The First Domino To Fall: Settle Fired

[Finna_Go_HAM]

John Settle out as Kentucky RB's coach

John Settle is out as Kentucky Football's running backs coach after just two seasons with the program. Settle had previously been with Wisconsin from 2015-2021 before coming to Lexington.

www.lex18.com

Was also co-coordinator of the (Not So) Special Teams

 

[YaketySax]

Wonder how much this has to do with his recruiting too. We need a staff with more juice.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I figured this one was coming and it's the right decision. Will be interesting to see if Gran slides into that role. The job opening is already posted which history tells us means they already have their man.

If it's Gran, it's a huge win for the program

 

[sieken]

Wonder how much this has to do with his recruiting too. We need a staff with more juice.

I think a ton but, Stoops should have known that going in. He wasn’t considered a recruiter at Wisky.

 

[JimboBBN]

Just waiting for Scangarello to pop up..

 

[sieken]

I figured this one was coming and it's the right decision. Will be interesting to see if Gran slides into that role. The job opening is already posted which history tells us means they already have their man.

If it's Gran, it's a huge win for the program

I think that is the play as well. Need a recruiter in that spot.

 

[rick64]

Dedicated special teams coach. PLEASE!!!!!

 

[YaketySax]

I think a ton but, Stoops should have known that going in. He wasn’t considered a recruiter at Wisky.

Yeah it may be a case of he was the best of a bunch of kids held candidates available at the time too.

I still don’t know if the assistant salary pool increases again with stoops new contract. If so RB coach could get paid more (and Marrow too if he’s trying the UC maneuver)

 

[Finna_Go_HAM]

Dedicated special teams coach. PLEASE!!!!!

I agree - except you're allowed a specific number of coaches. If you have a dedicated ST coach you have to give up one of the other position coaches. It's the same situation a lot of teams face.

 

[ThunderMash]

I think around three more names are going to come up at some point or another. I'd be shocked if Scang wasn't one of them.

 

[sieken]

Yeah it may be a case of he was the best of a bunch of kids held candidates available at the time too.

I still don’t know if the assistant salary pool increases again with stoops new contract. If so RB coach could get paid more (and Marrow too if he’s trying the UC maneuver)

I wanted Cadilac the last time but I doubt UK can pay enough to get him away from AU. I agree with you, RB coach is a spot normally filled with a good recruiter. If pay ia an issue in today’s world, someone isn’t balancing the budget very well. Better team means better paydays, more exposure.

 

[Rockford]

Betting it is to upgrade staff's recruiting juice.

Not Settle's strong suit and they knew this when they got him.

But he has to pay the price for being who he is.

Tough profession.

But, I bet he will have a job soon.

 

[mrschwump]

Splitting hairs but he was probably not retained, not necessarily fired. Some may not realize it but usually position coaches work on a 2 year contract.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I think that is the play as well. Need a recruiter in that spot.

Not sure gran fits what we need as a recruiter. He really tailed off towards the end as of but it could be due to many reasons.

He could 100% identify RB talent though and coach them like few others.

 

[SaltyCat22]

Hire me for Special Teams coach. $100,000 a year. Order some special teams books from Amazon. Attend some coaches camps. Get some former kickers and punters to come fire up the the boys with some pep talks.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Just waiting for Scangarello to pop up..

Don't be surprised if this doesn't happen.

 

[Mulder14]

Cadillac Williams would get my vote if he isn’t retained at auburn.

 

[Justwantadecentteam]

I'm on the Cadillac train. Knows the position and also can recruit ☑️☑️

 

[Uncle Adolph]

Aside from our special teams being horrible, I never saw his name mentioned with a recruit that signed with us
Maybe I missed it

 

[UKfan215]

Gran would be a huge step up from Settle. Our running back room has turned to garbage outside of CRod, who was already well coached by Gran. Eddie Gran is one of the best RB coaches in the nation. He's the guy who coached Cadillac Williams when he played at Auburn. If I am not mistaken, Auburn had a trio of backs that year (2004?) that each rushed for over 1,000 yards!

 

[truebluewildcat]

Eddie Gran makes the most sense.

If there’s one thing that guy can do it’s draw up a run play.

Hes the Macgiver of run game.

“okay Eddie…we got a QB who can throw, an OL that can pass protect, and WR who can catch…what can you do with that?”

EG “run the ball with the QB…run the ball with the WR as the QB…”

 

[K_TIME]

1. Makes sense to me....RB coach has to be a recruiter. And Settle simply was not a recruiter. But he had CRod for 2 year and could not develop Smoke Wright to spell him. McClain is decent scat back
2. The guy who lasted two weeks and quit to be to NFL was a Rb and special teams coach

My bet is Stoops is getting a guy who can Rb coach special teams and recruit

 

[maysvilleky]

Hope he’s not the lone scapegoat.

 

[3632]

I think the Buffano spot needs an upgrade but not sure that will happen. He’s one of the ‘back home guys’

 

[UKfan215]

Hope he’s not the lone scapegoat.

Yeah, I don't see how the heck you could get rid of Settle and keep Yenser. Settle's unit wasn't making any progress and he was totally absent in terms of recruiting. But Yenser's unit has just been awful. And there's nothing in his history that makes me believe he ever has the potential to be a good coach.

And to be honest, I think Scang needs to join them. I'm just not sold on him as an OC at the college level. He is too dedicated to a system when at the college level you need someone who can adapt to the roster they have from year to year. This isn't the NFL where you can pick and choose your roster. You have to take what you can get sometimes.

 

[JHB4UK]

I think the Buffano spot needs an upgrade but not sure that will happen. He’s one of the ‘back home guys’

Do like Gran, kick him back off field & in the office

Good start. Awful recruiter, awful development of RBs not named CRod, abysmal special teams (whatever part was his, all were bad).

Get a damn wardaddy SEC experience guy in that spot

 

[Rembrandt90]

Wonder how much this has to do with his recruiting too. We need a staff with more juice.

I have more respect for Settle as a RB position coach than most people here do. But our special teams are literally the worst I have ever seen, and that comes down on Settle. I have never seen so many blocked kicks and bad snaps. And although Settle recruited successfully when he was at WI, he has not recruited any players here AFAIK. I suspect Moorman's and Keith's flips must have hurt Settle's stock inside the program quite a bit.

Whoever becomes our next RB coach, I suspect he will be an effective recruiter. I doubt it will be Gran. If Scan stays around, assigning Gran as one of his assistants would be awkward. If Scan leaves, the smart play is to get a new OC in place and ask him to help with the RB coach and OL coach searches.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

When it comes to your RB’s Coach you simply cannot settle.

 

[maroon79]

Is Settle really a loss?

Sad to say, but like you guys, I never understood the hire

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I know he has been a disappointment, but when he was hired I thought it was a big hire. Wisconsin had produced some real stude RBs.

 

[UKFan32065]

Get Deland McCullough from Notre Dame and flip his son from UC.

 

[trueblujr2]

Yeah, I don't see how the heck you could get rid of Settle and keep Yenser. Settle's unit wasn't making any progress and he was totally absent in terms of recruiting. But Yenser's unit has just been awful. And there's nothing in his history that makes me believe he ever has the potential to be a good coach.

And to be honest, I think Scang needs to join them. I'm just not sold on him as an OC at the college level. He is too dedicated to a system when at the college level you need someone who can adapt to the roster they have from year to year. This isn't the NFL where you can pick and choose your roster. You have to take what you can get sometimes.

I don’t like the idea of our offense having 4 OC’s and 4 OL coaches in 4 years. If Yenser has to be replaced, I’d at least like to see what Scan can do with an improved line, better QB protection, and more time for the QB to make decisions. I still think a lot of our offensive woes were a direct result of poor line play. It literally limits what you can do.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I think the Buffano spot needs an upgrade but not sure that will happen. He’s one of the ‘back home guys’

I was all in the fire bufano train until about mid season. We have more talented depth at safety than ever. Childress is like 5th down and he would easily be our starter most years. He must be doing something right

 

[tf4fun]

Not sure gran fits what we need as a recruiter. He really tailed off towards the end as of but it could be due to many reasons.

He could 100% identify RB talent though and coach them like few others.

That may be true, but he does have a good eye for RB talent...

 

[rolaid]

It’s about recruiting boys … that’s it

 

[Girthang]

1. Makes sense to me....RB coach has to be a recruiter. And Settle simply was not a recruiter. But he had CRod for 2 year and could not develop Smoke Wright to spell him. McClain is decent scat back
2. The guy who lasted two weeks and quit to be to NFL was a Rb and special teams coach

My bet is Stoops is getting a guy who can Rb coach special teams and recruit

THAT was one of 2 big hits we took in a span of a year.

 

[Girthang]

I don’t like the idea of our offense having 4 OC’s and 4 OL coaches in 4 years. If Yenser has to be replaced, I’d at least like to see what Scan can do with an improved line, better QB protection, and more time for the QB to make decisions. I still think a lot of our offensive woes were a direct result of poor line play. It literally limits what you can do.

I don't like change of that frequency either, but results speak louder than fears at this point.

 

[yoshukai]

I have more respect for Settle as a RB position coach than most people here do. But our special teams are literally the worst I have ever seen, and that comes down on Settle. I have never seen so many blocked kicks and bad snaps. And although Settle recruited successfully when he was at WI, he has not recruited any players here AFAIK. I suspect Moorman's and Keith's flips must have hurt Settle's stock inside the program quite a bit.

Whoever becomes our next RB coach, I suspect he will be an effective recruiter. I doubt it will be Gran. If Scan stays around, assigning Gran as one of his assistants would be awkward. If Scan leaves, the smart play is to get a new OC in place and ask him to help with the RB coach and OL coach searches.

I’ll admit that you know tons more about what’s going on in recruiting than I do , but I’ve been told by someone I trust that it was UK that instigated the Moorman decommit . For whatever reason the kid really regressed this year . Im sure Keith’s flip didn’t help though.

 

[Girthang]

This may give clarification to what Stoops was saying all year when people were talking about Levis and the OL. He kept saying "we have to get better around him" over and over again.

Yes. The line had its issues, and calling the proper blitz pickup was Levis' responsibility, but perhaps the RBs were also not seeing it or handling it as well, and that would also be on Settle. I know I'm reaching a bit, but it seems weird that Stoops was always diverting things away from Levis and OL without ever mentioning anything in particular. What else is left besides those 2?

 

[The-Hack]

He could 100% identify RB talent though and coach them like few others.

If Gran found C-Rod and Snell, and Coached Cadillac at Auburn, who could be nester for the RB position?