took Stoops to build it up to where we are a middle of the pack SEC team where a 7-5 season is disappointing. I’m not saying that to diminish Stoops’ accomplishments, I’m saying that because it’s really freaking hard to build a program and Kentucky stuck with Stoops instead of canning him. Had they listened to fans like myself, we would still be a bottom of the barrel program today.

we’re up against history of other programs and their long endowed money into their programs. Something we just recently started tiding ourselves. We need to stay patient and keep digging bc we have a big hole to dig ourselves out of. This season will likely end in disappointment but 4 years ago, this would have been a good season. My overall point is we’re getting there.

And GromCat's point is that Stoops may have reached his ceiling, and if we're all gonna' be satisfied with this product, then okay,

it's certainly better than what is was....we get that...

Honestly, I say he deserves 3-5 more years.... And before people start talking about this and that records/bowl games, most wins, etc, remember we have (40+ freakin' bowls in the modern era, and take a close look at our non-conference schedule -- remember what happened when we played only SEC schools?)

We are comfortably mid-pack, SEC East... but hey, that's something, right?

 

[NCPurplecat]

Stoops has done a great job but O Line took a step back the year right when the skill positions upgraded. UK has had its share of injuries including the dbs. Bengals have had a multi year O line issue, UK just unfortunate timing to be a tackle short. Kicking game is something different and ugly. Keep filling Kroger Field, win a bowl any bowl and keep up the recruiting and the ascension will continue

 

[Cawood86]

And GromCat's point is that Stoops may have reached his ceiling, and if we're all gonna' be satisfied with this product, then okay,

it's certainly better than what is was....we get that...

Honestly, I say he deserves 3-5 more years.... And before people start talking about this and that records/bowl games, most wins, etc, remember we have (40+ freakin' bowls in the modern era, and take a close look at our non-conference schedule -- remember what happened when we played only SEC schools?)

We are comfortably mid-pack, SEC East... but hey, that's something, right?

Stoops has made winning expected. Two 10 win seasons. Made UK very competitive. Now, he needs to take the next step. Can he? Don't know. He better though, cause this league will crush him if he doesn't.

 

[Bluegrass79]

Damn the whine on this thread needs a truckload of cheese from Wisconsin.
NO MORE

Let's get this straight.
Our best defensive player wasn't playing.
Our best offensive player wasn't playing.



Minus the first play of the game, we did what we could.
See you next year stupid cock lovers with your coach dancing around with his sunglasses like he done something. We'll be seeing you.
CASE CLOSED.

 

[Cefiro]

Stoops has made winning expected. Two 10 win seasons. Made UK very competitive. Now, he needs to take the next step. Can he? Don't know. He better though, cause this league will crush him if he doesn't.

This league will crush him with realignment! He’s feasted on Vandy, Mizzou, and UF, UT, and USC being down. If he was in the west, he would have been fired years ago.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

This league will crush him with realignment! He’s feasted on Vandy, Mizzou, and UF, UT, and USC being down. If he was in the west, he would have been fired years ago.

Rumor is they are gonna stick all 18 in a mega division. Idk how they will work out scheduling. Probably one permanent rival and pray we get vandy and then rotate 8 each season.

 

[oddis500]

It’s so bizarre how some fans aren’t even willing to entertain the notion that Stoops isn’t all that great.

Isn’t it possible- just POSSIBLE- that our improved fortunes have a lot to do with the increased conference money and heightened perception of all teams in the SEC?

Stoops could be a better than average coach, and Kentucky could do better. It’s okay to imagine a world where both of these things may be true.

 

[ace on the river]

True. Recruiting is the lifeblood. Right now, there are no real dudes on defense. No game changers. Why?

O line is just awful. Why? Answer to both is recruiting. It doesn't show up as much until you go up against equal talent. Then it's scheme and execution. Ky's scheme is not good, their execution is awful..

UK has been fortunate that Florida and UT have been our of sorts for a while. UT seems to have figured theirs out. Not sure about FL.

Stoops has yet to sign a top QB in 10 years. Why? Recruiting has been good, it has not been great. Marrow talks more than he produces.

Getting them to visit is good, actually signing them is not happening yet. One injury wrecks this team? Gotta have more players than that.

I feel our recruiting has always been over rated since Stoops has been here. Is it better than Joker, Bill Curry, etc? ABSOLUTELY. But it still isn't no where near as good as it needs to be.

Look at Tennessee, just a few years ago they were terrible, couldn't hire or keep a coach etc. Now they are a top 5 team and will probably hang 50 on us. How in the hell do they recruit so much better than us? They have way more team speed and great skill players

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Rumor is they are gonna stick all 18 in a mega division. Idk how they will work out scheduling. Probably one permanent rival and pray we get vandy and then rotate 8 each season.

I saw an interview with Sankey when he said they, the college administrators and SEC officials, were looking at a Mega conference with everyone having 3 perm opponents and 6, possibly 7 rotating opponents. Not pods because your three permanent opponents could all have a different set of 3. That would keep all the long time rivalries intact.

An example as I understood would be UGA and UK are permanent opponents.

UK plays UGA, MSST, and UT every year.

UGA plays UK, AU, and SC every year


I could accept something like that.

 

[Bluegrassking]

I feel our recruiting has always been over rated since Stoops has been here. Is it better than Joker, Bill Curry, etc? ABSOLUTELY. But it still isn't no where near as good as it needs to be.

Look at Tennessee, just a few years ago they were terrible, couldn't hire or keep a coach etc. Now they are a top 5 team and will probably hang 50 on us. How in the hell do they recruit so much better than us? They have way more team speed and great skill players

Recruiting would be pretty good or better nationally except we are in the SEC where pretty good and even better lands you in the bottom third or worse where the top squads can have 2nd and 3rd units equal or better than or 1st's.

The grade on the climb from mid to elite is far steeper than than from poor to mid.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

I saw an interview with Sankey when he said they, the college administrators and SEC officials, were looking at a Mega conference with everyone having 3 perm opponents and 6, possibly 7 rotating opponents. Not pods because your three permanent opponents could all have a different set of 3. That would keep all the long time rivalries intact.

An example as I understood would be UGA and UK are permanent opponents.

UK plays UGA, MSST, and UT every year.

UGA plays UK, AU, and SC every year


I could accept something like that.

That would be better. I'd rather have vandy, Missouri and msu though lol. UT and UGA would be rough for UK every season. I know you are just giving examples. Sure UGA will get Florida and auburn as 2 of theirs.

 

[podgejeff_]

I saw an interview with Sankey when he said they, the college administrators and SEC officials, were looking at a Mega conference with everyone having 3 perm opponents and 6, possibly 7 rotating opponents. Not pods because your three permanent opponents could all have a different set of 3. That would keep all the long time rivalries intact.

An example as I understood would be UGA and UK are permanent opponents.

UK plays UGA, MSST, and UT every year.

UGA plays UK, AU, and SC every year


I could accept something like that.

We aren't rivals with Georgia. Why would Georgia or the SEC want us as a permanent game with Georgia over either Florida or Tennessee?

Our rivals in the conference would be UT (the only definite one), Vandy, and then take your pick out of Miss St (forced rivalry and lack of better options), South Carolina (recent history) or even Mizzou (geography).

 

[westerncat]

Guys I hated that we lost the last 2 games (I still think we should have won last week but we had a bad call on that last TD) but I have been watching /listening to UK FB for around 50 years now and we are a lot better than we were years ago. I hope Stoops stays and continues to build this program. In my mind he is a great coach.
With Will out last night I had did not think we could win this game last night. We have not had a good QB like this in years. We just need to get the OL fixed. And I did not think the defense played great last night either.

 

[sambowieshin]

Stoops is closer to getting a statue than being fired.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

Stoops is the best UK coach I'm my 40+ years. But he is not without his aggravating faults.
1. His teams let a loss turn into another loss. Damndest thing I ever saw.
2. He's too conservative for modern football. He coaches scared, he needs to be more aggressive as a coach
3. For whatever reason, he doesn't seam to value special teams. Having a grad assistant over that side makes no sense.

It’s definitely a tough balance on this board with acknowledging his accomplishments to get us but understanding where he falls short.

What’s frustrating to me is that his issues have been his issues his entire tenure. He hasn’t seemed to have improved on some things and that’s holding us back.

 

[Gromcat]

Stoops is closer to getting a statue than being fired.

This is so ridiculous and it’s not directed at you. This is exactly what this thread is about. What are our expectations. A statue? If anyone in control would even consider this, why do we care week to week? Are we striving for dominance or accepting mediocrity? I’m simply asking what are we? And if we’re accepting mediocrity than I see no problems with anything going on?

 

[Girthang]

Stoops has done a great job but O Line took a step back the year right when the skill positions upgraded. UK has had its share of injuries including the dbs. Bengals have had a multi year O line issue, UK just unfortunate timing to be a tackle short. Kicking game is something different and ugly. Keep filling Kroger Field, win a bowl any bowl and keep up the recruiting and the ascension will continue

Let's look at the big picture.

We may have lost this special season when we lost Coach Schlarman. You don't replace a man like that. You try to find someone with that kind of love and dedication not just to his players, but to the university and the CRAFT and they are just few and far between. We replaced him with a zero sum, zero character coach, and are trying to recover at the position after just one year with him.

Thank God it wasn't 2 years with that piece of work.

It hit us at a bad time, but you keep filling holes, stepping up, developing, and keep grinding.

.........
THIS IS STILL UK. It's always going to be a working man's job because of the bitchy vocal minority.

It's still a tough job to recruit to, even with the success we have had. It's better than it was, but it's still not a destination program. It doesn't have the money or the people behind it that others do and will.
.........

Enjoy what we have while we have it. Try to make it better than it is as fans, rather than make the job even harder by bein dbags. NO ONE better is coming here when you have to fight the fans and the SEC. It's a hard concept to grasp for people that have been so used to losing their whole lives, but winners don't want to be around vampires that suck the good out of everything.
...........

We have some things that won't be completely fixed THIS season. We have to adjust and adapt and make the best of it. We had more depth this year or things would be WAY worse. We have a good staff and hopefully they can figure out a winning strategy with what we do have and can get our players on the 2 deep enough meaningful reps going forward that there isn't as much of a drop off from the 1s to the 2s.

 

[TeoJ]

All I know is for fifty years before Stoops took over not one coach had a winning record,now Stoops is the winningest coach we have had.

 

[ManitouDan]

I mean, if you think we’re going to be Alabama or UGA in the next 5-10 years, you’re delusional. Look how long it took Stoops to build it up to where we are a middle of the pack SEC team where a 7-5 season is disappointing. I’m not saying that to diminish Stoops’ accomplishments, I’m saying that because it’s really freaking hard to build a program and Kentucky stuck with Stoops instead of canning him. Had they listened to fans like myself, we would still be a bottom of the barrel program today.

we’re up against history of other programs and their long endowed money into their programs. Something we just recently started tiding ourselves. We need to stay patient and keep digging bc we have a big hole to dig ourselves out of. This season will likely end in disappointment but 4 years ago, this would have been a good season. My overall point is we’re getting there.

Depends what " there" is .. I def think we have hit a ceiling with Stoops . But the possibility to crash thru the ceiling was lost at Ole Miss . stoops is never gonna change his conservative grind it out style . It serves us well , but occasionally the stars align ( above average QB , above average RB , really good receivers , and we fans get greedy and want more .. I think I'll go back to being shocked when we do something more worthy of 8-4 . Because wanting more the last 2 weeks has left me gutted like a fish .

 

[seccats04]

This league will crush him with realignment! He’s feasted on Vandy, Mizzou, and UF, UT, and USC being down. If he was in the west, he would have been fired years ago.

Unfortunate reality.

We saw what playing an all SEC schedule in 2020 did to us. Probably the year after next we trade a directional school for another SEC game.

 

[Girthang]

I saw an interview with Sankey when he said they, the college administrators and SEC officials, were looking at a Mega conference with everyone having 3 perm opponents and 6, possibly 7 rotating opponents. Not pods because your three permanent opponents could all have a different set of 3. That would keep all the long time rivalries intact.

An example as I understood would be UGA and UK are permanent opponents.

UK plays UGA, MSST, and UT every year.

UGA plays UK, AU, and SC every year


I could accept something like that.

Sounds excellent for UGA. NOT SO good for us.

I'd rather it be UF/Mizzou, UGA/USC, and UT/Vandy. We're not a rival of Georgia's. Haven't been even though we've played some close games here and there.

UGA should be playing UF, AU, and ?. Can't think of another rivalry for you. Has UT been in the ballpark the last 10 years? I don't remember any games where they've beaten you recently.

 

[SaltyCat22]

Wholeheartedly agree. We are almost in position to get a real football coach. Stoops has wasted hundreds of offensive possessions in his time here playing scared. Mark ‘Big Ten’ Stoops will never win big in the Southeastern Conference. Thankful for what he has done but hopefully here within the decade (or ~15 years) he will be our Rich Brooks to us to what Rich Brooks is to Oregon.

 

[Cawood86]

This league will crush him with realignment! He’s feasted on Vandy, Mizzou, and UF, UT, and USC being down. If he was in the west, he would have been fired years ago.

True. Except about the fired part. Don't think Barnhart has a quick trigger.

 

[sambowieshin]

This is so ridiculous and it’s not directed at you. This is exactly what this thread is about. What are our expectations. A statue? If anyone in control would even consider this, why do we care week to week? Are we striving for dominance or accepting mediocrity? I’m simply asking what are we? And if we’re accepting mediocrity than I see no problems with anything going on?

He's the winningest coach in UK football history....That is far from mediocre.
I'm more concerned with our OC, line and special teams than Stoops. Pretty sure he will fix it given time.

 

[Rockfly78]

1. Our AD isn’t interested in winning big. Every time you hear “Stoops has the best job in the country” you should puke. It means he can be a multi millionaire safely for mediocre results. It needs to stop.

2. We are not a football school. Every time a low level program has a few decent seasons they all say the same thing. We are not a football school or a serious program until we take our program serious. And that means we expect to win at the highest levels. we don’t pump mediocre coaches, even if Stoops is the right fit for today


3. Stoops might be a good fit for where we are in this time, but he’s not elite. Stop pretending he’s elite. To date, UK is the best job he’s been offered. That should tell you something.


Can we at least accept this as it is?

Dude. We will NOT be Alabama or Georgia or Ohio state in football for the same reasons Alabama, Georgia and Ohio state will NOT and what Kentucky is in basketball. Everyone wants to win. Everyone in the program is trying. Stop whining so much.

 

[MrHotDice]

Who is responsible for the lack

Guys I hated that we lost the last 2 games (I still think we should have won last week but we had a bad call on that last TD) but I have been watching /listening to UK FB for around 50 years now and we are a lot better than we were years ago. I hope Stoops stays and continues to build this program. In my mind he is a great coach.
With Will out last night I had did not think we could win this game last night. We have not had a good QB like this in years. We just need to get the OL fixed. And I did not think the defense played great last night either.

Great is being thrown around just like the word hero. People aren’t hero’s just for showing up to work.

 

[buster3.0]

UK is at a disadvantage to becoming an elite football program. In fact, everyone should be impressed with the level Stoops has raised the UK program. The reality is that the level of HS football in Kentucky is poor, really poor, at least in comparison to the deep south states UK has to compete with. The state just doesn't produce very much in terms of high level power 5 type talent. It is what it is. Stoops has been able to overcome this better than his predecessors by his good out of state recruiting.