Mark Stoops is two games away from having three full seasons on the job. Year 3 was supposed to show a step forward for the program, but has unraveled just as Year 2, with the team looking over matched and/or simply out coached each week. The Vandy game, once again, demonstrated coaching decisions that were puzzling, at best. At worst, they show a coach that has the name, pedigree and recruiting acumen to succeed, but lacks the basic strategic football knowledge to simply keep from doing in-game harm to his team. When you add in that, according to reports and my opinion, he has lost the team's focus, it all adds up to a program that has taken two steps back and will be difficult to recover.
For the second week in a row, Stoops rolled the dice near midfield and went for a 4th and 1. I don't blame him for this decision. In fact, I once listened to Steve Spurrier say that he almost always went for 4th and 1 as long as he was on the opponent's side of the 50. What I do fault are the two ridiculous play calls on those 4th down plays. On the first one, UK lined up on the Wildcat, announcing to the world that Jo Jo Kemp would be keeping the ball. Of course, they were stoned and lost possession. The second play saw the team attempt to draw Vandy offside, then bleed the clock and then run what seemed to be a hurried 25 yard fade to Blake Bone, who was manhandled out of bounds and never came within 10 yards of the pass. Both plays were equally ill conceived. You can't announce your attention to run, nor throw a low percentage bomb in those situations. Those are extreme plays and handicap your team before the ball is snapped. This is poor coaching.
Twice during the game, disorganization led to costly coaching decisions. First, with the punt team on the field on 4th down, there was mass confusion that resulted in UK using a precious 2nd half timeout to prevent a delay of game. On the second occasion, Jordan Swindle inexplicably left the field on a field goal attempt, causing him to scramble to get back in position. With him obviously not going to make it in time, the kicker and holder frantically were waving their arms toward the sidelines trying to get permission to call a timeout. When they didn't receive it, a delay was called pushing the field goal back to 37 yards. It missed just wide left, but clearly would've been good from 5 yards closer. Why was Stoops willing to waste a timeout before a punt, but not before a field goal of medium range? It clearly makes no logical sense and is indicative of a lack of strategic knowledge and poor coaching. Isn't it interesting that, during a week in which he bristled on KSR at the suggestion that the team was disorganized, disorganization clearly cost the team points in a tight game? Actually, it was just inevitable. Not only was the disorganization question fair, anyone can see that it is factual. This team is frequently a mess with not enough (or too many) on the field, defenders clearly not ready for the snap, formation penalties and other basic errors. After the game, I see that Stoops began an answer with "You guys can write what you want...". This is a disappointing response and an indicator that Stoops hasn't learned his lesson. Will he ever?
Finally, the team has just generally taken a step back. The QB suddenly can do nothing. Boom Williams either breaks a big run, or retreats like a Little League back trying to out flank the defense on every play. Dorian Baker is no better than 50/50 to catch a pass that hits him in the numbers, but then celebrates the smallest gain as if he has won the Powerball. Ryan Timmons has gone from the team's best receiver to being virtually non-existent in 3 years. Jordan Swindle makes critical, back-breaking mistakes each and every game, including last night. Blake Bone just isn't any good, quite frankly. Snodgrass has already transferred. The Tight End is severely underutilized. The Air Raid offense looks like like a piecemeal collection of disparate ideas, rather than a cohesive system. Why are all of these things true in Year 3?
Stoops will be here 2 more years regardless, in my opinion. He inherited an absolute disaster from Joker and has the full support of Barnhart. Calls for his job are a waste of time, at this point. He has undoubtedly improved recruiting, but his in game coaching and offensive philosophy are indicative of a lost ball in tall weeds. I give this team virtually no chance of beating Louisville, so this looks like another 5-7 year and the program momentum is gone. It is very difficult to recover a program once it is off the tracks, so Stoops must improved monumentally in a short period of time or the rest of the fans (and his team) will check out (a lot already have). Perhaps a more realistic goal is for he and his staff to do no harm during games, rather than make a positive difference. Right now, they are essentially forfeiting games with poor coaching.
For the second week in a row, Stoops rolled the dice near midfield and went for a 4th and 1. I don't blame him for this decision. In fact, I once listened to Steve Spurrier say that he almost always went for 4th and 1 as long as he was on the opponent's side of the 50. What I do fault are the two ridiculous play calls on those 4th down plays. On the first one, UK lined up on the Wildcat, announcing to the world that Jo Jo Kemp would be keeping the ball. Of course, they were stoned and lost possession. The second play saw the team attempt to draw Vandy offside, then bleed the clock and then run what seemed to be a hurried 25 yard fade to Blake Bone, who was manhandled out of bounds and never came within 10 yards of the pass. Both plays were equally ill conceived. You can't announce your attention to run, nor throw a low percentage bomb in those situations. Those are extreme plays and handicap your team before the ball is snapped. This is poor coaching.
Twice during the game, disorganization led to costly coaching decisions. First, with the punt team on the field on 4th down, there was mass confusion that resulted in UK using a precious 2nd half timeout to prevent a delay of game. On the second occasion, Jordan Swindle inexplicably left the field on a field goal attempt, causing him to scramble to get back in position. With him obviously not going to make it in time, the kicker and holder frantically were waving their arms toward the sidelines trying to get permission to call a timeout. When they didn't receive it, a delay was called pushing the field goal back to 37 yards. It missed just wide left, but clearly would've been good from 5 yards closer. Why was Stoops willing to waste a timeout before a punt, but not before a field goal of medium range? It clearly makes no logical sense and is indicative of a lack of strategic knowledge and poor coaching. Isn't it interesting that, during a week in which he bristled on KSR at the suggestion that the team was disorganized, disorganization clearly cost the team points in a tight game? Actually, it was just inevitable. Not only was the disorganization question fair, anyone can see that it is factual. This team is frequently a mess with not enough (or too many) on the field, defenders clearly not ready for the snap, formation penalties and other basic errors. After the game, I see that Stoops began an answer with "You guys can write what you want...". This is a disappointing response and an indicator that Stoops hasn't learned his lesson. Will he ever?
Finally, the team has just generally taken a step back. The QB suddenly can do nothing. Boom Williams either breaks a big run, or retreats like a Little League back trying to out flank the defense on every play. Dorian Baker is no better than 50/50 to catch a pass that hits him in the numbers, but then celebrates the smallest gain as if he has won the Powerball. Ryan Timmons has gone from the team's best receiver to being virtually non-existent in 3 years. Jordan Swindle makes critical, back-breaking mistakes each and every game, including last night. Blake Bone just isn't any good, quite frankly. Snodgrass has already transferred. The Tight End is severely underutilized. The Air Raid offense looks like like a piecemeal collection of disparate ideas, rather than a cohesive system. Why are all of these things true in Year 3?
Stoops will be here 2 more years regardless, in my opinion. He inherited an absolute disaster from Joker and has the full support of Barnhart. Calls for his job are a waste of time, at this point. He has undoubtedly improved recruiting, but his in game coaching and offensive philosophy are indicative of a lost ball in tall weeds. I give this team virtually no chance of beating Louisville, so this looks like another 5-7 year and the program momentum is gone. It is very difficult to recover a program once it is off the tracks, so Stoops must improved monumentally in a short period of time or the rest of the fans (and his team) will check out (a lot already have). Perhaps a more realistic goal is for he and his staff to do no harm during games, rather than make a positive difference. Right now, they are essentially forfeiting games with poor coaching.
