Honestly, I think much of how this recruiting class ends up is going to depend on the results on the field this season.
It's getting at that point in Stoops' tenure that most recruits are going to need to see some tangible results that coach can take this program to the next level. Not getting to a bowl is basically unacceptable for this season--not only would it kill any and all momentum that's been created by his hire, but it would kill Stoops' recruiting pitch which is based largely on hope, progress and the future.
It would be a very, very difficult task to tell recruits that this program is improving if he doesn't find a way to win more than 5 games with a team that is significantly better in almost every single area than last year's team (which was seen to have underachieved in winning 5 games).
If it was seen as an underachievement to go 5-7 with last year's talent and lack of experience, what makes anyone think it would somehow be acceptable to go 5-7 this year, with a team that--in Stoops' words--is significantly better?
Expecting a significantly improved team to improve on what was a disappointing win total, isn't called having unrealistic expectations, or being a "microwave" fan--it's just called having expectations like the rest of our SEC brethren. There's nothing wrong with having expectations--especially when they're more than warranted. Expectations drive a program to the top, not the bottom. It's not like we're running great coaches out the door. A good coach thrives under high expectations, a mediocre coach let's the pressure of expectations break him.
Kentucky football's problem hasn't been high expectations, it's been having little, or no expectations at all, and just being happy to "be a fan" and support the team.
These coaches makes millions upon millions of dollars a year..trust me..they know that expectations of winning come with that.
It shouldn't be the case that a head coach has higher expectations than a fanbase for the team..but in our case, Stoops' expectations for this team continue to be much, much higher than our own..and that shouldn't be the case. Usually head coaches are the ones that have to downplay fan expectations, but with Kentucky football, the head coach has to convince our fanbase to raise theirs--that shouldn't be the case.
![[winking]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/wink.r191677.gif "Winking [winking]")
