Rich Scangarello Out

[JBHolmesfan]

How would fans have reacted if they moved immediately away from offense that just won 10 games for FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS? Think about that logic for a minute.

I'm certainly not accusing you of being dense, but put yourself in Stoops's shoes. How does he make quick pivot from doing something successful that hadn't been done since Nixon was in ofc?

Now, I do believe he and Gran both knew how other schools were using it against them in recruiting. (I think Gran knew this as well as anyone. I still think Gran deserves MUCH, MUCH credit for Stoops success. He made chicken salad out of of cs, then fell on the grenade when other schools used it against him.)

Stoops pivoted from Gran to Coen .... this was huge success. (Another 10 win season and attractive to recruits!!!) Coen gets dream job with Super Bowl winning team with a head coach that's put out several young NFL head coaches. Stoops reached into NFL looking for similar scheme and hoping for similar results. It didn't happen for a long list of reasons.

I'm not sure what more you want from Stoops. I don't think he holds the offense back, and I think he wants something similar to last year knowing he has more playmakers. He made bowl games and created his job security with an offense that was put together (because of injuries) with a power running game, strong offensive line and a very good defense. I think he's using his equity trying to take UK to the top of the east. It would be easy for him to continue with running QB, and lean on the offensive line for 6-7 wins a game. Just my guess, but I'm guessing Stoops gets us to 9-10 wins consistently, or flames out with 1-2 bad 4-5 win seasons. I don't think he's going to play it safe and keep us at 7 wins a year! He's aiming for top of the mountain. The OC hire and QB recruiting are huge pieces of the puzzle. (BTW - I don't expect UK to keep White, but one more year.) Saban wants him. Other top 5 programs will offer him. Plus, he'll get good HC offers soon. I just hope we keep him one more year!

I would say that first 10 win season was for more due to having an elite defense with the defensive player of the year on it than the offense. I’d say that offense probably cost us a 10 win regular season. I get your point though. Coaches are stubborn.

I disagree about Stoops holding the offense back, but that’s difference of opinion. He said after the Tennessee loss we are a ball control, ground and pound team. He’s had success with that, but I think it’s keeping us from contending occasionally with Georgia and may hurt us if these other teams in the East rise up.

I think Stoops is always going to want to have an offense that shortens the game and limits possessions. Last year’s offense was certainly solid. Some of that was having a guy like Robinson that could take a 7 yard slant 70 yards to the house. That’s hard to plan for every year, but I think last year’s offense was the ceiling for Stoops.

What I want from Stoops is more of a commitment to score points. Have an offense that is designed to do more than control the clock and shorten the game. I don’t think you can win big with that type of offense. We certainly don’t have the talent to beat Georgia and Tennessee playing that way. Beating Georgia is an uphill battle as it is. I’m not asking for 3 wins every 5 games against them, but I think what’s holding us back is our offense.

 

[Big Cat fan]

Bad move. We lost a pro style Kyle Shanahan run offense. This program is dead af.

 

[sieken]

How would fans have reacted if they moved immediately away from offense that just won 10 games for FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS? Think about that logic for a minute.

I'm certainly not accusing you of being dense, but put yourself in Stoops's shoes. How does he make quick pivot from doing something successful that hadn't been done since Nixon was in ofc?

Now, I do believe he and Gran both knew how other schools were using it against them in recruiting. (I think Gran knew this as well as anyone. I still think Gran deserves MUCH, MUCH credit for Stoops success. He made chicken salad out of of cs, then fell on the grenade when other schools used it against him.)

Stoops pivoted from Gran to Coen .... this was huge success. (Another 10 win season and attractive to recruits!!!) Coen gets dream job with Super Bowl winning team with a head coach that's put out several young NFL head coaches. Stoops reached into NFL looking for similar scheme and hoping for similar results. It didn't happen for a long list of reasons.

I'm not sure what more you want from Stoops. I don't think he holds the offense back, and I think he wants something similar to last year knowing he has more playmakers. He made bowl games and created his job security with an offense that was put together (because of injuries) with a power running game, strong offensive line and a very good defense. I think he's using his equity trying to take UK to the top of the east. It would be easy for him to continue with running QB, and lean on the offensive line for 6-7 wins a game. Just my guess, but I'm guessing Stoops gets us to 9-10 wins consistently, or flames out with 1-2 bad 4-5 win seasons. I don't think he's going to play it safe and keep us at 7 wins a year! He's aiming for top of the mountain. The OC hire and QB recruiting are huge pieces of the puzzle. (BTW - I don't expect UK to keep White, but one more year.) Saban wants him. Other top 5 programs will offer him. Plus, he'll get good HC offers soon. I just hope we keep him one more year!

Very solid post!

Stoops wants what we all want. Give the man time and see if he can get it done.

 

[Eccain01]

Thoughts on Michigan last year and this year? Harbaugh reverted to his roots. 24-2 and a playoff spot secured.

They average 39 points a game lol he’s definitely opened up the offense compared to previous years

 

[lazydave841]

They average 39 points a game lol he’s definitely opened up the offense compared to previous years

It's a power running game. Lots of pin and pulls. Throw off play action. It's probably Stoops wet dream.

It's "opened up" because it's effective.

 

[Eccain01]

It's a power running game. Lots of pin and pulls. Throw off play action. It's probably Stoops wet dream.

It's "opened up" because it's effective.

That’s true they also throw the ball down field more. But to be fair the skill players are much better now lol

 

[bballcat4]

I would say that first 10 win season was for more due to having an elite defense with the defensive player of the year on it than the offense. I’d say that offense probably cost us a 10 win regular season. I get your point though. Coaches are stubborn.

I don’t think it was stubborn. I think it was smart! I agree 110% that the defense was critical for first 10 win season. Our QB was very limited. Who do you credit for hiring Coen and for successful offense last year? It was perfect blend of power running game combined with play action deep shots. Several shot plays last year. We had QB and other weapons to have successful passing game this year, but it didn’t happen on regular basis. I’m not close enough to program or good enough evaluator of film to know exactly where breakdown occurred. But, I don’t think Stoops did anything to hold Scang back.

Stoops has pulled trigger after one season, which leads me to believe there was a breakdown between OC and players. Knowledge is important for coaches, but relationships are important part of college game. It appears Scang couldn’t relate or communicate with college players. (That’s just my outside perspective.)

I believe Stoops will keep his foot on the gas. I hope he brings in young NFL guy that can connect to college players and recruit. QB play will determine if Uk makes it to top of SEC east. We played Ga last Nov with the winner in drivers seat to get to Atlanta. Few people gave us a chance and Ga went on to win the CFP. I’ll take that once every 3 years and believe it will get us in 12 team CFP.

 

[Beach_Cat]

Not sure if this is who you are referring to but Rob Calabrese almost got the job iirc. I think Rich came in last second and took it from him. Calabrese is with Jets...

Official Site of the New York Jets

www.newyorkjets.com

So Rob Calabrese was involved in the NFL development of Zach Wilson and Drew Locke. I think I’ll pass.

 

[sluggercatfan]

I would say that first 10 win season was for more due to having an elite defense with the defensive player of the year on it than the offense. I’d say that offense probably cost us a 10 win regular season. I get your point though. Coaches are stubborn.

I disagree about Stoops holding the offense back, but that’s difference of opinion. He said after the Tennessee loss we are a ball control, ground and pound team. He’s had success with that, but I think it’s keeping us from contending occasionally with Georgia and may hurt us if these other teams in the East rise up.

I think Stoops is always going to want to have an offense that shortens the game and limits possessions. Last year’s offense was certainly solid. Some of that was having a guy like Robinson that could take a 7 yard slant 70 yards to the house. That’s hard to plan for every year, but I think last year’s offense was the ceiling for Stoops.

What I want from Stoops is more of a commitment to score points. Have an offense that is designed to do more than control the clock and shorten the game. I don’t think you can win big with that type of offense. We certainly don’t have the talent to beat Georgia and Tennessee playing that way. Beating Georgia is an uphill battle as it is. I’m not asking for 3 wins every 5 games against them, but I think what’s holding us back is our offense.

disagree about Stoops holding the offense back, but that’s difference of opinion. He said after the Tennessee loss we are a ball control, ground and pound team. He’s had success with that, but I think it’s keeping us from contending occasionally with Georgia and may hurt us if these other teams in the East rise up.
Explain this please! Is the offense Stoops fault or not. The last paragraph is also a head scratcher.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

disagree about Stoops holding the offense back, but that’s difference of opinion. He said after the Tennessee loss we are a ball control, ground and pound team. He’s had success with that, but I think it’s keeping us from contending occasionally with Georgia and may hurt us if these other teams in the East rise up.
Explain this please! Is the offense Stoops fault or not. The last paragraph is also a head scratcher.

I think Stoops’ approach to offense is going to hinder us in taking the next step. I don’t think you can win big running a ball control offense. Even Nick Saban has abandoned that approach. I want Stoops to do that.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

One question I would ask if interviewed for job is WHY has UK had so many different O Coordinators during Stoops tenure. It is a legitimate question. I am not really sure our head coach has ever really been able to decide what he wants on the offensive side of football. If what we have seen the last few years IS what Stoops wants, I fear he will have a tough time getting an innovative football mind to take the job.i wish he would hire a guy and tell him, you run our offense as you see fit, not sure that has ever happened during his tenure.

 

[Crankdatmustard]

Can folks stop saying Dan Mullen, please? A guy that was a head coach for 10+ years in the SEC isnt coming back to coach as a coordinator. Its common sense folks.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

So Rob Calabrese was involved in the NFL development of Zach Wilson and Drew Locke. I think I’ll pass.

If you fire scang after one year and owe him that much money, you need a grand slam. Imo this guy definitely isn't grand slam material.

 

[vhcat70]

I think Stoops is always going to want to have an offense that shortens the game and limits possessions. Last year’s offense was certainly solid. Some of that was having a guy like Robinson that could take a 7 yard slant 70 yards to the house. That’s hard to plan for every year, but I think last year’s offense was the ceiling for Stoops.

What I want from Stoops is more of a commitment to score points. Have an offense that is designed to do more than control the clock and shorten the game. I don’t think you can win big with that type of offense. We certainly don’t have the talent to beat Georgia and Tennessee playing that way. Beating Georgia is an uphill battle as it is. I’m not asking for 3 wins every 5 games against them, but I think what’s holding us back is our offense.

So you want an offense that is different than what you Stoops wants. How do you think that would work out?

 

[JBHolmesfan]

So you want an offense that is different than what you Stoops wants. How do you think that would work out?

Probably get an offense ranked in the top 40 nationally more than once every 10 years.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Good grief.

Lol. I think you were one of tbe main arguers with me on a thread a few years back pointing out the same issues that are happening now.

Great reply. But...more seem to agree with me

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Stoops is the man for the job. Liam Coen is the man to lead the offense.

Until what?

Year 20 and our best season was last year?

I'd rather fail trying(like accepting a penalty to move a team out of field goal range and giving them 3rd and 33) then fail a liiiiiittle bit less because were scared(declining said penalty and giving up a field goal and losing by 3).

Hell, maybe Coen is the man for the job. We will never find out because we are giving Stoops the most comfortable job in football.


The slurpers can't even admit Stoops shouldn't be paid top 10 coach money. Can't even admit that. It's insane.. we've backed ourselves into a corner.

 

[ryanbruner]

Until what?

Year 20 and our best season was last year?

I'd rather fail trying(like accepting a penalty to move a team out of field goal range and giving them 3rd and 33) then fail a liiiiiittle bit less because were scared(declining said penalty and giving up a field goal and losing by 3).

Hell, maybe Coen is the man for the job. We will never find out because we are giving Stoops the most comfortable job in football.


The slurpers can't even admit Stoops shouldn't be paid top 10 coach money. Can't even admit that. It's insane.. we've backed ourselves into a corner.

I mean I feel the narrative you are pushing and will just say this in response.......the person who thinks that someone else would do a better job here......is an extremely dumb individual. We had a top 35 offense last year with Coen and finished with our second 10 win season in 5 years. I like that trajectory.

 

[sieken]

Until what?

Year 20 and our best season was last year?

I'd rather fail trying(like accepting a penalty to move a team out of field goal range and giving them 3rd and 33) then fail a liiiiiittle bit less because were scared(declining said penalty and giving up a field goal and losing by 3).

Hell, maybe Coen is the man for the job. We will never find out because we are giving Stoops the most comfortable job in football.


The slurpers can't even admit Stoops shouldn't be paid top 10 coach money. Can't even admit that. It's insane.. we've backed ourselves into a corner.

My question is why? Why do you want to kick him out the door and, "see if you can do better"? You seem to be dead set on this, I mean you said you were arguing with someone a few years ago about it. What is the plan? Maybe you could get more people on board with some sort of plan, or examples of schools where what you are suggesting has worked. We have played UGA twice now for the East, outclassed for sure, but the winner of that game was going to be the East winner. Who out there do you have for that? Maybe not imptortant to you but definitely to me, who stays when they have the slightest amount of success here? This isn't an easy play to win and win big. The state of Kentucky doesn't produce enough talent for it to be an easy gig.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

I mean I feel the narrative you are pushing and will just say this in response.......the person who thinks that someone else would do a better job here......is an extremely dumb individual. We had a top 35 offense last year with Coen and finished with our second 10 win season in 5 years. I like that trajectory.

Why? There’s no guarantee we’d be better with someone else, but there’s no guarantee we’d be 2-10 again either. If the commitment from the administration stays the same and we’re still willing to pay top dollar for a coach we’d be able to hire someone that could win here. Whether Mitch hits on that hire is one thing, but we’d probably have access to a more quality list of candidates than we did before when we hired Stoops.

Stoops was sold on building a program from ground up. The selling point now would be to take a program on solid footing to new heights. Much more attractive than taking over a dumpster fire.

 

[ryanbruner]

Why? There’s no guarantee we’d be better with someone else, but there’s no guarantee we’d be 2-10 again either. If the commitment from the administration stays the same and we’re still willing to pay top dollar for a coach we’d be able to hire someone that could win here. Whether Mitch hits on that hire is one thing, but we’d probably have access to a more quality list of candidates than we did before when we hired Stoops.

Stoops was sold on building a program from ground up. The selling point now would be to take a program on solid footing to new heights. Much more attractive than taking over a dumpster fire.

Stoops isn’t going anywhere I don’t know why that’s even a thought at this point. He is out Frank Beamer. He will be here until he doesn’t feel like being here anymore.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

Stoops isn’t going anywhere I don’t know why that’s even a thought at this point. He is out Frank Beamer. He will be here until he doesn’t feel like being here anymore.

I agree with that. Stoops isn’t going anywhere. I never bought into the rumors of him leaving. That doesn't change anything I said though. If Stoops has the same level of success the next 5 years and then decides to retire, we’ll be able to find someone good. Some fans think it’s an automatic return to the Joker days.

 

[bballcat4]

If Stoops has the same level of success the next 5 years and then decides to retire, we’ll be able to find someone good. Some fans think it’s an automatic return to the Joker days.

UK had been to a total of 15 bowls before Stoops arrival. This year will be Stoops' 7th bowl in a row. That means Stoops has taken UK to almost 33% of the school's total bowls in 100 years! Brooks took UK to 4 bowls in a row and 3 of them were the Music City while other one was Liberty. (At the time, those were considered 'glory days' for anyone under 40 years old. There were some flashes before Brooks, but no consistency. We'll be in one of those bowls this year and it has been a disappointing season. We've had two 10 win seasons in last 4 years!

I agree with you that if (when) Stoops leaves UK should be able to sustain success. But, Stoops is the ONLY reason we will be on solid ground. This is reason I marvel at fans who want Stoops to leave. (Without knowing demographics, I speculate that majority of anti-Stoops people are under 40 without experiencing much UK football prior to Brooks.) Joker wasn't only coach to fail at UK. I just heard talking head for another SEC school last week say, "UK football was a graveyard for coaches."

I'm guessing it is 50/50 chance UK returns to .500 football, hoping to make a bowl game once every 3 years when Stoops leaves. Yes, the AD will have much influence on the result. (Discussion for another day ; -) But, if UK lands another good coach it will be because Stoops' accomplishments greatly increased the pool of good coaching candidates. Today, UK is an attractive job for many coaches. We've had to roll the dice on previous coaches with few good candidates to choose from. People who think UK will easily find the same football success with another coach have little-to-no understanding of UK football or the strength of SEC football. Look at SC after Spurrier. UT over the last 10 years, Missouri after Pinkel, Arkansas, etc ... The list goes on. And ... each of those programs (except Missouri) have a much richer football history than UK.

Stoops needs to hit a home run with this OC hire. I think he's doing everything possible to get UK to top of SEC East, and that he considers this 7 win season a failure. 10 years ago no one would have written "UK winning 7 games is a failure." They would've thrown a parade!

 

[NoDef]

I don’t think it was stubborn. I think it was smart! I agree 110% that the defense was critical for first 10 win season. Our QB was very limited. Who do you credit for hiring Coen and for successful offense last year? It was perfect blend of power running game combined with play action deep shots. Several shot plays last year. We had QB and other weapons to have successful passing game this year, but it didn’t happen on regular basis. I’m not close enough to program or good enough evaluator of film to know exactly where breakdown occurred. But, I don’t think Stoops did anything to hold Scang back.

Stoops has pulled trigger after one season, which leads me to believe there was a breakdown between OC and players. Knowledge is important for coaches, but relationships are important part of college game. It appears Scang couldn’t relate or communicate with college players. (That’s just my outside perspective.)

I believe Stoops will keep his foot on the gas. I hope he brings in young NFL guy that can connect to college players and recruit. QB play will determine if Uk makes it to top of SEC east. We played Ga last Nov with the winner in drivers seat to get to Atlanta. Few people gave us a chance and Ga went on to win the CFP. I’ll take that once every 3 years and believe it will get us in 12 team CFP.

Stoops had no choice but to hire Coen. He was two or three years into an offensive coordinator and QB's and WR recruits didn't want to touch this offense. Even "ball control" Stoops knew that 100 yards passing a game wasn't going to attract good Qbs and Wr.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

My question is why? Why do you want to kick him out the door and, "see if you can do better"? You seem to be dead set on this, I mean you said you were arguing with someone a few years ago about it. What is the plan? Maybe you could get more people on board with some sort of plan, or examples of schools where what you are suggesting has worked. We have played UGA twice now for the East, outclassed for sure, but the winner of that game was going to be the East winner. Who out there do you have for that? Maybe not imptortant to you but definitely to me, who stays when they have the slightest amount of success here? This isn't an easy play to win and win big. The state of Kentucky doesn't produce enough talent for it to be an easy gig.

It's this thinking that would be acceptable at one other sec school.. vandy.

In a year or two, we're going to be one of 16 schools in the premier conference in the nil/transfer era. There's zero reason to have any fear of the past and the excuses. We don't need anyone from the state of kentucky with a competitive nil plan and a staff that is geared toward it.

Get people on board lol. I'm giving my opinion not trying to get Ted from Berea to pickett with me. But... Tennessee and lsu just had pretty crappy teams surpass anything we've done In year 10 after first or second year.

I'm not pushing anything other than it is absolutely idiotic to be handcuffing ourselves to him with raises and buyout add ons. We should have an out if we have a 5 6 win season because that's unacceptable now. We just lost to vandy at home .. in year 10.

And yes, Stoops has had the same issues for his entire tenure. So of course it's been discussed years back after tough losses...
Predictable. Tentative. Scared. Gets red assed at a: call, assistant, player and allows a mistake to happen while still being redassed about before. Lack of motivation after losses and bye weeks and against inferior opponents. Don't know that he's ever outschemed a better coach/team.. very questionable clock management.. I could go on for a while so yeah it's been the same discussion for a while for a lot of the board... I've still never called for his firing ..but it's time to be sure we don't go backwards and see that we are in a very appealing position if played correctly.

 

[bigbluedon]

Very solid post!

Stoops wants what we all want. Give the man time and see if he can get it done.

He’s had 10 yrs. How much time does he need.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

UK had been to a total of 15 bowls before Stoops arrival. This year will be Stoops' 7th bowl in a row. That means Stoops has taken UK to almost 33% of the school's total bowls in 100 years! Brooks took UK to 4 bowls in a row and 3 of them were the Music City while other one was Liberty. (At the time, those were considered 'glory days' for anyone under 40 years old. There were some flashes before Brooks, but no consistency. We'll be in one of those bowls this year and it has been a disappointing season. We've had two 10 win seasons in last 4 years!

I agree with you that if (when) Stoops leaves UK should be able to sustain success. But, Stoops is the ONLY reason we will be on solid ground. This is reason I marvel at fans who want Stoops to leave. (Without knowing demographics, I speculate that majority of anti-Stoops people are under 40 without experiencing much UK football prior to Brooks.) Joker wasn't only coach to fail at UK. I just heard talking head for another SEC school last week say, "UK football was a graveyard for coaches."

I'm guessing it is 50/50 chance UK returns to .500 football, hoping to make a bowl game once every 3 years when Stoops leaves. Yes, the AD will have much influence on the result. (Discussion for another day ; -) But, if UK lands another good coach it will be because Stoops' accomplishments greatly increased the pool of good coaching candidates. Today, UK is an attractive job for many coaches. We've had to roll the dice on previous coaches with few good candidates to choose from. People who think UK will easily find the same football success with another coach have little-to-no understanding of UK football or the strength of SEC football. Look at SC after Spurrier. UT over the last 10 years, Missouri after Pinkel, Arkansas, etc ... The list goes on. And ... each of those programs (except Missouri) have a much richer football history than UK.

Stoops needs to hit a home run with this OC hire. I think he's doing everything possible to get UK to top of SEC East, and that he considers this 7 win season a failure. 10 years ago no one would have written "UK winning 7 games is a failure." They would've thrown a parade!

I can agree with a lot of that. Stoops deserves credit for building the foundation to get us to this level. He did a good job getting us here. He convinced Barnhart to invest in the program. That’s his biggest accomplishment. And it’s why we can find better coaches the next time we’re in the coaching carousel.

I view Stoops like Marvin Lewis in some ways. Solid/good coaches that built up horrible programs/franchises that hit a wall and plateaued. I think Stoops can win 9 games in a down SEC East. To his credit, we don’t lose many games to teams we shouldn’t. At least not lately. I don’t think he’d win 9 games with the schedule Rich Brooks had. I think it’s safe to assume Georgia will stay elite. Is Tennessee a flash in the pan? Hard to say, but I think not. Florida will eventually figure it out like Tennessee did. The SEC East gets very difficult very quickly if any of Florida, South Carolina, or Missouri take a step up. We’ve feasted on bad SEC East teams. That isn’t guaranteed to be the case forever. And who knows what’ll happen when Texas and OU come aboard.

I’m not someone who thinks what Stoops has done isn’t impressive because it is. I’m also not someone who thinks Stoops and Stoops alone is the only guy we could’ve feasible get to win games here. Especially with an administration willing to give a coach top 10 money and assistants big money.

 

[BBNFORLIFE]

I can agree with a lot of that. Stoops deserves credit for building the foundation to get us to this level. He did a good job getting us here. He convinced Barnhart to invest in the program. That’s his biggest accomplishment. And it’s why we can find better coaches the next time we’re in the coaching carousel.

I view Stoops like Marvin Lewis in some ways. Solid/good coaches that built up horrible programs/franchises that hit a wall and plateaued. I think Stoops can win 9 games in a down SEC East. To his credit, we don’t lose many games to teams we shouldn’t. At least not lately. I don’t think he’d win 9 games with the schedule Rich Brooks had. I think it’s safe to assume Georgia will stay elite. Is Tennessee a flash in the pan? Hard to say, but I think not. Florida will eventually figure it out like Tennessee did. The SEC East gets very difficult very quickly if any of Florida, South Carolina, or Missouri take a step up. We’ve feasted on bad SEC East teams. That isn’t guaranteed to be the case forever. And who knows what’ll happen when Texas and OU come aboard.

I’m not someone who thinks what Stoops has done isn’t impressive because it is. I’m also not someone who thinks Stoops and Stoops alone is the only guy we could’ve feasible get to win games here. Especially with an administration willing to give a coach top 10 money and assistants big money.

These “bad” sec east teams you speak of are all bowl teams. UK beating bowl teams in the regular season are good wins in a very tough league.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

These “bad” sec east teams you speak of are all bowl teams. UK beating bowl teams in the regular season are good wins in a very tough league.

Nearly 2/3 of college football teams make a bowl game. Being bowl eligible isn’t a good measure of if a team is good. For most of Stoops’ tenure, Vandy, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee have been below average. Our annual west opponent, Mississippi State, is nothing special either, but they’ve had some very solid teams since Stoops as been here. Each program has had some decent years, but consistently the SEC East has not been very good since Stoops has been here. Most of the time, those teams haven’t been ranked when we’ve played them.

The last handful of years is likely to be as bad as the SEC East ever been. Certainly the worst that I can remember. Credit for Stoops for taking advantage of it, but our division isn’t exactly murderer’s row.

 

[NavyCat88]

That’s true they also throw the ball down field more. But to be fair the skill players are much better now lol

Michigan may throw the ball a little more than us, but we're actually employing the same philosophy as coach Harbaugh's new adjustments on offense (two years running).

Having recently moved from B1G country (Columbus), I can tell you the narrative in the north is that two years ago, Harbaugh finally returned to his roots consisting of a power running game and ditched a higher flying (more modern), OSU-type of offense founded on more passing....some might call OSU a finesse offense.

Harbaugh is seen as throwing the ball less, not more, in his current jack-hammer style of offense and complementary D. He has basically rolled back the clock 10 years with his brand of FB and it is working--for now.

GBB!

 

[robo222]

I don’t have a dog in this fight but would seem to me that a good choice would be someone who has played/coached in an offensive style that runs the ball successfully/passes the ball for big chunks/and has done so in a few places….
Brian Brohm…. hm or similar.

 

[sieken]

He’s had 10 yrs. How much time does he need.

I can respect the difficulty involved trying to win it all at a place like Kentucky. So, how long is pretty subjective IMO. I look around college football and see that only a handful of teams have accomplished it in the last 20 years. All of those teams have recruiting advantages that UK doesn't have, this IMO is way up there in matter of importance.

I understand that some, or even a lot, of the fanbase are upset with the direction of the Offense. The HC evidently was as well, he didn't thumb his nose at the fanbase, he made a change to the OC. There is a ton of evidence that he's trying to find the right formula, I see it and I think he has earned the fan's patience while trying to get the right combo together.

 

[sieken]

It's this thinking that would be acceptable at one other sec school.. vandy.

In a year or two, we're going to be one of 16 schools in the premier conference in the nil/transfer era. There's zero reason to have any fear of the past and the excuses. We don't need anyone from the state of kentucky with a competitive nil plan and a staff that is geared toward it.

Get people on board lol. I'm giving my opinion not trying to get Ted from Berea to pickett with me. But... Tennessee and lsu just had pretty crappy teams surpass anything we've done In year 10 after first or second year.

I'm not pushing anything other than it is absolutely idiotic to be handcuffing ourselves to him with raises and buyout add ons. We should have an out if we have a 5 6 win season because that's unacceptable now. We just lost to vandy at home .. in year 10.

And yes, Stoops has had the same issues for his entire tenure. So of course it's been discussed years back after tough losses...
Predictable. Tentative. Scared. Gets red assed at a: call, assistant, player and allows a mistake to happen while still being redassed about before. Lack of motivation after losses and bye weeks and against inferior opponents. Don't know that he's ever outschemed a better coach/team.. very questionable clock management.. I could go on for a while so yeah it's been the same discussion for a while for a lot of the board... I've still never called for his firing ..but it's time to be sure we don't go backwards and see that we are in a very appealing position if played correctly.

UT, UF, and AU have all cycled through coaches trying to get magical season. Only AU has been successful in the last 10 years with that goal. With a ton of terrible seasons mixed in. I'll take the path UK is on personally.

Of course you are.... It's one of the things the UK fanbase has become good at/known for. They don't like a coach, a ref, a reporter, they create a ground swell and attack.

The money part, it honestly makes little to no difference to me, college athletics have become Looney Tunes with regards to money. Second, it isn't my money, I say pay the assistants whatever it takes too when you get one you want to keep.

 

[Girthang]

Why? There’s no guarantee we’d be better with someone else, but there’s no guarantee we’d be 2-10 again either. If the commitment from the administration stays the same and we’re still willing to pay top dollar for a coach we’d be able to hire someone that could win here. Whether Mitch hits on that hire is one thing, but we’d probably have access to a more quality list of candidates than we did before when we hired Stoops.

Stoops was sold on building a program from ground up. The selling point now would be to take a program on solid footing to new heights. Much more attractive than taking over a dumpster fire.

I think context is important. Stoops wasn't "sold" on anything. He wanted this job because he had a vision for it that many of us dreamed about and discussed on boards 24 years ago. He did the selling and Barnhart did the buying.

We're still in a building phase, even though no one wants to to hear it, because we're Kentucky. This program hasn't yet reached its peak under Stoops, and people that don't know that are still behind the learning curve JUST LIKE they were when he was hired, after he was hired, and when this team hit their first 10 win season.