The destiny us "Baby Boomer" UK fans never wanted for our football program.

[Kampus Korner]

Was Claiborne fired ? I thought he retired .

Edit: You are right he did retire. I recalled he was being forced out and retired instead of getting fired. I was incorrect. He was getting a lot of criticism from the fans at the time for not getting beyond the 5-6, 6-5 seasons he was having. Fans back then, late 80's, were frustrated like they are now that, even when we "win", we seem to be stuck at the 6 win level. Claiborne did have one 9-3 season earlier in his career. I remember the call in shows were constantly berating Coach Claiborne for coaching past his prime and we needed a "big name coach" to take us to the proverbial "next level" so we could compete for the SEC Championship.

Of course, history records UK signed a "big name coach" by the name of Bill Curry, who may have been one of the worst UK coaches since the Bear dumped UK. Curry changed offensive coordinators about every two years. I suppose most UK fans recognized Curry's poor decision making in selecting offensive coordinators when he had Tim Couch run the option against Florida.

 

[willievic]

I've read posts in other threads about UK fans having expectations for something better as regards the future success for our football program. As someone who became a UK fan in 1959, when I saw my first game at the old Stoll Field, I regretfully have to confess that I no longer harbor expectations that the UK football program will ever become any better than what its history has demonstrated since I attended my first UK game. I suspect many of my fellow "Baby Boomers" feel similarly.




Blanton Collier was the UK football coach when I saw my first game and I'm quite sure he and the ten UK coaches who have succeeded him did their best to help make UK football meet fan expectations. What us burgeoning "Baby Boomer" UK football fans did not know in 1959 was that Blanton Collier would be the last UK coach to win more games than he lost. Ironically, UK's last winning coach was fired after the 1962 season. Two years later, as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns Collier led his team to the NFL Championship, a year before the Super Bowl was created. All ten UK coaches who followed Collier over the next 54 years have lost more games than they won. These facts are not in dispute.

Some previous UK coaches raised fan expectations more than others. John Ray had "We Believe" bumper stickers printed which tens of thousands UK fans, all over the Commonwealth, pasted on their car bumpers. Ray was the former Defensive Coordinator at Notre Dame when that school was annually one of the best three programs in the nation. Ray talked about going to bowl games (when there weren't many bowls), winning the SEC Championship and even the National Championship. Alas, these elevated expectations never matched on the field performance and Ray was fired after only 4 years.

Although Bill Curry was no where near as brash as John Ray when it came to elevating fan expectations, he nevertheless did so if only because he was the previous head coach at Alabama. Curry was 10-2 during his last year at Alabama before the took the UK job. Curry had played in the NFL starting at center for the Baltimore Colts. UK finally had a coach with nationwide name recognition. Many "Boomers" believed at the time, we no longer had any excuses for not being successful. Alas, it was not to be. Curry lasted 7 years. His best season was 6-6. His overall record was 26-52 and was only 14-40 in the SEC.

After Curry, us "Boomers" as well as other UK fans have experienced the predictable but temporary euphoria and related elevated expectations that naturally come with the hiring of any new coach. We somehow believed, despite the evolving history to the contrary, that the next new coach would cause UK to become more successful than his predecessors. It hasn't happened.

For whatever reason, be it the lack of necessary university financial support, the need for a better athletic director or a better coach, the UK football program has never been able to be much more than mediocre. To be sure, about every 10 to 15 years or so, we will have what is a breakout season for us and win 7 or 8 games. However, after such fleeting and momentary success, we quickly fall back to our losing historical legacy.

At 67 years of age and cheering for the University of Kentucky football team for parts of 7 different decades, I have resigned myself to simply appreciating the entertainment and cherishing the victories when they come. No doubt there are some fellow "Boomers" who still "believe" as John Ray urged us in 1969, that the future will become brighter for Kentucky football. I want you to be right. I also would like to see it before the time comes for me to leave this earth. I simply have no expectation it will happen.

Kampus, I'm 10 years older then you, but I still have hope that we will get a coach that can compete with the upper echelon of the SEC. Is Coach stoops that coach? I don't know, but I think we will find out next year. If he can't go better then 7-5 with 19 starters back, then he should be replaced. I would like to see us hire a young and upcoming coach. Neal Brown would be my first choice. He has done a good job as OC and now is doing a great job at Troy.
Keep the faith Kampus.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[mtn cat1]

Was Claiborne fired ? I thought he retired .

Yes he retired.

 

[thepip]

This is BS: "Looking like we can expect more of the same going forward"

How many players do we lose going into 17, and who knows, Barker could come back and be a huge factor. In any case our QB position (biggest question mark now?) should be much improved.

I think three OOC wins next year are a given, and probably four, seven wins would be nice and steady progress but I see eight as a real possibility next year.

And if we end up with 4 you will be spouting the same "copy and paste" for next 2018.

 

[BigBlueCatNation]

So, we are the problem,what would you have us done differently,stop supporting the team,print up some signs and march around the administration building,spray paint the stadium?

Most of the posters in this thread stuck with the team thru much worse years than we have seen in the past 2 or 3 years.Probably the last Joker year is a close approximation of what we lived thru in most of the 60's.As stated UK hired different types of coaches from different backgrounds with pretty much the same results.

We were fans,individually or collectively the vast majority of us had very little or no influence on what the administration did or didn't do.

I am glad you and fans like you are here to save us old guys,now quit talking and get to it, I expect 10-2 next year and 12-0 + a national championship the year after that, I'll try to hang on long enough to see it.

Now I honestly wasn't being mean and if you took it that way, I'm sorry. We're all apart of the same family. I just think you guys settled and didn't demand better and that's why we're in this position.

I wished that most of the first part of your post happened, though. I don't think there was any reason to spray pain Stoll Field or even Commonwealth at any time. Boycotting games until change was made would've gone a long way back then, especially since football wasn't nearly the money maker that it is today. However, protesting change would've been good. A lot of your generation protested everything else, so why not UK football?

As far as riding it out through Joker, I was there, too. I truly feel that was a major part of the problem, which is why sticking it out through the rest of the coaching changes from the 60's through Joker did more harm than good, too.

In some ways I do hope we are to able save you guys from UK football failure and give you those seasons that you truthfully deserve. I've said my entire football life that there is absolutely no reason UK can't win 10-12 games most years, only excuses. UK can win a National Championship in football, but they need to be given the right resources and the right coaches.

I have no idea what Stoops ceiling is, but I do think he can build this program into a consistent threat to win the conference. Once we get to that level and maintain it over the next 5 years, we can raise our expectations. If he can't, then that next hire is absolutely crucial to the program and may be the most important hire in the history of our program, including Bear Bryant.

I had an uncle who taught me everything I know about UK. He died a few years ago at 91, so he saw UK through its golden years. I know what this university is capable of and I can't wait to see it happen. I wanted so badly to beat either Georgia or Tennessee to get than winning SEC season streak off our back so I could go put UK flowers at that man's grave. I hope I can do that soon.

I honor my elders and I want you to see and experience all of the things you should've seen your entire life. The only blame goes right to the UK administration. They're completely responsible for where we're at today.

 

[Deeeefense]

Blaming UK's past football shortcomings on a specific generation of fans, old, young or middle, is probably about the sillies theory I've ever read on here and there have been some doozies.

 

[The-Hack]

Careful, there, BigBlueCatNation, your even tempered response and endorsement of Stoops will earn you the title implicit in your original inflamatory post . . . . "you're the reason for the mediocrity," if next season, etc. doesn't work out.

I've been around UK sports long enough to have seen us try about everything. If you look at the history being covered, evidence of having "settled" doesn't stick out so clearly. UK made many variant hires, each of which had reasonable chances of success (at least looking from the start of each "era.") UK tried young coaches with a system (Mumme), coordinators who were hot commodities (Ray), Coaches with solid, lengthy credentials (Claiborne and Brooks), coaches who were "Bear Boys" (Bradshaw), coaches with reputations less than fully reputable (Curci).

No one knows for certain the trajectory of the program past the last game . . . . and that's true everywhere, except for Bama (maybe), but if we win 6 this year, and 7 next year, that might be the only 5 year period in UK football without taking a step back in the win column . . . . I'll have to check that stat. So, I have some reasonable hope for a long-term, "slow grind" type of success. I hope it happens.

I like Stoops.

Meeting him very briefly a time or two, and listening to him many times, he just has the sound and feel of a young, healthy Jerry Claiborne, but with a bit of a mid-western accent, instead of Jerry's Hop-Town deep southern accent. He's a gritty kind of guy. Watch him in drills and practices. You can tell he's antsy to personally throw a block . . . . and I'm serious. Hell, in the Lobby of the hotel where the team stays, when he walks through, he has a passion and an intensity that is very evident and real. He's not real big, but I'd not want to try and run over him, . . . .ya' know what I mean.

His teams are not particularly flashy, but I think this year's team has taken on some of the personality of Stoops.

 

[Xception]

I have adjusted my expectations for UK football after the Curry era and even more following the mummy era . I came to a conclusion of who we really are and would likely be most of the time , before that I had yearly hopes well above what was possible . UK football is much more enjoyable for me now , I still wish for a sneaky good season to strike but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't .

 

[ram1955]

I've not been around as long as Kampus K- the first coach I remember was Bradshaw- but based on what I've seen, I am starting to believe that Stoops may be our last chance to make significant strides in Football.

 

[sluggercatfan]

It would take a transcendent coach for us to overcome our recruiting deficiences.

When we're talking about our greatest recruiting classes ever and they rank 13th, 12th, 10th and 13th out of 14 teams in the sec, are you all really wondering why we struggle to compete? Really?

Maybe if we put together a string of AT LEAST the #10 recruiting class in the sec over 4 or 5 years, we might compete.

The bottom 4 of the sec recruiting rabkings contains the following teams the following # of times over the past 5 years:

Kentucky: 4
Vandy: 5
Missouri: 5
MSU: 3
Ole Miss: 1
Arkansas: 2

It's really as simple as that.

UK ADs have passed on at least 3 of those coaches. I was never one who thought Bill Curry would make it at UK because he would never have left Ala. if he was all that. By the way I'm 66 and serious UK fb fan since I started listening to Cawood at 12. I do still have hopes of seeing those days, but unfortunately I don't think it's MS that can get it there, and by there I'm talking 7-9 wins and really nice bowl games each season.

 

[Cat06]

I get the sentiment of the original poster. I lived and breathed Kentucky football for the better part of 50 years. I was a 14 year old selling cokes in the stadium the day Commonwealth Stadium opened. For several seasons before I listened to games on the radio and kept my own stats book.

I lived two doors down from the late great Dallas Owens and had the pleasure of hanging out with him and spending time with him and his UK teammates at cookouts his Dad always invited me to attend. I followed Dallas to Lafayette, had a nondescript football career as a DB due in large part to a rift between myself and the head coach my senior year who basically banished me to Siberia.

A funny thing happened a few weeks later. I started fielding punts in practice for our punter who was all city. One day I kicked one back to him and it sailed 15 or 20 yards over his head. Turned out I had a freak leg. Despite only getting to punt in two games, and only then because my buddy hurt his ankle, I had invitations to walk on at Eastern, Western, Louisville and UK.

It was a different time in 1978. I spent my Freshman year as an undocumented member of the UK JV team along with my high school team mate Steve Williams, who would go on to use his "Official" eligibility and become all SEC. Two more fellow Generals, the late Joey Freeman and Billy Pruitt were members of the team at that time as well. Ultimately I broke my back in a car wreck in December of that year and that was the end of that.

I continued to hold out hope for my Cats every year. My Dad warned me. "If they ever get to a Sugar bowl" he said. "You better go. Because they will never get there again." They never did get there...ever.

I held out hope through Claiborne. I bought my season tickets and held out hope with Mumme and Couch. We had something with Brooks, and they let him walk away because there was no AD commitment. I held out hope for Joker, but that went south quick. I dropped my tickets after the fiasco of his final season. 14,000 people showing up for a game convinced Barnhart that changes and investment needed to occur, but they lost my money.

I had hopes for Stoops. Sorry, I cant get excited four years later when we lose to Southern Miss and barely beat a couple of SEC bottom dwellers. The final slap to me was an article in the Herald Leader. It compared our record all time vs Vanderbilt. The record showed the all time record in the series was 42–42–4. We are Vanderbilt. Let that sink in. WE are Vanderbilt.

I wish the best to the athletes at UK, but It has become clear that we are not ever going to rise above mediocrity with the football program.

We strive for 6 and 6.

We have a chant to celebrate making a first down.

Mediocrity.

Former super fan...Former member of the team...Sorry, I cant invest myself emotionally any longer.

 

[Kampus Korner]

I get the sentiment of the original poster. I lived and breathed Kentucky football for the better part of 50 years. I was a 14 year old selling cokes in the stadium the day Commonwealth Stadium opened. For several seasons before I listened to games on the radio and kept my own stats book.

I lived two doors down from the late great Dallas Owens and had the pleasure of hanging out with him and spending time with him and his UK teammates at cookouts his Dad always invited me to attend. I followed Dallas to Lafayette, had a nondescript football career as a DB due in large part to a rift between myself and the head coach my senior year who basically banished me to Siberia.

A funny thing happened a few weeks later. I started fielding punts in practice for our punter who was all city. One day I kicked one back to him and it sailed 15 or 20 yards over his head. Turned out I had a freak leg. Despite only getting to punt in two games, and only then because my buddy hurt his ankle, I had invitations to walk on at Eastern, Western, Louisville and UK.

It was a different time in 1978. I spent my Freshman year as an undocumented member of the UK JV team along with my high school team mate Steve Williams, who would go on to use his "Official" eligibility and become all SEC. Two more fellow Generals, the late Joey Freeman and Billy Pruitt were members of the team at that time as well. Ultimately I broke my back in a car wreck in December of that year and that was the end of that.

I continued to hold out hope for my Cats every year. My Dad warned me. "If they ever get to a Sugar bowl" he said. "You better go. Because they will never get there again." They never did get there...ever.

I held out hope through Claiborne. I bought my season tickets and held out hope with Mumme and Couch. We had something with Brooks, and they let him walk away because there was no AD commitment. I held out hope for Joker, but that went south quick. I dropped my tickets after the fiasco of his final season. 14,000 people showing up for a game convinced Barnhart that changes and investment needed to occur, but they lost my money.

I had hopes for Stoops. Sorry, I cant get excited four years later when we lose to Southern Miss and barely beat a couple of SEC bottom dwellers. The final slap to me was an article in the Herald Leader. It compared our record all time vs Vanderbilt. The record showed the all time record in the series was 42–42–4. We are Vanderbilt. Let that sink in. WE are Vanderbilt.

I wish the best to the athletes at UK, but It has become clear that we are not ever going to rise above mediocrity with the football program.

We strive for 6 and 6.

We have a chant to celebrate making a first down.

Mediocrity.

Former super fan...Former member of the team...Sorry, I cant invest myself emotionally any longer.

Cat06, as a former Lafayette General myself, I along with many others "feel your pain", particularly after investing decades of emotional energy and hope in UK's football team. Then, you realize having hopes and expectations for a better UK football outcome, only sets yourself up for major disappointment. Since, I have channeled down my expectations for UK football success, I have learned to better cope with loss after loss. Somethings are beyond my control and UK winning or losing on the football field is one of them. However, I am still a total neurotic when it comes to UK basketball where, after all these years, a loss is still brutal to bear.

 

[docholiday51]

Now I honestly wasn't being mean and if you took it that way, I'm sorry. We're all apart of the same family. I just think you guys settled and didn't demand better and that's why we're in this position.

I wished that most of the first part of your post happened, though. I don't think there was any reason to spray pain Stoll Field or even Commonwealth at any time. Boycotting games until change was made would've gone a long way back then, especially since football wasn't nearly the money maker that it is today. However, protesting change would've been good. A lot of your generation protested everything else, so why not UK football?

As far as riding it out through Joker, I was there, too. I truly feel that was a major part of the problem, which is why sticking it out through the rest of the coaching changes from the 60's through Joker did more harm than good, too.

In some ways I do hope we are to able save you guys from UK football failure and give you those seasons that you truthfully deserve. I've said my entire football life that there is absolutely no reason UK can't win 10-12 games most years, only excuses. UK can win a National Championship in football, but they need to be given the right resources and the right coaches.

I have no idea what Stoops ceiling is, but I do think he can build this program into a consistent threat to win the conference. Once we get to that level and maintain it over the next 5 years, we can raise our expectations. If he can't, then that next hire is absolutely crucial to the program and may be the most important hire in the history of our program, including Bear Bryant.

I had an uncle who taught me everything I know about UK. He died a few years ago at 91, so he saw UK through its golden years. I know what this university is capable of and I can't wait to see it happen. I wanted so badly to beat either Georgia or Tennessee to get than winning SEC season streak off our back so I could go put UK flowers at that man's grave. I hope I can do that soon.

I honor my elders and I want you to see and experience all of the things you should've seen your entire life. The only blame goes right to the UK administration. They're completely responsible for where we're at today.

For the most part your post is a decent account of things over the past several years,I am pretty sure most of us old guys aren't offended by what you say or the way you think(we have been offended by a lot worse and survived it)but don't mistake facts for excuses,we have seen UK try different coaches with different approaches,all have met with about the same amount of success (or lack thereof)

The big name,top tier coach isn't coming here,name whoever you want Saban,Harbaugh or Meyer,until someone shows up here and wins no established coach is going to take the job unless he has so much baggage that he can't go anywhere else,it has been viewed as career suicide for decades.

I don't know if Stoops is the guy but it will be him or someone like him that will have to win here in order to get where today's fans want to go and it will be done in painful steps(much like physical rehab)

 

[mtn cat1]

Edit: You are right he did retire. I recalled he was being forced out and retired instead of getting fired. I was incorrect. He was getting a lot of criticism from the fans at the time for not getting beyond the 5-6, 6-5 seasons he was having. Fans back then, late 80's, were frustrated like they are now that, even when we "win", we seem to be stuck at the 6 win level. Claiborne did have one 9-3 season earlier in his career. I remember the call in shows were constantly berating Coach Claiborne for coaching past his prime and we needed a "big name coach" to take us to the proverbial "next level" so we could compete for the SEC Championship.

Of course, history records UK signed a "big name coach" by the name of Bill Curry, who may have been one of the worst UK coaches since the Bear dumped UK. Curry changed offensive coordinators about every two years. I suppose most UK fans recognized Curry's poor decision making in selecting offensive coordinators when he had Tim Couch run the option against Florida.

"Curry's poor decision making", surely you wouldn't denigrate "Useliac" & his coaching - genius! Seriously tho, that idiocy almost caused Tim Couch to transfer to Rocky Top!

 

[SanAntonioCat]

Yes he retired.

Coach Claiborne retired after an Ohio recruiting trip where his small aircraft encountered severe turbulence. Once the plane landed Coach Claiborne after some thought and family considerations decided to retire. Unfortunately, he suffered from early onset Alzheimer's disease and passed away in his early sixties.

 

[BBBLazing]

I'm too drunk..I'll read these tomorrow and comment.

 

[dgtatu01]

It would take a transcendent coach for us to overcome our recruiting deficiences.

When we're talking about our greatest recruiting classes ever and they rank 13th, 12th, 10th and 13th out of 14 teams in the sec, are you all really wondering why we struggle to compete? Really?

Maybe if we put together a string of AT LEAST the #10 recruiting class in the sec over 4 or 5 years, we might compete.

The bottom 4 of the sec recruiting rabkings contains the following teams the following # of times over the past 5 years:

Kentucky: 4
Vandy: 5
Missouri: 5
MSU: 3
Ole Miss: 1
Arkansas: 2

It's really as simple as that.

Always has been always will be. The years we have a great team, we have scored on all of the 3 & 4 star guys we landed and found a couple diamonds in the rough. The years we suck we haven't.

 

[dgtatu01]

i get it...but who would have thought Louisville...UofL...City College...would ever compete for high level bowls, and they are on the cusp of the playoffs. Fate is an excuse designed by the already defeated. We have to press on. WE will get there. And it'll take schnellenberger type attitudes to do it. But living proof it can be done is right down the road.

Louisville has had a laser focus on football for almost 30 years now. They built a recruiting pipeline in Florida with Schnellenberger. They have harvested from it every year. They are known and trusted at schools all over south Florida. They have steadily built a fan base and improved facilities. They have hired coaches that fit their vision.

Every coach we have hired has tried a new recruiting pipeline. We don't have any consistency anywhere. We let relationships flounder. We have only managed our facilities sporadically.

It takes laser focus and years of execution to get where Louisville is. We can't keep shifting philosophies and recruiting backgrounds with every new head coach. I think building a pipeline in Ohio is great, but if our next head coach starts recruiting Texas, that was a waste of time and energy. Stoops hasn't nourished the Georgia South Carolina pipeline that Joker built while head coach and assistant coach. More wasted effort. These are the underlying problems in our program. We aren't building anything, we're constantly tearing it back down to the foundation and starting over.

 

[uk_king_cat2]

 

[tmuck]

U of L's classes are around the same rank as Uk. After the 1st of the year they will be playing for the National championship. Why, transfers and Petrino. I know Uk would never go there. That's why nothing will every change for you. If you hit yourself in the head with a hammer for 30 years and it hurts every time STOP with the hammer.

Bump for hilarity. I came across this gem after looking up this troll's posts when I saw him talking smack on the basketball board.

 

[JDHoss]

U of L's classes are around the same rank as Uk. After the 1st of the year they will be playing for the National championship. Why, transfers and Petrino. I know Uk would never go there. That's why nothing will every change for you. If you hit yourself in the head with a hammer for 30 years and it hurts every time STOP with the hammer.

 

[law1127]

Stoops and Marrow give us our best chance for success ,by recruiting good players in quantity . Something none of the other coaches were able to do!

 

[SanAntonioCat]

Now I honestly wasn't being mean and if you took it that way, I'm sorry. We're all apart of the same family. I just think you guys settled and didn't demand better and that's why we're in this position.

I wished that most of the first part of your post happened, though. I don't think there was any reason to spray pain Stoll Field or even Commonwealth at any time. Boycotting games until change was made would've gone a long way back then, especially since football wasn't nearly the money maker that it is today. However, protesting change would've been good. A lot of your generation protested everything else, so why not UK football?

As far as riding it out through Joker, I was there, too. I truly feel that was a major part of the problem, which is why sticking it out through the rest of the coaching changes from the 60's through Joker did more harm than good, too.

In some ways I do hope we are to able save you guys from UK football failure and give you those seasons that you truthfully deserve. I've said my entire football life that there is absolutely no reason UK can't win 10-12 games most years, only excuses. UK can win a National Championship in football, but they need to be given the right resources and the right coaches.

I have no idea what Stoops ceiling is, but I do think he can build this program into a consistent threat to win the conference. Once we get to that level and maintain it over the next 5 years, we can raise our expectations. If he can't, then that next hire is absolutely crucial to the program and may be the most important hire in the history of our program, including Bear Bryant.

I had an uncle who taught me everything I know about UK. He died a few years ago at 91, so he saw UK through its golden years. I know what this university is capable of and I can't wait to see it happen. I wanted so badly to beat either Georgia or Tennessee to get than winning SEC season streak off our back so I could go put UK flowers at that man's grave. I hope I can do that soon.

I honor my elders and I want you to see and experience all of the things you should've seen your entire life. The only blame goes right to the UK administration. They're completely responsible for where we're at today.

I absolutely agree.

 

[SanAntonioCat]

IMO we've had 2 very good chances to change the course of our history . Hire Howard Schnellenberger and hire Bobby Petrino . We passed on both .

I would offer up that had UK hired Jerry Claiborne when they hired John Ray in 1969, UK's football future would probably have been much better. Claiborne led Virginia Tech and Maryland to much football success plus he wanted to coach his alma mater. Had Jerry been the coach we would not have had to suffer the consequences that Curci's probation brought us.

Actually Coach Claiborne and Charlie Bradshaw were the two finalists for the head football coach in 1962. AD Bernie Shively wanted another "Bear Bryant." That led to the disastrous decision that began the long, unfortunate five decade slide to SEC bottom feeder. Had coach Claiborne been selected in 1962, I doubt we would be having this discussion today.

 

[hmt5000]

One thing about recruiting and competing against teams constantly bringing in top 10 classes. Much like one and done has created parity in bball. All these kids playing as true freshman and going pro as jrs is causing parity in football.

The difference in talent is still there but at least if manage our roster and develop talent well... we could be fielding a team of mostly 4 and 5 year players going against mostly 3 and 4 years players.

Won't keep us competitive every year but every 3 or 4 years we could challenge for the east. I expect us to lose a few to early entry as well which could hurt us significantly more than the big boys if we aren't planning for it or don't catch a little luck.

Food for thought.

 

[law1127]

We've never recruited consistently ,like we are doing ,the last 4 years. We'll see the difference as these players mature in the program. New training center and a competent staff,will make a big improvement ! Can't build a program from the depths we were in, in 2-3 years. Stoops is on the right track!

 

[Deeeefense]

We've never recruited consistently ,like we are doing ,the last 4 years. We'll see the difference as these players mature in the program. New training center and a competent staff,will make a big improvement ! Can't build a program from the depths we were in, in 2-3 years. Stoops is on the right track!

true and we are not redshirting lots of guys that we could never redshirt in previous years.

 

[HCaulfield]

Nice post Kampus. FWIW your fandom precedes mine by a few years (I started with Bradshaw). Although I attended UofL I was primarily a UK football fan and attended many UK games while at UofL and after moving back to the city in the early 70s. That began to change in 1985 when Howard Schnellenberger was hired. (FWIW, I'm still a UK football fan but a UofL fan "first".)

It is not a stretch to say UofL football "began" in 1985. There was serious consideration of dropping football during my school years (mid-60s) as well as the immediate pre-Schnellenberger years (early 80s). I had the occasion to meet Howard several times and let me say this, the man is larger than life. By sheer force of personality he somehow made the school, the community and the then handful of fans believe that UofL could be "a major player" in college football.

There are probably some UK fans wondering how UofL football get "so good so fast". Well, we can dispute how good they are but it has not been very fast; it has taken 30+ years to get where they are today. While there have been some steps back since Howard coached the overall trend has been up. And for the past 15+ years or so Tom Jurich has been an outstanding administrator to not only secure but advance what Howard started.

I still believe UK can mimic UofL's "success". I think the vision and the resources are there. I recall when first CWS, then the Nutter Field House, then CWS expansion were all called as being "the missing piece of the puzzle". Truly turning things around at UK is not going to be a quick 4 or 5 year job. It will take time and there will be bumps in the road. But it must begin with a coach that can galvanize the fan base and, maybe more importantly, simply has a knack for doing more with less.

Peace

Interesting post Wildcard. Thanks

 

[SanAntonioCat]

Nice post Kampus. FWIW your fandom precedes mine by a few years (I started with Bradshaw). Although I attended UofL I was primarily a UK football fan and attended many UK games while at UofL and after moving back to the city in the early 70s. That began to change in 1985 when Howard Schnellenberger was hired. (FWIW, I'm still a UK football fan but a UofL fan "first".)

It is not a stretch to say UofL football "began" in 1985. There was serious consideration of dropping football during my school years (mid-60s) as well as the immediate pre-Schnellenberger years (early 80s). I had the occasion to meet Howard several times and let me say this, the man is larger than life. By sheer force of personality he somehow made the school, the community and the then handful of fans believe that UofL could be "a major player" in college football.

There are probably some UK fans wondering how UofL football get "so good so fast". Well, we can dispute how good they are but it has not been very fast; it has taken 30+ years to get where they are today. While there have been some steps back since Howard coached the overall trend has been up. And for the past 15+ years or so Tom Jurich has been an outstanding administrator to not only secure but advance what Howard started.

I still believe UK can mimic UofL's "success". I think the vision and the resources are there. I recall when first CWS, then the Nutter Field House, then CWS expansion were all called as being "the missing piece of the puzzle". Truly turning things around at UK is not going to be a quick 4 or 5 year job. It will take time and there will be bumps in the road. But it must begin with a coach that can galvanize the fan base and, maybe more importantly, simply has a knack for doing more with less.

Peace

Interesting post Wildcard. Thanks

Don't forget the period when UofL became a state supported university. A lot of funding went to insure they (deservedly) were part of the state university system by then governor Louie B. Nunn. Agreeably funded and becoming more academically rated, athletics rode the wave to future success.

Interestingly, that major funding took away funds for U.K. Does it not strike our alumni and athletic fan base that U.K. began a renaissance in the 2012 time period where nearly $5-6 billion has been financed to rebuild the entire U.K. campus from the health center to the athletic upgrades?

This is why the CWS renovation, football training facility, new baseball stadium, Olympic sports upgrades have occurred. Major donations, the SEC Network funds and imaginative financing has finally brought us to a place where we are on a level playing field with any university.

CMS now has the ability to recruit at a high level. He has a great staff and can redshirt most of our freshmen classes. This is a process of building a program. I understand the frustration and negativity of my fellow fans of a certain age.

We are a rising SEC football program. All of us should enjoy the ride.

 

[law1127]

Agree SA ,just hate the out of control tuition,etc.!

 

[SanAntonioCat]

Agree SA ,just hate the out of control tuition,etc.!

So do I, but state funding during the Great Recession was cut drastically across all state universities.

 

[ram1955]

So do I, but state funding during the Great Recession was cut drastically across all state universities.

So, while public schools had to cut costs, including staff, universities just raise tuition. Just doesn't seem right.

 

[Pike 96]

We've never recruited consistently ,like we are doing ,the last 4 years. We'll see the difference as these players mature in the program. New training center and a competent staff,will make a big improvement ! Can't build a program from the depths we were in, in 2-3 years. Stoops is on the right track!

Very nice thread. The money being put into the program at historically unprecedented levels has the capacity to changet the landscape for our program dramatically. A couple of things around that:

The stadium expansion was a great starting point but the importance of quickly getting the new state of the art training facility from a "wish list" item to built and operational was enormousy important. How many times in the past have we seen lip service paid to making upgrades of substance only to see the project pushed down the road. Ask yourself how many of our best recruits of late would be here from last yeas class without that concrete commitment.

Secondly, something not mentioned in this post is the huge increases made in cash spent down the expense list. We were paying our O and D coordinators in the 200-250k range before Stoops. That immediately more than doubled with Brown and Elliot and has continued to increase with House, Gran, Marrow and other coaches down the line. The importance of those salary increases can't be overstated. No way do you build long term success when your coaching pay scale is bottom of the confernce. Now we are fightin and often winning at keeping our coaches on staff against Michgian, Georgia, etc . That alone speaks well to the future.

Thse variables are outliers when comparing the landscape today verses our football history. Couple that with a successfull and happily logical recruiting strategy and we are best positioned for sustained success in my lifetime

 

[mtn cat1]

To quote former coach Claiborne, "It's the old 'iffin game', that is to say, 'iffin they had hired Jerry back in the day, we would probably be a top echelon program in the SEC today. Think what would have happened if UK had hired another "Billy Gillispie" type after getting rid of the original Billy Gillispie. Sometimes, repeated bad selections for a critical position can create a stigma to any organization which can't be fully overcome.

Kampus Korner, I don't know how I would rank, perhaps "Post Baby Boomer"! I listened to UK back in '47/'48, under Bear Bryant. I transferred to UK back in 1959, as a junior & saw my first game at Old Stoll Field that year.

Like you, I have survived a bevy of FB Coaches. Even tho we have not been able to match or even come close to those "glory years" under the Bear, yet I still have hope! What's the expression, "Hope Springs Eternal"? I still have hope that Coach Stoops will be able to elevate the program to the top level of the the SEC East! CONGRATULATION ON YOUR AS WELL AS THE OTHER BOOMERS THAT HAVE SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCE(S) IN THIS THREAD.

 

[SanAntonioCat]

To quote former coach Claiborne, "It's the old 'iffin game', that is to say, 'iffin they had hired Jerry back in the day, we would probably be a top echelon program in the SEC today. Think what would have happened if UK had hired another "Billy Gillispie" type after getting rid of the original Billy Gillispie. Sometimes, repeated bad selections for a critical position can create a stigma to any organization which can't be fully overcome.

Kampus Korner, I don't know how I would rank, perhaps "Post Baby Boomer"! I listened to UK back in '47/'48, under Bear Bryant. I transferred to UK back in 1959, as a junior & saw my first game at Old Stoll Field that year.

Like you, I have survived a bevy of FB Coaches. Even tho we have not been able to match or even come close to those "glory years" under the Bear, yet I still have hope! What's the expression, "Hope Springs Eternal"? I still have hope that Coach Stoops will be able to elevate the program to the top level of the the SEC East! CONGRATULATION ON YOUR AS WELL AS THE OTHER BOOMERS THAT HAVE SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCE(S) IN THIS THREAD.

Bless you, Mtn Cat! I thought I was old beginning my love of the Wildcats in 1952. But, you eclipse me. I recently lost a great friend at 93 who was a freshman at U.K. (After the war) in Bear Bryant's first year. Believe me, he was a fan of major proportions.

This football program will win. Let's hope our health and steadfast belief hold up the next few years.

 

[vhcat70]

One thing about recruiting and competing against teams constantly bringing in top 10 classes. Much like one and done has created parity in bball. All these kids playing as true freshman and going pro as jrs is causing parity in football.
....

Food for thought.

I'd like to think/hope that is true, but...

I think that is also causing the top talent to even more concentrate at top programs with the players' thought being they are more likely to get to the NFL quicker and/or with more certainty. I mean that I don't see new & different schools winning conferences & getting to the BCS 4 more often.

 

[vhcat70]

The stadium expansion was a great starting point

The stadium was upgraded to the benefit of some, but it wasn't expanded.

 

[redbudman]

I've read posts in other threads about UK fans having expectations for something better as regards the future success for our football program. As someone who became a UK fan in 1959, when I saw my first game at the old Stoll Field, I regretfully have to confess that I no longer harbor expectations that the UK football program will ever become any better than what its history has demonstrated since I attended my first UK game. I suspect many of my fellow "Baby Boomers" feel similarly.

Blanton Collier was the UK football coach when I saw my first game and I'm quite sure he and the ten UK coaches who have succeeded him did their best to help make UK football meet fan expectations. What us burgeoning "Baby Boomer" UK football fans did not know in 1959 was that Blanton Collier would be the last UK coach to win more games than he lost. Ironically, UK's last winning coach was fired after the 1962 season. Two years later, as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns Collier led his team to the NFL Championship, a year before the Super Bowl was created. All ten UK coaches who followed Collier over the next 54 years have lost more games than they won. These facts are not in dispute.

Some previous UK coaches raised fan expectations more than others. John Ray had "We Believe" bumper stickers printed which tens of thousands UK fans, all over the Commonwealth, pasted on their car bumpers. Ray was the former Defensive Coordinator at Notre Dame when that school was annually one of the best three programs in the nation. Ray talked about going to bowl games (when there weren't many bowls), winning the SEC Championship and even the National Championship. Alas, these elevated expectations never matched on the field performance and Ray was fired after only 4 years.

Although Bill Curry was no where near as brash as John Ray when it came to elevating fan expectations, he nevertheless did so if only because he was the previous head coach at Alabama. Curry was 10-2 during his last year at Alabama before the took the UK job. Curry had played in the NFL starting at center for the Baltimore Colts. UK finally had a coach with nationwide name recognition. Many "Boomers" believed at the time, we no longer had any excuses for not being successful. Alas, it was not to be. Curry lasted 7 years. His best season was 6-6. His overall record was 26-52 and was only 14-40 in the SEC.

After Curry, us "Boomers" as well as other UK fans have experienced the predictable but temporary euphoria and related elevated expectations that naturally come with the hiring of any new coach. We somehow believed, despite the evolving history to the contrary, that the next new coach would cause UK to become more successful than his predecessors. It hasn't happened.

For whatever reason, be it the lack of necessary university financial support, the need for a better athletic director or a better coach, the UK football program has never been able to be much more than mediocre. To be sure, about every 10 to 15 years or so, we will have what is a breakout season for us and win 7 or 8 games. However, after such fleeting and momentary success, we quickly fall back to our losing historical legacy.

At 67 years of age and cheering for the University of Kentucky football team for parts of 7 different decades, I have resigned myself to simply appreciating the entertainment and cherishing the victories when they come. No doubt there are some fellow "Boomers" who still "believe" as John Ray urged us in 1969, that the future will become brighter for Kentucky football. I want you to be right. I also would like to see it before the time comes for me to leave this earth. I simply have no expectation it will happen.

I am 55 and remember the John Ray slogan "We Believe" and believe it or not, I still do only because I KNOW we have the (for the first time) financial backing from some deep pockets who love football! I STILL believe!

 

[hmt5000]

I'd like to think/hope that is true, but...

I think that is also causing the top talent to even more concentrate at top programs with the players' thought being they are more likely to get to the NFL quicker and/or with more certainty. I mean that I don't see new & different schools winning conferences & getting to the BCS 4 more often.

UGA, uf, Miami, lsu, USC... all recruit top 10 or so every year. Coaching is definitely a factor but I think part of their problem is they never seem to have Sr laden teams. I mean, you lose 2 or 3 jrs every year, that leads to young guys being forced to play that should be rs'd. So not only do you lose that guy for a year but you may lose the next guy as a rs Sr.

Bama is recruiting so well that they can fill holes like us and Duke in bball. But the group behind the top 3ish are still missing on a position or 2 every year and that can be the difference between lsu being 11-1 or 9-4.

 

[law1127]

I watched my first game in 1953, this is the first time it seems we have consistent recruiting, and a plan to build sustainable success! It's a financial imperative to the U.K. Administration,knowing the fans will abandon the program , if there isn't the necessary support to be competitive!