Can't imagine there will be many nil dollars flowing at least at first. Tough spot for the guy. Mitch is the only ad who could've this badly messed up a break the bank hiring opportunity.
Stoops gets the last laugh
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Can't imagine there will be many nil dollars flowing at least at first. Tough spot for the guy. Mitch is the only ad who could've this badly messed up a break the bank hiring opportunity.
I don’t see it affecting football NIL.
Had we bought out Cal and used donor money to do it, that could have emptied some pockets.
I like the Pope hire: a young guy the players can identify with.
I think he’ll be popular.
Someone on Rafters is saying Craft is giving $5m for bball NIL, no idea if it’s true or not.
I haven't read every article, but I have read articles saying Hurley, Oats, Drew and Donavan all said not interested. What is the AD suppose to do, he can't make them come. Pearl was in the next group, may have gotten him too if his son was named head coach in waiting, and Rick Petino who many of the Rafters crowd were calling for. He makes Petrino look like a good family man.
After being told no by the top tier people, who the same after crowd considers more embarrassing that bring in a pimp to be their coach. No idea how Pope will do, he wasn't who was wanted but he was willing to take a job that no matter how well he does it won't be good enough.
Joe & Kelly Craft are NOT going to decease their support to UK football, no matter what happens to Bball. They are too invested & too good a relationship with Stoops.
1) a good ad is constantly talking with coaches. Mitch didn't. He zeroed in on one guy for years then had him say no. No way you spend years without finding a coaches wife doesn't want to move
2) you don't let the brand slip to the extent the job no longer means as much
3) you could hire pope next week. You don't hire him same day you were told no by your guy and someone you knew would say no. Turned out pope was probably #2 on Mitch's list anyway, somehow. Doesn't matter about the roster because now we're losing everyone anyway.
4) you unbutton the top button and don't immediately disqualify people for minor past transgressions (ie pearl).
The coach’s wife probably would have moved at other times. Apparently, they have kids at Baylor now and that would make a difference for a lot of people. You can learn what you can learn without tampering, but you never know if you can sell a job until it is offered and pitched.
Hiring Pope this week is better than hiring Pope next week. So, push the calendar only if you know there is a good chance you get your man, presumably Donovan. But, Billy has been flattered twice by UK. The whole world knew he was a consideration. He could have got word to Mitch that his interest was real. It appears he did not. And, maybe Billy was not as high on Mitches list as on others’ lists.
1. thats against the rules, or was when the NCAA had some teeth and unethical on top of that.
2. I am not so sure the UK brand has slipped as much as others have risen
3. Just Saturday the UK fanbase was wanting to know when Mitch was going to make a hire,
4. You either follow the rules or you don't.
Bottom line is the only coach he could have hired that would have made almost everyone happy was Hurley, who said no. He couldn't force Hurley to take the job, or anyone else
Allegedly 2 boosters committed the $4M, and neither are Craft. so anything he does adds to the pot.
1) not if you couch the conversation correctly. Everyone knows the rules so that isnt hard
2) same difference
3) better to be right than fast. That said the available interested candidates is on him. He had his sole focus on drew all that time.
4) there is always gray
My best guess is nothing changes for football. From what I have heard Cal and some of the big boosters were not on good terms and they were holding back, but with Pope they will release funds that were earmarked for BB.
Stoops needs to take care of his own house — he has squarely, and solidly landed upon the “mediocrity” rung of the ladder within our conference…
How much longer will UK tolerate this?
Actually, the final record should be the measuring stick!
Every other SEC team uses it, why wouldnt we?
Bruce Feldman, a senior writer for The Athletic, has covered college football nationally for 20 years. Feldman says Mark Stoops is one of the top 15 college football coaches in the country, and he reiterated his opinion last month on Paul Finebaum's show. Feldman says Stoops doesn't get a fair shake because of the challenges of winning football games at a school that only recently began to prioritize football. Do you know more about Stoops or about college football than Bruce Feldman? No.
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JMI but I think the main reason A&M fans had such a negative reaction towards Stoops was that Kentucky, despite it's recent success under Stoops, has the image in the south of just being a basketball school, and it would be beneath them to hire a coach from a school so perceived. I don't know anyone that went to aTm but they just some to be a tad bit arrogant. The have huge booster support, new modern digs, enthusiastic fan base but they never win anything - thus a program wide over-inflated ego.
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Maybe not but after 11 years , he just tried to leave and AtM revolted. Has been progressively getting worse. I don't agree that the university just started to support the program. This is a make or break year for him as a coach here imo. Needs a fairly decent season.
The last time UK enjoyed this level of football success, we got major NCAA sanctions and Curci had to be fired. You generally take negative narratives on Stoops and Barnhart. That is your bias, and props to you for being so consistent. You aren't a fair weather fan. Just a negative one. But you neglected to mention that Stoops has won more football games than any other coach in UK football history. That's a fairly significant omission. You make a negative out of the fact that other schools are interested in hiring him. That things are a mess at TX A&M with their boosters is not Stoops' fault. This is not a "make or break year" for Stoops. That's obviously not the case. The level of performance that used to be considered UK's football ceiling under prior coaches is now our performance floor because of Stoops and Barnhart. Stoops is a strong recruiter and is expanding UK's recruiting footprint. I believe he will keep grinding away until our offense and defense are both consistently top half of the SEC or better every year. If that doesn't happen, at least Stoops will leave the program in much better shape than he inherited it. Surely you see that.
Having won the fifth most games in the SEC since 2018, out of the 14 conference members, should he continue that pace, he should retire here.
Comparing his first 11 seasons at Kentucky to Frank Beamer’s first 11 seasons at Virginia Tech, Coach Stoops has more victories (+3) , more bowl victories (+2) and more victories over ranked opponents (+3) than did Beamer, who after 11 seasons at VPI was well on his way to the Collegiate Hall of Fame.
And Beamer inherited a team that won 9 games the season prior to his arrival: it had been 29 seasons prior to Stoops’ arrival that Kentucky had won 9 games.
At 9 million a year he can keep grinding all he wants if no results it won't matter. Dude just tried to leave , he has a good year he will try to leave again... a bad year puts him firmly on the hot seat. This is not a negative post, but one based in reality. Why would he not try to leave again if he has the chance?
It is pretty subjective defining a “bad” year, but I strongly suspect your view of a “bad” year for Stoops would have been “the glory years” for Rich Brooks, i. e. 7-6, 8-5.
And I believe that a 7-6, or 8-5 season does not put him “firmly on the hot seat.”
Why? Our program has exceeded that 8-5 record only three times in 47 years, and two of those three belong to Stoops.
It's your version. It is not actual reality. In actual reality, Stoops is the winningest coach in UK football history and Bruce Feldman, the senior football writer at The Athletic, says Stoops is one of the 15 beat college football coaches in the country. Stoops is clearly not on the hot seat. If you believe that, you are divorced from reality, all due respect. You just want it to be true.
Wll Stoops try to leave? IDK. All I know is that Stoops recently went through an ugly, painful divorce that is still not well understood publicly, and that football coaches all over the country often change jobs. If you want to try to take that out of its realistic context, go right ahead. I don't expect you to change your mind. You have a right to your opinion. I was simply responding to a statement that is not true. Opinions and facts are different things.
literacyideas.com/teaching-fact-and-opinion
Saying 2024 is "make or break!!" or that mediocre 2024 "puts him on the hot seat!!!" is just dumb opinions. Really stupid. Denying reality foolish.
If UK is 6-6 or worst maybe in *your* mind it puts Stoops on the hot seat or something. But just you, and your a nobody with nothing power or influence.
With those who do have the power and influence and money, Mark Stoops can post 7-5, 6-6 yearly for the next 10 yrs. And none of those years "breaks" his employment, none of em increases the temp on his seat . 0001 degree. He is beloved and appreciated by the AD, the Pres, the Board, former players, and the boosters, in particular the Crafts.
Now that I've pointed out these indisputable facts watch the defeated bad opinions change completely to new opinions and new moved goal posts.....
"well he should be under pressure!!!" "he should be on a hot seat!!!" "Tennessee record, Georgia games, beating SEC teams with winning records!!"
Etc etc etc, nothing new, meaningless observation from the powerless
If UK is 6-6 or worst maybe in *your* mind it puts Stoops on the hot seat or something. But just you, and your a nobody with nothing power or influence.
With those who do have the power and influence and money, Mark Stoops can post 7-5, 6-6 yearly for the next 10 yrs. And none of those years "breaks" his employment, none of em increases the temp on his seat . 0001 degree. He is beloved and appreciated by the AD, the Pres, the Board, former players, and the boosters, in particular the Crafts.
Now that I've pointed out these indisputable facts watch the defeated bad opinions change completely to new opinions and new moved goal posts.....
"well he should be under pressure!!!" "he should be on a hot seat!!!" "Tennessee record, Georgia games, beating SEC teams with winning records!!"
Etc etc etc, nothing new, meaningless observation from the powerless
You mention his divorce from like 5 years ago as an excuse for him leaving... bizarre. I hate that he went through that and hate it for anyone, but It's well known he isn't happy here and wanted out but couldn't make it happen. Of course over the tenure of his career he has been one of the top two coaches ever at UK but has been on a downward trajectory no one can ignore (very similar to calipari). The schedule gets even tougher as well next year. Perhaps powerless and that is fine but at least I have my own opinion and not a university or Stoops paid bot/troll. I don't even think yall are sunshine pumpers anymore. Yall are getting free tickets or kickbacks somehow to spread the agenda... no doubt.
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Not now, miss a bowl game I'm not sure what you all are thinking his seat doesn't get warm. This new nil environment is not the same as the old "recruit and develop" days.
It might get warm from a fan's perspective, but there's also that astronomical buyout if he's fired without cause, and a bad won loss record isn't considered "cause". So what might be warm from a fan's perspective isn't necessarily warm from the perspective of the ones who actually make the decision.
I agree, but at some point , and this is worst case scenario, if fans stop showing up for the games then buyout won't matter any longer
You are just divorced from reality and determined to stay that way.
I have never turned a blind eye to problems in the program. Every program has them. Your suggestion that posters who push back against your compulsively unrealistic criticisms "are getting free tickets or kickbacks" is just radically silly. You are saying people can't disagree with you without being bribed to do it. LOL!
Uh, we sold out for our FCS home opponent for the first time in school history last year [remember those “Military Appreciation” Days, and “First Responder” free ticket giveaways by the tens of thousands the last couple of decades?]. We haven’t had to use that device to hide weak attendance of late.
Attendance is strong and getting stronger.
And I sometimes think you roundball fans are suffering from a mental disturbance.
You want rid of only the third winning football Coach in the last 92 years?
Everyone soured on Cal because his results were historically worse than UK in basketball.
Stoops is well in the top half of wins in the SEC over seven seasons . . . for only the second time exceeding three seasons in our 90 years of SEC participation . . . easily exceeding our historic record.
Maybe y’all Bull Sh!t pumpers be getting free mental health assistance at U of L . . . [and getting what you pay for . . . .].
Grump. I most often agree with your assessments but I 've blessed to have some one extremely close to the program for years and from what I 've been told your way off this time.
Stoops is the best coach at UK in 50 years, so that is awesome and I’m thankful. Having said that he still has a lot of room to grow. He needs to move towards taking the next step and beating UT first of all. There’s no reason for him to be unhappy with UK, but everyone is always looking to better their career, so I don’t blame him for looking at Texas A&M.
It is one of perhaps a dozen programs that can clearly outbid UK, given the billions of dollars of oil wealth in the state.
Another Kentucky football coach got an A & M offer that stuck . . . for two years . . . until Mama called.
Cold War is over. Peace between UK football & basketball. We all win.
Sounds like you would like a program that has very little intergerty, alone the lines of an AU who would and have hired some of the most unethical coaches in the NCAA. I don't believe MB runs the UK program that way. Rick Petino has been trashed on UK boards for years for how he ran the Louisville program, yet many of the BB crod are were wanting him back.
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