Top recruits are flipping.
Assistants are putting out feelers for other jobs.
I love the guy....great memories. But I see what's happening....
Stoops wants to be fired. The program is dead right now. He wants Mitch to fire him. And honestly, Mitch knows this....I think Mitch is a loyalty guy and will give a good guy like Joker a chance to fix it. But Stoops is a guy he's paid well and he's not going to let this happen....he knows what will happen and he won't sit through it IMO. At least with Cal last year, we knew 2024-25 would be bad but at least Cal could put a competent and talented team on the floor that would be in the NCAA tournament....not a 3-9 mess that Stoops will have next year. Basketball would be underachieving but still decent....football will be a disaster. I don't see Mitch wanting that...
It's like when your dating relationship is failing....the fights stop and you both don't care. One spouse is losing weight and going out with friends. You sleep in different rooms. You don't have any conversations. You both know it's over....the signs are there....you just have to accept it.
Bobby Petrino did this at Louisville.
Bobby wanted to compete for titles. He couldn't do it at Louisville. He thought UofL would get his reputation back. Even with Lamar Jackson and such....no one came calling. He wasn't going to get his shot at a SEC or blueblood schools....none of them called him. After Lamar left and he saw the roster....a few games in he knew what was happening. He stopped recruiting. He stopped talking to people. He knew that they had to fire him....he didn't care.
Stoops wanted to go to Texas A&M and have one chance to be at a SEC program with national title level resources. They failed. Problem is....he's now made it so bad at Kentucky that no other school will want him....heck not even school in the P4 on our level or lower would want him now like the situation Cal had. He has 0 motivation now to improve. He's not winning a title here and it's not going to get better. He's never getting a better job.
Stoops now wants us to fire him. Now we'll see how hard he works to see if I'm right....but in my mind? He's going to do it his way.
In his mind....he's not going to leave $44 million on the table. Also...he knows he'll never get another P4 head job....so no motivation to improve. He can do it his way and take the heat....and still collect his $44 million. Motivation matters to a coach more than anything....what's Stoops? It's sh*tty to do and maybe it's not true....but the signs are there....
It's not falling apart....it's FALLEN APART. It fell apart after the Ole Miss win and the bye week....he fixed it for UGA and Ole Miss....but ignored the other issues and didn't work on anything. Then out of the bye week....we got whipped and the program cratered over those 4 weeks.
It's now on Mitch and the donors....the President and the board....
Honestly...I wish we had held out those NCAA allegations until later in this season where Mitch would've had the leverage to fire him for cause....but it came out preseason and we've lost that out.
Assistants are putting out feelers for other jobs.
I love the guy....great memories. But I see what's happening....
Stoops wants to be fired. The program is dead right now. He wants Mitch to fire him. And honestly, Mitch knows this....I think Mitch is a loyalty guy and will give a good guy like Joker a chance to fix it. But Stoops is a guy he's paid well and he's not going to let this happen....he knows what will happen and he won't sit through it IMO. At least with Cal last year, we knew 2024-25 would be bad but at least Cal could put a competent and talented team on the floor that would be in the NCAA tournament....not a 3-9 mess that Stoops will have next year. Basketball would be underachieving but still decent....football will be a disaster. I don't see Mitch wanting that...
It's like when your dating relationship is failing....the fights stop and you both don't care. One spouse is losing weight and going out with friends. You sleep in different rooms. You don't have any conversations. You both know it's over....the signs are there....you just have to accept it.
Bobby Petrino did this at Louisville.
Bobby wanted to compete for titles. He couldn't do it at Louisville. He thought UofL would get his reputation back. Even with Lamar Jackson and such....no one came calling. He wasn't going to get his shot at a SEC or blueblood schools....none of them called him. After Lamar left and he saw the roster....a few games in he knew what was happening. He stopped recruiting. He stopped talking to people. He knew that they had to fire him....he didn't care.
Stoops wanted to go to Texas A&M and have one chance to be at a SEC program with national title level resources. They failed. Problem is....he's now made it so bad at Kentucky that no other school will want him....heck not even school in the P4 on our level or lower would want him now like the situation Cal had. He has 0 motivation now to improve. He's not winning a title here and it's not going to get better. He's never getting a better job.
Stoops now wants us to fire him. Now we'll see how hard he works to see if I'm right....but in my mind? He's going to do it his way.
In his mind....he's not going to leave $44 million on the table. Also...he knows he'll never get another P4 head job....so no motivation to improve. He can do it his way and take the heat....and still collect his $44 million. Motivation matters to a coach more than anything....what's Stoops? It's sh*tty to do and maybe it's not true....but the signs are there....
It's not falling apart....it's FALLEN APART. It fell apart after the Ole Miss win and the bye week....he fixed it for UGA and Ole Miss....but ignored the other issues and didn't work on anything. Then out of the bye week....we got whipped and the program cratered over those 4 weeks.
It's now on Mitch and the donors....the President and the board....
Honestly...I wish we had held out those NCAA allegations until later in this season where Mitch would've had the leverage to fire him for cause....but it came out preseason and we've lost that out.
