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.
Mountain Cat, I applaud your optimism. While I am not as optimistic, I certainly don't believe that UK rising to the "top level of the SEC East" is "hopeless", I merely don't have any expectations it will happen during my remaining years. And, at age 67, in relatively good health, I hope to hang on for a while. Nevertheless, I am quite pleased with Mark Stoops's success this past year. In many ways, it reminds me of what Coach Rich Brooks did in 2006 when his team was 3-4 and had just gotten shut out by LSU 49-0. Fans were screaming for his firing, not unlike the sentiment expressed by many UK fans (including me) after Stoops' 2016 team blew a win to Southern Mississippi, got whupped bad by Florida and struggled for half the game before beating lowly New Mexico State. Like Brooks, in 2006, Stoops' 2016 team went on to finish the regular season at 7-5.
It remains to be seen of course, whether Stoops can have the kind of follow up "success" Brooks had after his 2006 Lazarus like revival when he went 8-5, 7-6 and 7-6. These kinds of seasonal records have, with few exceptions, represented the ceiling for UK football "success" since Bear Bryant dumped UK for Texas A&M in 1953, 64 years ago. If UK is to rise to the "top level of the SEC East", UK will have to get 9 wins a season on a regular basis. To get to 9 wins a season, UK would have to regularly beat at least 2 SEC teams like Georgia, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama and Texas A&M, plus the likes of the South Carolina's, Vanderbilt's, Mississippi's, etc. It would be awesome to see UK regularly win even 8 games a season let alone 9. However, this has never happened. Coach Bryant won 8 or more games three times in his 7 year tenure at UK.
Mountain Cat, I hope your optimism materializes. I don't expect it will happen but I sure will enjoy it if it does.