MARK STOOPS & COACHES

[Cobb4uk]

Thank you all for making UK football respected, fun, exciting. I think what's below will say it all.

WINNING PERCENTAGES OF COACHES FO PAST 50 YEARS
1973-1981. Fran Curci 47-51-2. .480
1982-1989. Jerry Claiborne. 49-46-3. .472
1990-1996 Bill Curry. 26-52. .333
1997-2000 Hal Mumme 20-26. .435
2001-2002 Guy Morris. 9-14. .391
2003-2009. Rich Brooks. 39-47. .453
2010-2012 Joker Phillips. 13-24. .351
2013-2023. mark Stoops 66-59. .528

Taking over a program that was a absolute disaster, he had to start building a foundation immediately for the future. IMO, he's built his program by starting the foundation with the defense first then building the Big Blue Wall, thanks to Coach Scharman. Now we're beginning to add the special athletic type players toward a more finished product. I'm excited to see where we may possibly go down the road, just hope I live long enough to see the results.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Thank you all for making UK football respected, fun, exciting. I think what's below will say it all.

WINNING PERCENTAGES OF COACHES FO PAST 50 YEARS
1973-1981. Fran Curci 47-51-2. .480
1982-1989. Jerry Claiborne. 49-46-3. .472
1990-1996 Bill Curry. 26-52. .333
1997-2000 Hal Mumme 20-26. .435
2001-2002 Guy Morris. 9-14. .391
2003-2009. Rich Brooks. 39-47. .453
2010-2012 Joker Phillips. 13-24. .351
2013-2023. mark Stoops 66-59. .528

Taking over a program that was a absolute disaster, he had to start building a foundation immediately for the future. IMO, he's built his program by starting the foundation with the defense first then building the Big Blue Wall, thanks to Coach Scharman. Now we're beginning to add the special athletic type players toward a more finished product. I'm excited to see where we may possibly go down the road, just hope I live long enough to see the results.

It took you some time to look up the stats for your post. You are making the key point, since the objective of football is to win. It is still baffling why so many UK fans do not appreciate this coaching staff. They need to read what you posted here. Thank you for your excellent comment.

 

[jnewc2]

Love Stoops, but you always have to take lists or stats like these with a grain of salt or put an asterisk. Totally different schedule, go back and look at those schedules from the 70, 80’s, 90’s. Seriously, go look at them. I’ve scanned through a bunch of them and in most years 4 or 5 wins would’ve been the absolute ceiling if Stoops had those schedules. Not to mention the “bowl streak” needs an asterisk considering they played fewer games back then. Also, now there’s a totally different level of commitment from the administration. Love Stoops, but context is needed since it’s not apples and apples.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Love Stoops, but you always have to take lists or stats like these with a grain of salt or put an asterisk. Totally different schedule, go back and look at those schedules from the 70, 80’s, 90’s. Seriously, go look at them. I’ve scanned through a bunch of them and in most years 4 or 5 wins would’ve been the absolute ceiling if Stoops had those schedules. Not to mention the “bowl streak” needs an asterisk considering they played fewer games back then. Also, now there’s a totally different level of commitment from the administration. Love Stoops, but context is needed since it’s not apples and apples.

If you actually like Stoops, stop trying to minimize his accomplishments. These are raw data. They don't need to be "taken with a grain of salt". They are what they are. Everyone knows the schedule changes every year. It is tougher now than ever, for heaven's sakes. But that isn't even the point. If you can't fully appreciate a coach who wins more games than he loses (for the first time since Bear Bryant and Blanton Collier) and recruits solid classes, then go back to the basketball board and talk some more over there about Cal.

 

[satcheluk]

Love Stoops, but you always have to take lists or stats like these with a grain of salt or put an asterisk. Totally different schedule, go back and look at those schedules from the 70, 80’s, 90’s. Seriously, go look at them. I’ve scanned through a bunch of them and in most years 4 or 5 wins would’ve been the absolute ceiling if Stoops had those schedules. Not to mention the “bowl streak” needs an asterisk considering they played fewer games back then. Also, now there’s a totally different level of commitment from the administration. Love Stoops, but context is needed since it’s not apples and apples.

We did this on another thread and debunked what you are suggesting. It just isn't accurate.

 

[bthaunert]

Love Stoops, but you always have to take lists or stats like these with a grain of salt or put an asterisk. Totally different schedule, go back and look at those schedules from the 70, 80’s, 90’s. Seriously, go look at them. I’ve scanned through a bunch of them and in most years 4 or 5 wins would’ve been the absolute ceiling if Stoops had those schedules. Not to mention the “bowl streak” needs an asterisk considering they played fewer games back then. Also, now there’s a totally different level of commitment from the administration. Love Stoops, but context is needed since it’s not apples and apples.

Outside of Curci (who cheated), Stoops has the highest SEC winning percentage since Bear and that was after taking over a program that went 0-8 in the SEC. That is a fair and accurate way of comparing success among UK coaches imo.

 

[K_TIME]

If you actually like Stoops, stop trying to minimize his accomplishments. These are raw data. They don't need to be "taken with a grain of salt". They are what they are. Everyone knows the schedule changes every year. It is tougher now than ever, for heaven's sakes. But that isn't even the point. If you can't fully appreciate a coach who wins more games than he loses (for the first time since Bear Bryant and Blanton Collier) and recruits solid classes, then go back to the basketball board and talk some more over there about Cal.

Well the point he is trying to make is:

1. UK used to play IU and UL non conference and that ended sometime during Brooks era. So by dropping a game that was about break even in terms of win/losses....and adding cupcake city in it's place....that works to the favor of all the coaches past 2025.
2. Secondly, NCAA football went from 11 games to 12 games in 2006....so that extra game changes teams win/loss percentage.
3. Third, SEC was 7 games until sometime in the 90's adn 8 games since. So I'd argue that works agianst coaches after that change was made.

All that to be said, a better indicator of UK coaches is SEC only win percentage...which I think I looked and Stoops trails basically Bear Bryant and Curci and solidly ahead of Brooks and Claiborne....and way ahead of Joker and Curry. So in the end, it feels right that Stoops is 2nd best UK all time coach behin a legend like Bear (and Curci cheating has to pull him off list)

 

[Rockfly78]

Well the point he is trying to make is:

1. UK used to play IU and UL non conference and that ended sometime during Brooks era. So by dropping a game that was about break even in terms of win/losses....and adding cupcake city in it's place....that works to the favor of all the coaches past 2025.
2. Secondly, NCAA football went from 11 games to 12 games in 2006....so that extra game changes teams win/loss percentage.
3. Third, SEC was 7 games until sometime in the 90's adn 8 games since. So I'd argue that works agianst coaches after that change was made.

All that to be said, a better indicator of UK coaches is SEC only win percentage...which I think I looked and Stoops trails basically Bear Bryant and Curci and solidly ahead of Brooks and Claiborne....and way ahead of Joker and Curry. So in the end, it feels right that Stoops is 2nd best UK all time coach behin a legend like Bear (and Curci cheating has to pull him off list)

on your last point on bear bryant…..he averaged 7.5 wins a year here and had 2 losing seasons. In the last 8 seasons stoops has averaged 7.5 games a year.

 

[Cobb4uk]

Love Stoops, but you always have to take lists or stats like these with a grain of salt or put an asterisk. Totally different schedule, go back and look at those schedules from the 70, 80’s, 90’s. Seriously, go look at them. I’ve scanned through a bunch of them and in most years 4 or 5 wins would’ve been the absolute ceiling if Stoops had those schedules. Not to mention the “bowl streak” needs an asterisk considering they played fewer games back then. Also, now there’s a totally different level of commitment from the administration. Love Stoops, but context is needed since it’s not apples and apples.

Friend, your post is negative and a bunch of hog wash. I've lived through Bryant to present and it's a hell of a lot harder today to win than in the past. Of course this is my opinion and everyone has their own.

 

[FltDoc]

Well the point he is trying to make is:

1. UK used to play IU and UL non conference and that ended sometime during Brooks era. So by dropping a game that was about break even in terms of win/losses....and adding cupcake city in it's place....that works to the favor of all the coaches past 2025.
2. Secondly, NCAA football went from 11 games to 12 games in 2006....so that extra game changes teams win/loss percentage.
3. Third, SEC was 7 games until sometime in the 90's adn 8 games since. So I'd argue that works agianst coaches after that change was made.

All that to be said, a better indicator of UK coaches is SEC only win percentage...which I think I looked and Stoops trails basically Bear Bryant and Curci and solidly ahead of Brooks and Claiborne....and way ahead of Joker and Curry. So in the end, it feels right that Stoops is 2nd best UK all time coach behin a legend like Bear (and Curci cheating has to pull him off list)

Not so sure I would pull Curci off the list... he just got caught. All other SEC teams have been doing it, just much better....

 

[Boz]

Not so sure I would pull Curci off the list... he just got caught. All other SEC teams have been doing it, just much better....

Curci lost control of his teams. Players were committing murders, point shaving and destroying school property to name a few. Not just normal cheating.

 

[PensacolaBlue]

Apples to oranges. Also, I’m not looking back to the 50’s to make myself feel good about today. This obsession with looking to the past to determine our present and future is just sad. I’m sorry some of you have PTSD, but I lived through the same crappy football.

Am I appreciative of what Stoops has done? Yes. Do I think he should be fired? No. Do I think he needs to piss or get off the pot? Yes. That doesn’t make me wrong or a bad fan. We’ve had two really bad consecutive years and I expect CMS and team to make adjustments and earn their paycheck.

 

[PensacolaBlue]

By the way, if you think UK football is fun to watch (4 corners offense) then I don’t know what to say.

 

[K_TIME]

on your last point on bear bryant…..he averaged 7.5 wins a year here and had 2 losing seasons. In the last 8 seasons stoops has averaged 7.5 games a year.

I don’t see one losing season for Bryant at UK….i don’t see a world how stoops is better then Bear. It’s not even close to me

 

[EliteBlue]

Love Stoops, but you always have to take lists or stats like these with a grain of salt or put an asterisk. Totally different schedule, go back and look at those schedules from the 70, 80’s, 90’s. Seriously, go look at them. I’ve scanned through a bunch of them and in most years 4 or 5 wins would’ve been the absolute ceiling if Stoops had those schedules. Not to mention the “bowl streak” needs an asterisk considering they played fewer games back then. Also, now there’s a totally different level of commitment from the administration. Love Stoops, but context is needed since it’s not apples and apples.

Until we make a bowl w a below 500 team then the bowl streak is as legit as any bowl in the modern era since the rich brooks years at minimum.

Stoops has made teams have to respect us on the schedule.

Stoops is our Frank Beamer (he made VT a national brand). 30 years of being relevant and fringe top 25 with 1/4 seasons being top 15 changes the national perception where we aren’t just the butt of the joke to the rest of the country.

 

[jnewc2]

An example:

UK’s 1995 football schedule (with one fewer game) than now):

Louisville
#5 Florida
@Indiana
@South Carolina
#13 Auburn
LSU
@georgia
@Miss St
@Vandy
Cincinatti
#4 Tennessee

This was a typical, likely even easier schedule that UK teams from the decades prior to Stoops had to face. This is why I take the “bowl streak” and “winningest coach of all time” stuff with a big grain of salt. I like the guy, but it’s not exactly apples and apples here. How would Stoops fare with a schedule like the ones Mumme and other pre-2003 UK coaches had to face (with far less support from the administration)?

 

[bthaunert]

An example:

UK’s 1995 football schedule (with one fewer game) than now):

Louisville
#5 Florida
@Indiana
@South Carolina
#13 Auburn
LSU
@georgia
@Miss St
@Vandy
Cincinatti
#4 Tennessee

This was a typical, likely even easier schedule that UK teams from the decades prior to Stoops had to face. This is why I take the “bowl streak” and “winningest coach of all time” stuff with a big grain of salt. I like the guy, but it’s not exactly apples and apples here. How would Stoops fare with a schedule like the ones Mumme and other pre-2003 UK coaches had to face (with far less support from the administration)?

Is it crazy that I only see 2 for sure losses if we played that schedule this past year and the teams we played had the same success they had in 1995 (i.e. UGA was 3-5 in the SEC, IU was 0-8 in the Big 10 and UC was an average mid major).

No doubt that the 12th game adds to the number of wins and the increase in the amount of bowl games adds to the streak.

Take that 12th game (FCS) out and look at the quality of the remaining 3 OOC opponents (UL, UC, IU) and it’s not a huge difference than who we played this year. We would most likely win those 3 games just like we did this year.

 

[Jont0805]

Apples to oranges. Also, I’m not looking back to the 50’s to make myself feel good about today. This obsession with looking to the past to determine our present and future is just sad. I’m sorry some of you have PTSD, but I lived through the same crappy football.

Am I appreciative of what Stoops has done? Yes. Do I think he should be fired? No. Do I think he needs to piss or get off the pot? Yes. That doesn’t make me wrong or a bad fan. We’ve had two really bad consecutive years and I expect CMS and team to make adjustments and earn their paycheck.

Certainly can see a point to your post. I am not exactly sure what “pissing” looks like at Kentucky football TBH but I assume you mean win the SEC?

One crazy point I want to make about your post though is how wild is it that back to back 7-5 seasons are considered really bad?

I think that is extreme, but I think the consensus is the last two seasons were a disappointment and that says a lot about the program under stoops considering pre-stoops back to back 7-5 seasons would be a monumental success.

 

[Rockfly78]

I don’t see one losing season for Bryant at UK….i don’t see a world how stoops is better then Bear. It’s not even close to me

Ah you’re right. I looked at it wrong. Had the numbers flipped. The averages are correct though. I didn’t say stoops was better than him. But they win at a comparable clip. I thought that was interesting

 

[PensacolaBlue]

Certainly can see a point to your post. I am not exactly sure what “pissing” looks like at Kentucky football TBH but I assume you mean win the SEC?

One crazy point I want to make about your post though is how wild is it that back to back 7-5 seasons are considered really bad?

I think that is extreme, but I think the consensus is the last two seasons were a disappointment and that says a lot about the program under stoops considering pre-stoops back to back 7-5 seasons would be a monumental success.

I don’t expect to win the SEC but for a guy that makes $9M, we should look well prepared and not be out of games in the first quarter or get beat by teams with losing records.

 

[Jont0805]

I don’t expect to win the SEC but for a guy that makes $9M, we should look well prepared and not be out of games in the first quarter or get beat by teams with losing records.

Fair enough. I don’t think it matters if you are out of a game by the first quarter or lose on a last second field goal, both same results.

Laying a dud every year is very disappointing, seems to always have a game where they make up for it, but imagine if they made up for it and then won that dud game every year!

$9 million conversion will never satisfy some people, not saying you just that we have unreasonable fans at times. Either they think for that money Nick Saban would walk away and come to UK or we should just hire anyone else and they can replicate stoops for less $$$. If only it were that easy everyone would be doing it!

 

[CB3UK]

An example:

UK’s 1995 football schedule (with one fewer game) than now):

Louisville
#5 Florida
@Indiana
@South Carolina
#13 Auburn
LSU
@georgia
@Miss St
@Vandy
Cincinatti
#4 Tennessee

This was a typical, likely even easier schedule that UK teams from the decades prior to Stoops had to face. This is why I take the “bowl streak” and “winningest coach of all time” stuff with a big grain of salt. I like the guy, but it’s not exactly apples and apples here. How would Stoops fare with a schedule like the ones Mumme and other pre-2003 UK coaches had to face (with far less support from the administration)?

I look at that, and based on today's teams, 8-4. If you had the roster we had in 95 then yeah its gonna be much worse.

 

[PensacolaBlue]

Fair enough. I don’t think it matters if you are out of a game by the first quarter or lose on a last second field goal, both same results.

Laying a dud every year is very disappointing, seems to always have a game where they make up for it, but imagine if they made up for it and then won that dud game every year!

$9 million conversion will never satisfy some people, not saying you just that we have unreasonable fans at times. Either they think for that money Nick Saban would walk away and come to UK or we should just hire anyone else and they can replicate stoops for less $$$. If only it were that easy everyone would be doing it!

So if Alabama had beaten us by a field goal vs us being out of the game by our 3rd offensive snap of the game, it wouldn’t have mattered to you? That seems strange to me.

 

[Jont0805]

So if Alabama had beaten us by a field goal vs us being out of the game by our 3rd offensive snap of the game, it wouldn’t have mattered to you? That seems strange to me.

What difference does it make? A last second field goal is a lot more heart breaking and stinks a lot more.

If you know the result of a game beforehand why would you want to lose a heart breaker?

I would also prefer a blow out win over a last second win. Maybe I am crazy.

 

[bthaunert]

What difference does it make? A last second field goal is a lot more heart breaking and stinks a lot more.

If you know the result of a game beforehand why would you want to lose a heart breaker?

I would also prefer a blow out win over a last second win. Maybe I am crazy.

It means your program is making strides and getting closer in terms of on field success when you can hang with the top dogs until the 4th quarter rather than being out of it in the 1st quarter. A heartbreak might hurt more as a fan, but it also shows progress. We regressed big time this past year against the big dogs.

 

[cole854]

Stoops has gotten well on cupcakes, UL, and the occasional W against a down SEC foe. Consistent loser in the SEC, and his record against the better teams and/or teams with winning records is awful. His teams always lack discipline, on and off the field.

 

[phunterd]

So if Alabama had beaten us by a field goal vs us being out of the game by our 3rd offensive snap of the game, it wouldn’t have mattered to you? That seems strange to me.

Did losing to future NC Auburn by a FG as the clock hit 0:00 in 2010 do anything extra for you or the team that year?

While I don’t disagree that it is better than getting blown out the other poster has a point that in the grand scheme of things it is inconsequential.

 

[cat_in_the_hat]

I don’t see one losing season for Bryant at UK….i don’t see a world how stoops is better then Bear. It’s not even close to me

Yeah, Bryant never had a losing record at UK. 5-4 and 5-3-2 were his worst years. The 5-3-2 record came in the 6th season at UK. Would this board be having the same conversations about him, after 6 seasons, that some are having about Stoops?

 

[Jont0805]

It means your program is making strides and getting closer in terms of on field success when you can hang with the top dogs until the 4th quarter rather than being out of it in the 1st quarter. A heartbreak might hurt more as a fan, but it also shows progress. We regressed big time this past year against the big dogs.

I see your point. I think fans will complain either way. I think it is crazy to think that UK can compete with those programs at the moment regardless.

I absolutely love stoops but he is a talent guy. He has built the talent to unprecedented levels at UK, but is so head and shoulders below bama and Georgia it doesn’t make a difference. That’s why I think Texas an and M people are crazy. You give stoops top 5-10 talent you are more than likely going to get top 5-10 results.

Very few coaches can compete with the bama’s and Georgia’s given the talent discrepancy, yet I do see that it is frustrating as fans to know this.

 

[mebeblue2]

I see your point. I think fans will complain either way. I think it is crazy to think that UK can compete with those programs at the moment regardless.

I absolutely love stoops but he is a talent guy. He has built the talent to unprecedented levels at UK, but is so head and shoulders below bama and Georgia it doesn’t make a difference. That’s why I think Texas an and M people are crazy. You give stoops top 5-10 talent you are more than likely going to get top 5-10 results.

Very few coaches can compete with the bama’s and Georgia’s given the talent discrepancy, yet I do see that it is frustrating as fans to know this.

yep, unless you recruit in the top 10 year-in year-out you can't compete with them on a regular basis
on the bright side the portal has helped us a little in closing the gap

 

[bthaunert]

Stoops has gotten well on cupcakes, UL, and the occasional W against a down SEC foe. Consistent loser in the SEC, and his record against the better teams and/or teams with winning records is awful. His teams always lack discipline, on and off the field.

I mean, he is 12-8 overall (10-2 since 2018) vs teams ranked 11-25 in his tenure at UK. His struggle has been with teams ranked 1 - 10, which is a lot of teams struggles. He's been .500 or better in the SEC 4 of the last 8 years. Here are the schools that have been .500 or better more than UK over the last 8 years:

Alabama
Georgia
Tennessee
LSU
Texas A&M

I get that the past 2 years have been a disappointment. I get that he needs to continue to make strides. But some of the narratives are just not correct.

 

[sluggercatfan]

What difference does it make? A last second field goal is a lot more heart breaking and stinks a lot more.

If you know the result of a game beforehand why would you want to lose a heart breaker?

I would also prefer a blow out win over a last second win. Maybe I am crazy.

With all due respect sir, this makes no sense. You honestly don't understand the difference here and at what stage it shows where your program is.

 

[Jont0805]

With all due respect sir, this makes no sense. You honestly don't understand the difference here and at what stage it shows where your program is.

I don’t think a close loss or a blowout loss makes any difference as where your program is at this stage in things. Year one of the stoops era sure, year 11 if you aren’t beating Alabama you aren’t beating them.

In 2021 UK basketball beat Kansas and UNC by a million points. Those two teams played for the national championship and UK lost in the first round.

Beating those teams made absolutely no difference in the programs overall or that season.

We beat Louisville by 120 points the last 4 years and only beat them by 7 this season. I don’t know any Louisville fans but I doubt they are thumping their chests about a close loss to us.

 

[bthaunert]

I don’t think a close loss or a blowout loss makes any difference as where your program is at this stage in things. Year one of the stoops era sure, year 11 if you aren’t beating Alabama you aren’t beating them.

In 2021 UK basketball beat Kansas and UNC by a million points. Those two teams played for the national championship and UK lost in the first round.

Beating those teams made absolutely no difference in the programs overall or that season.

We beat Louisville by 120 points the last 4 years and only beat them by 7 this season. I don’t know any Louisville fans but I doubt they are thumping their chests about a close loss to us.

UL fans aren't thumping their chest but it shows they are closing the gap. When you're growing a program, closing the gap on the teams ahead of you is important. It's important for our football program to continue to make strides. If you can close the gap and be competitive with UGA and Bama, then you have most likely climbed into a new tier in terms of success.

Take Florida and Kentucky as an example. In the 5 years prior to Stoops arrive, Florida beat us 63-5, 41-7, 48-14, 48-10 and 38-0. In Stoops first 5 years, we went 0-5 against UF, but we also closed the gap losing 24-7, 36-30, 14-9, 45-7, 28-27. Outside of the 1 loss, it showed our program was making strides to even the playing field with Florida. In the next 6 years, we beat UF 4 out of 6 years. Closing the gap on programs that have traditionally kicked your ass is a sign of progress, hoping for the next step like we did with Florida,

Your basketball analogy doesn't fit here because we haven't been chasing UNC and Kansas to get to their level.

I just disagree completely that if our football team closes the gap on Bama and UGA, that it doesn't show signs that are program is drastically improving.

 

[TCurtis75]

UL fans aren't thumping their chest but it shows they are closing the gap. When you're growing a program, closing the gap on the teams ahead of you is important. It's important for our football program to continue to make strides. If you can close the gap and be competitive with UGA and Bama, then you have most likely climbed into a new tier in terms of success.

Take Florida and Kentucky as an example. In the 5 years prior to Stoops arrive, Florida beat us 63-5, 41-7, 48-14, 48-10 and 38-0. In Stoops first 5 years, we went 0-5 against UF, but we also closed the gap losing 24-7, 36-30, 14-9, 45-7, 28-27. Outside of the 1 loss, it showed our program was making strides to even the playing field with Florida. In the next 6 years, we beat UF 4 out of 6 years. Closing the gap on programs that have traditionally kicked your ass is a sign of progress, hoping for the next step like we did with Florida,

Your basketball analogy doesn't fit here because we haven't been chasing UNC and Kansas to get to their level.

I just disagree completely that if our football team closes the gap on Bama and UGA, that it doesn't show signs that are program is drastically improving.

The gap between us and Florida then was much smaller than the gap to UGA and Bama is now. I would also point out that outside of this year, we have played UGA as competitive as anyone in the previous years.

Overall, the gap from tier 3/4 to tier 2 is much easier to bridge than the gap from tier 1 to tier 2. I don't know that we will ever truly close that gap. We can be competitive against UGA and Bama which we have been recently other than this year. That may be a year to year thing though. We could be competitive a couple years and maybe even throw in an occasional win while other years they may just run us off the field like this year. That doesn't mean that the program isn't improving.

 

[Jont0805]

UL fans aren't thumping their chest but it shows they are closing the gap. When you're growing a program, closing the gap on the teams ahead of you is important. It's important for our football program to continue to make strides. If you can close the gap and be competitive with UGA and Bama, then you have most likely climbed into a new tier in terms of success.

Take Florida and Kentucky as an example. In the 5 years prior to Stoops arrive, Florida beat us 63-5, 41-7, 48-14, 48-10 and 38-0. In Stoops first 5 years, we went 0-5 against UF, but we also closed the gap losing 24-7, 36-30, 14-9, 45-7, 28-27. Outside of the 1 loss, it showed our program was making strides to even the playing field with Florida. In the next 6 years, we beat UF 4 out of 6 years. Closing the gap on programs that have traditionally kicked your ass is a sign of progress, hoping for the next step like we did with Florida,

Your basketball analogy doesn't fit here because we haven't been chasing UNC and Kansas to get to their level.

I just disagree completely that if our football team closes the gap on Bama and UGA, that it doesn't show signs that are program is drastically improving.

if we went 10-2 but lost blow out games to bama and Georgia would that be better or worse than 7-5 with a close loss to both programs.

In theory it makes sense that you are “closing the gap” on those teams but in reality it is a one game thing and not Indicative of the season or program. UK smashed Florida in football this season, Florida Smashed Tennessee. By that measure UK should have obliterated Tenn, in reality that did not happen.

Closing the gap is all about recruiting, not how one game goes during the season.

The gap is dang near closed with half of the SEC there. At the top it is still significant unfortunately.

If we close the gap and average a top 2-10 recruiting class over the next 5 years it will mean way more than a November or October score.

 

[bthaunert]

The gap between us and Florida then was much smaller than the gap to UGA and Bama is now. I would also point out that outside of this year, we have played UGA as competitive as anyone in the previous years.

Overall, the gap from tier 3/4 to tier 2 is much easier to bridge than the gap from tier 1 to tier 2. I don't know that we will ever truly close that gap. We can be competitive against UGA and Bama which we have been recently other than this year. That may be a year to year thing though. We could be competitive a couple years and maybe even throw in an occasional win while other years they may just run us off the field like this year. That doesn't mean that the program isn't improving.

Absolutely. I've always talked it's one thing to become a consistent top 25 program, which we aren't, but we have made progress in that area. It's another thing to become a top 10 program, which would be top tier of the SEC. That is a massive climb.

As you point out, it's about doing it consistently and having sustainable success. That's why I used the Florida example. It wasn't a 1 year thing.

 

[bthaunert]

if we went 10-2 but lost blow out games to bama and Georgia would that be better or worse than 7-5 with a close loss to both programs.

In theory it makes sense that you are “closing the gap” on those teams but in reality it is a one game thing and not Indicative of the season or program. UK smashed Florida in football this season, Florida Smashed Tennessee. By that measure UK should have obliterated Tenn, in reality that did not happen.

Closing the gap is all about recruiting, not how one game goes during the season.

The gap is dang near closed with half of the SEC there. At the top it is still significant unfortunately.

If we close the gap and average a top 2-10 recruiting class over the next 5 years it will mean way more than a November or October score.

I'm talking consistency, not a one year thing. Agree 100% that closing the gap isn't a one year thing. Hence why I used the Florida example. That was not a one year thing. That was climbing until you compete with them on an annual basis and hopefully overtake them and then look at the next tier of teams and how to catch them and close the gap on them. It is a long process that very few college football teams make in the transition from a top 25 program to a consistent top 10 program. Odds are we will never get there. But the only way to start to get there is to catch up to your opponants.

 

[southindycat]

yep, unless you recruit in the top 10 year-in year-out you can't compete with them on a regular basis
on the bright side the portal has helped us a little in closing the gap

Absolutely. I think we are committed to the portal because it presents our best opportunity to have a couple of seasons that might prove to 5-star HS recruits that we can make noise. This is more true with the move to a 12 team playoff. I see us finishing in the Top 10 within 5 years, not folding in the new look SEC.

 

[Mike-McD]

Stoops is the winningest football coach in UK history.

Stoops has averaged 7-5 per season since he's been here. That's what you can expect going forward. Stoops will not get better than he's been.

Some people are okay with that. Some are not.