Hard to disagree with what this coach said.
Other SEC coaches on Stoops
- Thread starter screwduke1
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Yep. What I don't know is how many wins is an indication we're trending upward in light of the difficulty of the schedule. 4 wins would be disappointing but not surprising to many. 5 wins would be an improvement but enough to give the fan base hope that things are looking up? 6 wins would, imo, definitely be a solid indicator that we're moving in the right direction.
Even then, 6 wins after being the head coach for 13 years isn't exactly a good look for Stoops. We should be past just hoping for 6 wins.
What's hope? We probably aren't winning anything that matters ever so every season is just hoping to win some games to make a meaningless bowl best case. It's a sad state of reality. Same with the titans for me n the NFL.
We have lost 2 of the last 3 games with Vanderbilt. That tells everyone in SEC and us what direction we going
I don't see us going to another bowl game under Stoops. He has got lazy and has let the program sink majorly. As typical of the UK football program the next HC will have a royal mess to clean up that will take years to fix. Every year Stoops stays more and more damage is happening with the football program.
That's the alarming part to me. Vandy clearly has a better total staff than we do. When they beat us a few years ago in the snow (although we pull that game out without hands to the face negating the int) i posted how impressed i was with their staff especially on O.
The problem for our fanbase is they run a ball control style that our fans hate. It absolutely lets you punch up and i hope we get back to it this year.
The other program is sc. I hate beamer but somehow they keep hiring amazing staff for that twerp. Said staff keeps finding amazing couple of players who can control a game. We really need to beat them this year but it will be tough.
Speaking of tough, our schedule is insane. Along with mediocre nil we get to slog through one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Winning 5 games could be viewed as a significant improvement, but 6 games definitely should.
Just have to hope the schedule gives us at least a little break next year.
The scary part that we all know already is the assessment that he isn’t a guy that’s going to radically change to adjust to this era like SC and Vandy have.
If this is a make or break year, that's a good thing.
Unless the SEC switches to a 9 game schedule next year, the way I understand it is we just play the other league teams that we have not the past year. So that would include LSU, TxAM, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miss St and then one permanent opponent (I've heard S Carolina). UK football is about dead because our schedules will be so hard every year from here on out and we will not out-spend, out-talent or out-care our conference opponents.
As has been said, the difficult thing to accept isn't constantly clawing behind the usual suspects...it's that we've fallen behind the schools in our pocket of teams that we have the resources to beat. And I've always beaten this drum, it may just be as simple as that stoops isn't able to play against muschamp, odom, mason and satterfield anymore. I mean it may be as simple as who he got to coach against for a period of time. He had some other valuable wins but as far as having consistency of being good it seems the old formula cannot exist anymore just simply from the standpoint of other schools have changed coaches.
That's probably true, but what's the alternative? Cheer for a different team? Give up on college football altogether? I've been following UK since John Ray and have suffered through many years of bad football. I don't now nor have I ever believed we could rise to a consistently top 15 program. Too many factors against us and we play in the toughest conference in football. I don't see that changing. So, I'll keep watching knowing that our ceiling is pretty low on this new Era. No excuse to not compete with VU and SC but I have no expectation of challenging GA, TN, AL, TX, OK, LSU, etc.
The success of UK basketball has a direct effect of the importance of UK football success. If Pope wins, it is less important for Stoops to win 8 games. If he struggles like Cal did his last few yrs, that gets more attention at Stoops and UK football.
This is where it boils down to for me.
1. I think Stoops could do fine on defensive side of ball....We have talent he's been pretty solid on D in many years.
2. I even think Stoops could get back to top tier rush attack offensively...
But here is where I lose all confidence. Bush Hamden looks inept to me....and he was bad at Mizzou which UK fans are completely overlooking. To run him back out there is basically signal to SEC D....UK will try to run the ball and throw short entirely......so just stack the box and watch UK be a 3 and out machine. I don't see the Oline able to smash mouth like Benny/CRod days....and I think the middle of that D is very untested....I don't see UK holding up well in 2025. And we need a year to see if Boley/Saunders are the real deal at QB....but will Stoops be alive in 2-3 years..
1. I think Stoops could do fine on defensive side of ball....We have talent he's been pretty solid on D in many years.
2. I even think Stoops could get back to top tier rush attack offensively...
But here is where I lose all confidence. Bush Hamden looks inept to me....and he was bad at Mizzou which UK fans are completely overlooking. To run him back out there is basically signal to SEC D....UK will try to run the ball and throw short entirely......so just stack the box and watch UK be a 3 and out machine. I don't see the Oline able to smash mouth like Benny/CRod days....and I think the middle of that D is very untested....I don't see UK holding up well in 2025. And we need a year to see if Boley/Saunders are the real deal at QB....but will Stoops be alive in 2-3 years..
I know Stoops mentioned continuity more than once as one of the issues with the offense. I am not sure about Hamden either, there were some serious drive killer calls last year. I also think his time at Boise is hard to evaluate, when you have a back as talented as Jeanty it skews the results. I remain hopeful but I also would not wager a bet on if UK is competitive on offense or not.
The titans and UK football don't solely drive my football watching experience fortunately. I can accept their limits and still enjoy each week overall, even if they lose.
I agree with everything u say about the limitations.
Pretty much what I'm thinking, too. I know the OL last year was so bad it was difficult for any semblance of offense. As sieken stated, there were plenty of head scratching, 'WTF are we doing?' calls last year, which made the severe shortcomings of the OL even worse. I need to see a lot of improvement from Hamdan this year or I'm afraid we're looking at 3-4 wins again. As you stated, not sold on the defense yet, either.
With all the question marks, we could surprise a lot of people. We could also struggle to be competitive if a lot of the new faces don't play as well as we hope.
I'm hoping for the best, but not expecting much more success than we had last season. I do anticipate being more disciplined, at least to some extent more exciting on offense and competitive in more games. Sounds like low expectations, doesn't it? Hope I'm pleasantly surprised.
Nobody, in the current iteration of cfb, has continuity.
If it goes like most experts think, it will be his last in Lexington. I do not believe we win any more than last year. Hope I am wrong but we have just not done anything. We are living on scraps mostly. If we just play hard it would be an improvement. But not enough to save the team.
Another thing i noticed when i read more excerpts from this coming piece: its almost all derogatory about every coach. At least ones released so far.
Im sure kirby and sark got love but looks like for the rest they just trolled for negative comments.
Im sure kirby and sark got love but looks like for the rest they just trolled for negative comments.
You know that’s right! I doubt many have the turnover we have had since Gran left though. The whole offensive staff has been turning over outside of Vince.
Hate sells. It gets clicks.
100%
And not one of those coaches or "experts" called it when we won 10 games EITHER year, nor did any of the "experts" on here see it coming so they can all suck it. I'm 100% behind the staff and team for this season. If they can't compete, there's not much more to say. When they do leave, it'll be next to impossible to do better than they did given the direction of semi pro football and the uphill battle that is UK.
I've enjoyed the run either way, though. Would've made some money the few times I did bet on this staff and team, if other UK fans weren't welchers.
Emotion sells. Elation or negativity either one works. Apathy is the thing that doesn’t. Although I imagine the writer gathered his info and chose things worth reading. And it’s not worth reading to many if it’s ’yeah Just keep doing what you’re doing’. Last few seasons as a fan base we’ve been sold and bought pie in the sky stuff so that won’t sell to us anymore.
Well, the writer didn't have UK winning any 10 win seasons, there's that.
The big problem UK faces in this era is our NIL support is among the lowest in the SEC - likely around 14th out of 16 programs. If we're being realistic it will be extremely tough to compete in both football and basketball.
Guys, the schedule is hard for everyone. It is not the schedule that is hurting us, it is the product the staff is putting on the field. The only difference we have with Tennessee is we play them and they play us. All the hard teams we play, they do as well. Same with GA, FL and even Vandy. We have become the breather week for these teams and we view these teams as a loss before we kickoff. Folks, it is COACHING, RECRUITING, and LACK of NIL funds compared to other SEC schools. For some stupid reason we give way too much to our basketball prrogram. I would rather win one SEC football game compared to winning 10 SEC basketball games. Basketball is a drain on our football program. Basketball is a secondary sport for 95% of schools. Bama fans would rather go winless in basketball over losing one single football game. Why is that not the expectation here at Kentucky?
We couldn't compete in football even before NIL was a thing. When the SEC was at its worst, we still couldn't even make it to the championship game. No one with a brain wants to throw lots of money at a losing investment, especially with the inept Stoops at the helm.
Cmon now. Not everyone plays a schedule this insane. For example, Texas has one of the easiest schedules in the sec.
In this new environment, we're probably never putting up 10 wins again.
We need to resume beating teams we used to. Then hope to pull an upset or two. That would get us to the 6-8 wins.
I believe you on where we likely rank on NIL. Do you have any source for the NIL numbers? Thanks.
BigBlueInsanity, I understand your position but over time all schools essentially will have the same difficulty of a schedule. Yes Texas has had two years of a less than a brutal schedule but with rotation they will be playing, GA, Bama, TN, FL and other tough teams. I would love to see the percent of NIL money going to football for each SEC school compared to the percent going to basketball. I really believe we have allowed basketball to bleed our football program over the past 50 years. I don't understand the logic of putting so much emphasis on a second level sport as we do. Football finances the Athletic Department.
Well, for one thing, you only need about 3-4 great basketball players to have championship aspirations, thus necessary NIL funds should be much smaller for basketball, which fits UK very well. Second, we have a long and illustrious history of basketball success and, from that, a rabid fanbase that loves basketball - that isn't changing anytime soon, if ever. Third, my assumption is that if UK could and would spend $25M on football NIL, Bama, TX, TN, OK, et al would spend $40M - we cannot get into an arms race with programs which possess much deeper pockets.
What this new era of CFB does, imo, is prevent programs like UK from building step-by-step into a contender. HS recruiting and player development importance has diminished and the ability to go buy the best available player to fill a hole has greatly increased. A program like UK, in the past (as we saw under Stoops), could make incremental gains in recruiting, development over several years and evolve into the 'next' level program. From there, an uptick in recruiting and development could then propel the program to another level. Except, now your best recruits are being lured away for bigger paydays and the upward momentum gets stalled. Yes, we poach liberally from other programs, too, but, in general, it's not the elite, game-changer talent that OSU, GA, TX, etc. can and do pay for. We get good players from the MAC and NMSt and UAB and, occasionally, from a P4 program but those are few and typically are guys who haven't seem much PT at the other program.
In the next 10 years, I wouldn't be surprised to see a huge change in CFB where the rich split off to become basically an NFL minor league and every other program realigns for football in a more regional focus, sort of like D1-AA now. When the vast majority of athletic departments run deficits, how can many schools will continue to put more and more resources into a financial black hole? Yes, I know NIL doesn't come from the athletic budget but it comes from donors who could just as easily give money for scholarships or new lab equipment or new libraries but, instead, opt to pay $1M to some 17-YO QB prospect who may never see the field for his alma mater.
I don't believe there is an accurate up-to-date ranking of NIL support out there as schools aren't releasing that info (to my knowledge).
However, This article from 2023 is about the USA & Knight Commission which lists the financial support from boosters from 2005-2022. Kentucky was 36th/50 (14 out of 16 in the SEC). Note Vanderbilt wasn't included because they are private - I have no idea where they stand on NIL support but I'm guessing it's lower.
I highly doubt much has changed since then that would drastically raise Kentucky's ranking. As much as I prefer football over basketball, I think we need to ask ourselves if we can realistically compete in both sports or go all in on one (which would be basketball imo).
Humongous NIL allows coaches to get obvious guys but good evaluators and good coaches can still over perform if they know what they're doing. We maybe aren't winning the SEC against all of these teams that spend what they do but there are plenty of sec schools that aren't in any different of a resource environment than we are. And who says you can't punch up a time or two in a season.
We had an AD averse to NIL until this last year when he seemed to finally accepted its reality. He also is weak at fundraising development in general. All any UK fan can say is thank goodness for the Crafts. That being said, the new settlement, if it ever goes through, does not rid the system of outside NIL but should reduce its impact dramatically.
This "down" year 6 teams finished the season ranked, they screwed Georgia out of the playoff, and Bama lost to Clemson in the title game. 9 teams finished the season with 8 or more wins.
College Football Standings - 2018 Southeastern Conference Standings - ESPN
Visit ESPN for the complete 2018 NCAAF season Southeastern Conference standings. Includes winning percentage, home and away record, and current streak.
This year the "down" SEC put 2 teams in the championship game, with Georgia besting Bama for the first time.
College Football Standings - 2021 Southeastern Conference Standings - ESPN
Visit ESPN for the complete 2021 NCAAF season Southeastern Conference standings. Includes winning percentage, home and away record, and current streak.
Both years UK finished 2nd in the SEC East. Part of the reason that part of the SEC was down is that UK was up, and yall still refuse to eat the crow you deserve for saying it wouldn't happen.
Not one real UK fan gives a single sht if ingrates "don't see UK going to another bowl game" because NONE OF THEM sniffed anywhere close to the seasons we had those 2 years. Unless people are fertilizing fields, no one is buying that sht from them.
No fan with a brain complains about BOTH ticket prices and NIL.
No fan with a brain says the AD sucks even when the school wins championships they previously hadn't or has the best seasons they've had in 40 yrs.
No fan with a brain throws shade at their own staff DURING the first 10 win season in 4 decades, much less TWO SEASONS.
We could go on for days with what brainless "fans" might say ...
But quite a few UK fans on this board and elsewhere manage to do exactly that EVERY YEAR. All they do is bch and moan, but what they don't know about football and the heart of being a competitor could fill up the oceans.
What these very same fans deserve is for them to keep btching, and for UK to finish 2nd in the conference, and for this staff to announce they're leaving for another SEC gig before THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. That would be perfect for them. (But even that is too good for them, and there are enough AWESOME UK fans that don't sht on every staff every year that don't deserve to see that happen.)
You're generally a good poster but man, your head is so far up Stoops behind it's ridiculous. Oh well, maybe in 10 more years you'll figure it out.This "down" year 6 teams finished the season ranked, they screwed Georgia out of the playoff, and Bama lost to Clemson in the title game. 9 teams finished the season with 8 or more wins.
College Football Standings - 2018 Southeastern Conference Standings - ESPN
Visit ESPN for the complete 2018 NCAAF season Southeastern Conference standings. Includes winning percentage, home and away record, and current streak.www.espn.com
This year the "down" SEC put 2 teams in the championship game, with Georgia besting Bama for the first time.
College Football Standings - 2021 Southeastern Conference Standings - ESPN
Visit ESPN for the complete 2021 NCAAF season Southeastern Conference standings. Includes winning percentage, home and away record, and current streak.
Both years UK finished 2nd in the SEC East. Part of the reason that part of the SEC was down is that UK was up, and yall still refuse to eat the crow you deserve for saying it wouldn't happen.
Not one real UK fan gives a single sht if ingrates "don't see UK going to another bowl game" because NONE OF THEM sniffed anywhere close to the seasons we had those 2 years. Unless people are fertilizing fields, no one is buying that sht from them.
No fan with a brain complains about BOTH ticket prices and NIL.
No fan with a brain says the AD sucks even when the school wins championships they previously hadn't or has the best seasons they've had in 40 yrs.
No fan with a brain throws shade at their own staff DURING the first 10 win season in 4 decades, much less TWO SEASONS.
We could go on for days with what brainless "fans" might say ...
But quite a few UK fans on this board and elsewhere manage to do exactly that EVERY YEAR. All they do is bch and moan, but what they don't know about football and the heart of being a competitor could fill up the oceans.
What these very same fans deserve is for them to keep btching, and for UK to finish 2nd in the conference, and for this staff to announce they're leaving for another SEC gig before THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. That would be perfect for them. (But even that is too good for them, and there are enough AWESOME UK fans that don't sht on every staff every year that don't deserve to see that happen.)
I'm expecting five wins and hoping for more. Five wins and a clear improvement on the field is the floor that needs to be achieved and a bowl game would put them ahead of schedule on the rebuild. Four wins, even if they looked better and kept most games close into the 4Q, would probably not be enough to keep a majority of the fanbase engaged and supportive.
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