ADVERTISEMENT

Possible loss of Marrow to Southern Miss.?

Nobody coming in here to take Stoops job is going to want anybody from the old regime. As for Marrows recruiting it is consistently 12 to 14 ranked in SEC every year. I don't call that good recruiting if we ever want to be any kind of force in this conference
That’s a bit misleading lol we have a top 25 class in America and it’s still ranked there in the conference
 
  • Like
Reactions: Girthang
I have literally never bet on Kentucky Football, could care less how many points we score in a win (I was and AM an Eddie Gran fan), and have been consistently in Stoops’ corner.

Now I live in fear of the virtually inevitable: we miss the next great opportunity and Jon Sumrall hitches his Star elsewhere.

I know the 30+ million buyout ties our hands, but damn, I wish there were a way around it.

I do respect what Stoops has done: but I firmly believe something is now missing. And his complaining about time spent
on NIL breaks a basic leadership rule: don’t curse the darkness, but shine a light. He’s done it repeatedly, and keeps repeating the mistake. I don’t typically hold his pay rate over his head, but the most disturbing aspect of his whine is that I simply don’t expect someone
making nine million a year to complain about the effort they’ve had to expend. Anyone with any communication skills would know he should say stuff like, “We are working hard on bringing NIL to our athletes; we aren’t where we need to be, but WE will get there.”

I think he’s tired and has lost an edge you could feel emanating from him from 2013-2021.

I had convinced myself that Stoops’ flirtation with aTm would have no effect, but you have to wonder . . . .

Frankly, I hope something is in the works, to allow Stoops to retire with his head up, and smooth the transition.

It ain’t likely as too many Benjamin’s are in the way.
 
Last edited:
That level of talent is good enough to be in the mix. We’re right there with South Carolina, Ole Miss, etc. We will probably never get into that top tier of recruiting like UGA and Bama.

Whatever the legitimate complaints about Stoops and Marrow as coaches are, their recruiting is good enough for us to get where we want to go

In the mix for what? Not to win the SEC. To make irrelevant bowl games? Probably most seasons.
 
Thats maybe part of it, but this is nothing new. Most the same crowd wore "ditch Mitch and rich" shirts to games. Theyre part of the mumme fanbase that value entertainment over winning. The very same people who screamed obscenities at eddie gran in the tunnel after games.

100,000% NAILED it

They want Miss America on a Kathy Griffin budget, they want a trucker's dream while driving a suped up Civic.

Kentucky has never been anything in football except once in a very great while and never an SEC title winner without chesting to do it. Finally get a staff that can recruit to a school that has struggled at best, and now the same folks that never backed a coach through their struggles thinks we are Bama in the making. It's hilarious.

We just needed time to rebuild the OL. That's a "years" thing, not a "single recruiting class" thing, but we're talking to a basketball crowd about football. There's no point in it. They just won't understand.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bigblueinsanity
That’s a bit misleading lol we have a top 25 class in America and it’s still ranked there in the conference

They know it. They'd rather have a 32nd to 50th ranked class, but have a big name coach for 2 years and try to buy glam transfers through the portal on a shoestring budget. It's all about bragging rights and perception with the LOD, not substance.

I'd love to have Sumrall, if Stoops leaves, but I'm not foolish enough to think he'll have a top 5 in the SEC recruiting class without competing in an SEC Title game (which he won't get to without a top 5 SEC recruiting class). This isn't basketball nor is it the ACC or B1G.

I think that's one reason why they've pushed the SEC away from divisions and towards a 9 game schedule. It makes the big football names in our conference back to the forefront and makes it really hard for the non-juggernauts to compete in the conference. THAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE more MONEY. Comes with the territory. They need 4 teams to be at the bottom and prefer those with a smaller viewership to be those teams.

We've competed or won IN SPITE OF THINGS BEING STACKED AGAINST US. It's how things will continue to be going forward. That automatically turns a lot of coaches away unless they need a stepping stone, in which case no one here wants em
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigblueinsanity
They say 10 years is about when things start getting stale and a change is needed in coaching. I've heard that all my life. I believe both sides have reached that point. It's not about hating Stoops. Don't tell me you can't tell Stoops is not happy. Its obvious Stoops would benefit from a fresh start much as UK would. Until that happens both sides will suffer through the strain of it.
 
Folks ya'll can look up Stoops record as a head coach. It's not that hard.

There's a lot more 5 and 7s in the W column than anything else. A couple of 10-win seasons and a single 8-win season.

We're 12 years in. We have the data.

He and Marrow can recruit defense. He and Gran can coach ground game. That's great. I hope they hang Stoops and the big fella's jersey in the ring of honor. Bring them back one day and we'll all cheer for them.

We are most likely closer to moving on, hopefully amicably, than whatever it is everyone thinks can be achieved if we just keep hanging on.

We're getting further and further from the peak, and closer and closer to a valley.

Again, we literally just went through this with basketball. That board is full of people who for years fought tooth and nail with the obvious inevitability of what was coming like a freight train...

"Cal recruits...he made us relevant..."

Screamed and hollered at the mere mention of change. Even after 4 years of sliding and embarrassing losses they wanted to hold on...

Now look where things are just 7 months later.
 
In the mix for what? Not to win the SEC. To make irrelevant bowl games? Probably most seasons.

We have averaged about 20th in recruiting the last 4 years: we finished ranked 14th in the nation after beating Penn State in 2018/19, with classes that had averaged only 34th.

The simple reality: we must “swing above our weight” on the field to succeed and continue to advance: we clearly did that from 2016-2021, and we are clearly not doing that now.

Vandy’s classes have averaged 20 spots below ours. USC, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Vandy have all been below us, or “right there with us,” on recruit rankings the last 4 years.

With our 4 OOC opponents and usually 4 conference opponents who are at or below our recruiting prowess, we have the talent to win 7-10 games per season, IF the Coaching staff can lead us to “swing above our weight.” We currently have losing steals against Mizzou, USC and Vandy: a terrible truth when trying to pull a couple of upsets to get ranked in the Top 12 and make the playoffs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Crystalglass
I have literally never bet on Kentucky Football, could care less how many points we score in a win (I was and AM an Eddie Gran fan), and have been consistently in Stoops’ corner.

Now I live in fear of the virtually inevitable: we miss the next great opportunity and Jon Sumrall hitches his Star elsewhere.

I know the 30+ million buyout ties our hands, but damn, I wish there were a way around it.

I do respect what Stoops has done: but I firmly believe something is now missing. And his complaining about time spent
on NIL breaks a basic leadership rule: don’t curse the darkness, but shine a light. He’s done it repeatedly, and keeps repeating the mistake. I don’t typically hold his pay rate over his head, but the most disturbing aspect of his whine is that I simply don’t expect someone
making nine million a year to complain about the effort they’ve had to expend. Anyone with any communication skills would know he should say stuff like, “We are working hard on bringing NIL to our athletes; we aren’t where we need to be, but WE will get there.”

I think he’s tired and has lost an edge you could feel emanating from him from 2013-2021.

I had convinced myself that Stoops’ flirtation with aTm would have no effect, but you have to wonder . . . .

Frankly, I hope something is in the works, to allow Stoops to retire with his head up, and smooth the transition.

It ain’t likely as too many Benjamin’s are in the way.

Excellent post, and well reasoned, but I don't think this fan base will let him retire with his head up. They're just not that way

I haven't given up on the idea that he could actually get that chip back on his shoulder, and maybe I should. He's not gotten a replacement for Schlarman (how does anyone?), his OC picks have mostly fizzled since he demoted EG, and he's now millions behind the big programs in terms of NIL along the lines of Sham watching Secretariat at the Belmont.

-He's been his own worst enemy in a few areas over the years, also, and doesn't appear able to adapt or learn in some of those areas. 1) Clock management. 2) Taking what the opponent gives you. 3) Sticking with the winning horse/dancing with the one that brought you.
-He could've taken a pay cut and encouraged that money go from his endorsements towards NIL funding. That doesn't appear to cross his mind at all, which makes the NIL talk seem like it's just whining.
-Basketball will always undercut football spending in terms of budget and NIL at UK. There's no getting around it. Most of the negs don't REALLY give 2 shts about UK football. It's basketball they worship and they've proven the bane of UK Football for most of 50 years now.
-Stellar OL and RB recruiting and development got us 2 10 win seasons. We patched holes elsewhere on offense. Can't do that anymore, and somehow Stoops refuses to play the guys that can overcome our shortfalls right now.
-It's almost like he wants to be fired or has a spiteful foot out the door. Wouldn't blame him as he's never had full support here, just like every other UK Football head coach since the 90s.

The plain fact is that any great coach we hire, if they have even the 10 win success that Stoops has had, will use that as a bargaining chip to move on. And they should frankly, because the down years leading up to that or following that will put enough knives in their back to warrant it. There's too big of a sample size to ignore
 
Unlike previous years I really don't care. Vince is the coach of one of the most hyped and least used parts of the team. Every year we hear how spectacular the Tight End room is. Every year it's one of the weaker groups in the SEC.

Losing that recruiting will hurt. Then again look where we are with that recruiting.
 
and he's now millions behind the big programs in terms of NIL along the lines of Sham watching Secretariat at the Belmont.

Well, we averaged about 34th nationally in recruiting in the years prior to the Citrus Bowl wins; since NIL we have had a class ranked as high as 14th nationally, bought three high-profile transfer QB’s and other good players.

I know we don’t have UT and Bama’s NIL money, but statistically speaking, it looks like we are likely about 20th, as that’s about where our recruiting has averaged since NIL.

My frustration: I watched a Kentucky team on January 1, 2019 with 18 “Blue Chip” recruits beat Penn State who had 45 of them. That team had a 5-3 conference record.

Today, we have a higher Star Rating team average than we had in either Citrus Bowl win, and in Stoops’ two 5-3 conference winning seasons. Yet, we have stumbled (very likely) to a 1-7 finish in the SEC, one 4th down Hail Mary pass in Oxford short of an 0-8 SEC slate.

Something is amiss. And I can’t blame NIL with classes annually ranking higher with NIL than they did prior to NIL.

I’ve never assumed we could quickly become an Alabama, but I really thought our recruiting, coaching and “culture” would prohibit a 25 point home beat down by a USC program whose NIL is reportedly weaker than our own.
 
  • Like
Reactions: THE_OAK
I don't want to be negative, but Marrow has never been confused with being a great X and O guy, he is a recruiting assassin. Maybe that what they are looking for, maybe Marrow wants his shot before retirement hits him.
He was a grad asst at Nebraska that was certified to recruit. That probably says something.
 
The simple reality: we must “swing above our weight” on the field to succeed and continue to advance: we clearly did that from 2016-2021, and we are clearly not doing that now.

Absolutely. We do this on D. We no longer do it on O because the guy that did it got ditched by fans for being too boring.

The way for uk to win in the sec is physical ball control and pa pass. That was proven. Then the natives got restless because there wasnt enough passing.

The irony is for decades, everyone (including me) just came to grips with the fact we'd never be physical enough to compete. Then miraculously (yes it was basically a miracle) we somehow did it, then the most vocal fans came to hate it.

Its a crazy world.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrschwump
I have literally never bet on Kentucky Football, could care less how many points we score in a win (I was and AM an Eddie Gran fan), and have been consistently in Stoops’ corner.

Now I live in fear of the virtually inevitable: we miss the next great opportunity and Jon Sumrall hitches his Star elsewhere.

I know the 30+ million buyout ties our hands, but damn, I wish there were a way around it.

I do respect what Stoops has done: but I firmly believe something is now missing. And his complaining about time spent
on NIL breaks a basic leadership rule: don’t curse the darkness, but shine a light. He’s done it repeatedly, and keeps repeating the mistake. I don’t typically hold his pay rate over his head, but the most disturbing aspect of his whine is that I simply don’t expect someone
making nine million a year to complain about the effort they’ve had to expend. Anyone with any communication skills would know he should say stuff like, “We are working hard on bringing NIL to our athletes; we aren’t where we need to be, but WE will get there.”

I think he’s tired and has lost an edge you could feel emanating from him from 2013-2021.

I had convinced myself that Stoops’ flirtation with aTm would have no effect, but you have to wonder . . . .

Frankly, I hope something is in the works, to allow Stoops to retire with his head up, and smooth the transition.

It ain’t likely as too many Benjamin’s are in the way.
FWIW, comments by Stoops on TOS re NIL today was much more encouraging. Gran, as General Manager, is much more involved in NIL and apparently has a successful campaign ongoing.
 
  • Love
Reactions: The-Hack
Its a crazy world.

Ain’t that the damn truth!!

I will always treasure the years with Bunchy Stallings, Calvin Taylor, Quinton Bohanna, Bennie Snell, Josh Hines-Allen, and at least a dozen other players who had maybe 25 offers combined, ultimately leading us to a Bowl victory I got a sunburn watching.

When we began inking frosh and transfers more than half of whom AVERAGED a 4 Star ranking, I made the foolish assumption they would also over-perform.

Had they just played the average expected game(s) this season (based upon guestimated talent) we would have had 7 or 8 wins.
 
  • Love
Reactions: CaptainBoogerBuns
He can’t even spell. It embarrasses me for the program when he tweets.

It would hurt us on the recruiting trail, but hurt him long term professionally and Southern Miss as well on the field.

I don’t think he could run an operation. Good luck to him.
Love Marrow and all he’s done for our program, I’ll wish him the best if true, but this has Kenny Payne type vibes all over it.
 
Have said many times, some UK fans would rather lose 48-45 than win 20-17.
I would just like a coach that has a good scheme on both sides of the ball. I'm tired of coaches that are good on one side and tragically flawed on the other. I want to win first and foremost. If Stoops were 10-0 or 9-1 right now, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But when you're 4-6 and not entertaining in the least, who the hell wants to watch that.
 
He can’t even spell. It embarrasses me for the program when he tweets.

It would hurt us on the recruiting trail, but hurt him long term professionally and Southern Miss as well on the field.

I don’t think he could run an operation. Good luck to him.
Kenny payne type coach
 
But the SEC teams are who you play 8 and likely 9 soon times a year those others don't mean anything till post season.
I agree but what I’m saying is it’s all relative. We have good players that are going to be drafted. It’s not UGA Alabama level but we aren’t losing to vandy because they of talent lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The-Hack
I agree but what I’m saying is it’s all relative. We have good players that are going to be drafted. It’s not UGA Alabama level but we aren’t losing to vandy because they of talent lol.

Not sure i get this, this year Vandy is not like a Juco. Three of their losses have been 4 points or less, they lit Bama up for 40. Vand was not a pushover this season for anyone they played. S.Carolina beat them by 21, only big loss all year. Didn't lose to a no talent Vandy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrschwump
Not sure i get this, this year Vandy is not like a Juco. Three of their losses have been 4 points or less, they lit Bama up for 40. Vand was not a pushover this season for anyone they played. S.Carolina beat them by 21, only big loss all year. Didn't lose to a no talent Vandy.
I’m not saying they were bad this season. They were just an example but this goes beyond just this year. We also lost to vandy when they were 2-6 and we had a top 50 pick at QB. On this team alone I guarantee we have more draft picks vandy and auburn. Hell vs the better teams we’ve seen that talent show up vs UGA, Ole Miss and tenn. to me it’s why is that not showing up week to week. This team should not be 1-7 in the sec.
 
Not sure i get this, this year Vandy is not like a Juco. Three of their losses have been 4 points or less, they lit Bama up for 40. Vand was not a pushover this season for anyone they played. S.Carolina beat them by 21, only big loss all year. Didn't lose to a no talent Vandy.

And Vandy lost to Georgia State.

Sure, they’ve punched above their weight, but that means they have done the exact opposite of Kentucky. UK has averaged 20th in recruiting the last 4 years, and Vandy about 40th. They have Pavia, and he’s a heady player on the college level, but we likely have 8 or 9 defensive starters who would start for Vandy, if they were on that team.

If Vandy is truly more physically talented than UK, that is a damning indictment on the Kentucky staff’s ability to recruit (and/or develop) talent.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CaptainBoogerBuns
I have literally never bet on Kentucky Football, could care less how many points we score in a win (I was and AM an Eddie Gran fan), and have been consistently in Stoops’ corner.

Now I live in fear of the virtually inevitable: we miss the next great opportunity and Jon Sumrall hitches his Star elsewhere.

I know the 30+ million buyout ties our hands, but damn, I wish there were a way around it.

I do respect what Stoops has done: but I firmly believe something is now missing. And his complaining about time spent
on NIL breaks a basic leadership rule: don’t curse the darkness, but shine a light. He’s done it repeatedly, and keeps repeating the mistake. I don’t typically hold his pay rate over his head, but the most disturbing aspect of his whine is that I simply don’t expect someone
making nine million a year to complain about the effort they’ve had to expend. Anyone with any communication skills would know he should say stuff like, “We are working hard on bringing NIL to our athletes; we aren’t where we need to be, but WE will get there.”

I think he’s tired and has lost an edge you could feel emanating from him from 2013-2021.

I had convinced myself that Stoops’ flirtation with aTm would have no effect, but you have to wonder . . . .

Frankly, I hope something is in the works, to allow Stoops to retire with his head up, and smooth the transition.

It ain’t likely as too many Benjamin’s are in the way.
A person can never try to leave their job for another job and then return to the old job with no effect.

That was a slap to his boss, his players, and UK fans. How would you feel if you were Mitch, knowing CMS was trying to get away from you when you were the person who gave him the opportunity to be a head coach and then made him a rich man to boot.

I'm sure that relationship took a hit if nothing else was impacted.

I think MB is sending CMS a string message by not helping out with NIL fundraising. You are on your own fat boy. How do you like me now?

Or something like that. Lol.
 
A person can never try to leave their job for another job and then return to the old job with no effect.

That was a slap to his boss, his players, and UK fans. How would you feel if you were Mitch, knowing CMS was trying to get away from you when you were the person who gave him the opportunity to be a head coach and then made him a rich man to boot.

I'm sure that relationship took a hit if nothing else was impacted.

I think MB is sending CMS a string message by not helping out with NIL fundraising. You are on your own fat boy. How do you like me now?

Or something like that. Lol.
Go to TOS and read the article that mentions Stoops is "excited about the future." May change your opinion re UK/NIL. Glad to learn Gran is heading up this campaign.
 
Go to TOS and read the article that mentions Stoops is "excited about the future." May change your opinion re UK/NIL. Glad to learn Gran is heading up this campaign.
I've read it and don't believe a word of it.

You don't go from bitching about NIL and berating fans to "pony up" to all of a sudden being excited about trying to raise NIL money like CMS is trying to convince us or his boss of.

I suspect his " meeting" with MB was brought about by CMS public complaining about not getting any help with NIL fundraising.

Who do you think those comments are directed to, the fans??
Guess again. That relationship between MB and CMS my be damaged from CMS constant complaining and attempt at leaving UK and MB.
 
I've read it and don't believe a word of it.

You don't go from bitching about NIL and berating fans to "pony up" to all of a sudden being excited about trying to raise NIL money like CMS is trying to convince us or his boss of.

I suspect his " meeting" with MB was brought about by CMS public complaining about not getting any help with NIL fundraising.

Who do you think those comments are directed to, the fans??
Guess again. That relationship between MB and CMS my be damaged from CMS constant complaining and attempt at leaving UK and MB.
Just have to wait and see how it unfolds, time will tell.
 
In the mix for what? Not to win the SEC. To make irrelevant bowl games? Probably most seasons.
No, we will never consistently be in the mix to win the SEC. In the mix meaning we will be in the next down from the teams that are consistently fighting for the title (UGA, Bama, Texas, etc.) Then be ready when everything comes together and have a great year and actually swing with the big boys.

We definitely have the talent to do that, we just haven’t had the coaching.

And you didn’t say this, but I feel like this has to be said re: recruiting: just throwing out the stat that we are 10th/12th/14th in the SEC with no other qualifier is deceptive and silly. The difference between the number 14 overall class in the country and the 21st overall class is one or two players being ranked a 5.8 4* vs a 5.7 3*. Basically, there is no difference. But there may be 4 SEC teams ranked between the 14th and 21st ranked class, so it makes it look like you’re near dead last in the conference when in reality you have essentially the same overall roster talent as 8 other teams in the conference
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT