This comment sums up Stoops can't fix the program

[K_TIME]

These comments from Stoops almost confirms to me....he has no idea of how to turn this thing around. And is eerily reminiscent of Calipari comments while UK bball spiraled out of control and he was never able to get it back.

The football program has fundamental schematic and philosophy problems on offense. Similar style of defense to play conservative way too much. Stoops simply thinking "being tougher" and "playing with an edge " is the issue pretty much tells me he has no realistic pathway to fix things....and he's got to go at seasons end. Great coach like Saban realized he needed to alter his approach to stay on top and did....Stoops has no plan to embrace the needed changes and thusly the program is spiraling as a result.

Mark Stoops
“We’re going to respond. When people hit us, we’re going to hit back. I didn’t feel the edge and the attitude and the fight that we normally play with,” Stoops said.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen come game time. Wild things happen,” said the Kentucky head coach. “You have to respond and we didn’t respond very well today.”

John Calipari
“Now, real simply, we have to get more physical, we have to get 50-50 balls, and that includes rebounds that are free that we’ve gotten and we haven’t gotten,” Calipari added. “And we’ve got to get, I’d say 10% better defensively.”

 

[cats2010]

Stoops is a better football coach than cal is a basketball coach. Not really meant as a compliment to stoops coaching either as cal is utter dog shit on the sidelines. Stoops does have a system albeit a failed one but he really doesn’t know how to coach any other way. Good run of 8 consecutive bowl games but that’s coming to an end this year. Don’t see UK ever making another bowl under stoops actually.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

He’s not wrong. Attitude is 50% of the game.

 

[K_TIME]

He’s not wrong. Attitude is 50% of the game.

So who needs to play tougher? This such coach speak nonsense to take blame off inept schematic and gameplan by staff.

To have Beamer out maneuver Stoops to generate scores....while Stoops is just red faced and throws for 44 yards passing.....just terrible job.

 

[gojvc]

So who needs to play tougher? This such coach speak nonsense to take blame off inept schematic and gameplan by staff.

To have Beamer out maneuver Stoops to generate scores....while Stoops is just red faced and throws for 44 yards passing.....just terrible job.

44 yards. I can’t even wrap my mind around that.

 

[SkyPrince1]

44 yards. I can’t even wrap my mind around that.

All comes back to recruiting and developing the QB position.
Portal is a crapshoot.
UK and FSU both with QB's who have a "name" but no game.

 

[BigBlue1992]

Stoops is a better football coach than cal is a basketball coach. Not really meant as a compliment to stoops coaching either as cal is utter dog shit on the sidelines. Stoops does have a system albeit a failed one but he really doesn’t know how to coach any other way. Good run of 8 consecutive bowl games but that’s coming to an end this year. Don’t see UK ever making another bowl under stoops actually.

Huh? There’s no way you believe that first sentence. Ones in the Hall of Fame. One has a national championship along with multiple runner ups and final fours. One has been beating #1 teams for decades and has been #1 in the country on multiple occasions. One is listed as a top 25 coach in the history of the sport.

The other.. gets invited to bowl games to play against teams who are barely above .500. Maybe has one win over a top 10 team in his 12 years as a head coach. Has maybe cracked the top 10 once.. although not sure about that. Doesn’t wanna be here but literally can’t find another job at a power conference school who actually wants him.

Again I ask, huh?

 

[BBBLazing]

Stoops is a better football coach than cal is a basketball coach. Not really meant as a compliment to stoops coaching either as cal is utter dog shit on the sidelines. Stoops does have a system albeit a failed one but he really doesn’t know how to coach any other way. Good run of 8 consecutive bowl games but that’s coming to an end this year. Don’t see UK ever making another bowl under stoops actually.

You can tell by their accomplishments that your assessment is wrong.

 

[SkyPrince1]

You can tell by their accomplishments that your assessment is wrong.

Even if you take accomplishments out of the equation, Stoops has made just as many in game blunders over the years as Cal.
Stoops clock mismanagement especially early in his tenure comes to mind.

 

[aikenite4uk]

The concerns a lot of us had in the off season (including the OP), revolved around the offensive line. Obviously those were well founded as we were tragically inept in pass pro. This glaring weakness on offense, and a defense that is soft as butter in coverage made me turn off the game early in the 3rd quarter. Unwatchable.

 

[Boz]

All comes back to recruiting and developing the QB position.
Portal is a crapshoot.
UK and FSU both with QB's who have a "name" but no game.

I wish the only problem this team has is QB. So many problems

 

[K_TIME]

The concerns a lot of us had in the off season (including the OP), revolved around the offensive line. Obviously those were well founded as we were tragically inept in pass pro. This glaring weakness on offense, and a defense that is soft as butter in coverage made me turn off the game early in the 3rd quarter. Unwatchable.

But this can’t lot at the feet of just bad Oline?

Four of the five current Oline player last year snd while not a great pass blocking unit….they were at least mediocre imo….

There is serious coaching and scheme deficiency moreso then raw talent. 44 yards passing vs a decent but nowhere elite USC defense….come on now

 

[R.O.T.Muckinfush]

All comes back to recruiting and developing the QB position.
Portal is a crapshoot.
UK and FSU both with QB's who have a "name" but no game.

I don't blame it on the players so much as the scheme and play calling. I've been saying it since 2013 when Stoops came in with the "air raid" and abandoned that to run the wildcat within a couple of weeks.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Stoops is right but he's sleeping in the bed he made. The ultimate problem is our culture or lack thereof.

Stoops wants thr culture he talks about and he mostly has it except....he has some offensive guys they paid alot of money and promises of touches and presumably boosters to keep happy.

That makes for an impossible mix that doesn't work. You either have team oriented players upset because touches are getting forced or selfish players upset because they arent getting touches. We saw it derail the offense last year. We saw it again last game. If things wre going good, its all good. When things aren't, everyone's mad about their touches. You cant and wont win that way.

Contrat that with defense who has very little turnover and two potential first rounders like deion and max willing to play their role. Doesn't mean those guys always play well but we never have to change our entire approach just because of promises made.

Until we start paying the nil to the right people culture wise on offense, we are sliding instead of climbing the mountain.

 

[SkyPrince1]

I don't blame it on the players so much as the scheme and play calling. I've been saying it since 2013 when Stoops came in with the "air raid" and abandoned that to run the wildcat within a couple of weeks.

Play calling was terrible Sat. and no adjustments.
FWIW, we could have won the game with Lynn Bowden under center and our current backs.
The weakest part of SC's defense was the middle but BH wants to attack the edge with jet sweeps.

 

[YardCat]

He’s not wrong. Attitude is 50% of the game.

I think our guys thought that SC was going to be cake walk but when we were smacked we said thank you can I have another.

 

[MadaboutBlue]

Stoops is a better football coach than cal is a basketball coach.

As evidenced by exactly what standard of measurement? Cal deserves a lot of criticism for his post 2015 career at Kentucky, but the fact is, he has had a major impact on the national stage at every step of his career. Stoops has had almost no impact nationally and not much in the SEC.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

i thought UK looked flat from the outset and never really got into a solid groove outside of the 2nd Q pic and FG.

Is that on the HC or the players? I personally think they underestimated South Carolina, like me, and were looking ahead to #1 Georgia, like me and got punched in the face.

 

[gamecockcat]

A lot of failures in the program right now: 1) inability to adjust in-game by the staff; 2) OL that is in shambles with multi-year players making the same mistakes and seeming to have regressed from FR and SO performance levels; 3) multiple misses in each of the last 3 or 4 recruiting classes, especially on the OL, have left us in a bad spot; 4) undisciplined play on both sides: lining up offsides 2 consecutive plays, catastrophic blown coverages every game, OL that whiff on incoming DL/LBs, etc.; 5) QB who, when in trouble, stares down 1 receiver and then throws into trouble; 6) a roster than looks and plays soft/weak with only a few exceptions, doesn't it seem like our OL gets bullied game after game - where is this excellent S&C program we've heard so much about showing up on the field?

Not sure how to address and/or fix any of the above. Starting over with a new staff would be a drastic step and, most likely, would result in a few really bad years (which may happen anyway). But, it may also be the first step along the path I thought we were on a few years ago: 7-10 wins consistently, physical teams that hit you in the mouth, calculated aggressiveness on both sides of the ball, disciplined, well-coached teams that don't blow assignments consistently.

 

[SkyPrince1]

i thought UK looked flat from the outset and never really got into a solid groove outside of the 2nd Q pic and FG.

Is that on the HC or the players? I personally think they underestimated South Carolina, like me, and were looking ahead to #1 Georgia, like me and got punched in the face.

Impossible to know the players mindsets pre game but how many current UK players have had a victory over SC?
Don't see how you could overlook them considering they've won the last two coming in, first SEC game of the season etc

 

[jeffky]

Saturday was all on stoops he is now beamers "BIATCH" epic failure too many years stoops gets beat by teams that should not be beating us definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result time for change long overdue

 

[Jazzycat]

Coaching and lack thereof is problem 1 and 2, imho. This team was not prepared, lacked any responses to USC ‘s aggressiveness and showed no evidence of making any adjustments when schemes were not working. I am not sure what the coaches are spending time doing but, it sure doesn’t look like these players are getting what they need to be successful. Time for a major change if things don’t improve immediately - no excuses..

 

[cats2010]

Huh? There’s no way you believe that first sentence. Ones in the Hall of Fame. One has a national championship along with multiple runner ups and final fours. One has been beating #1 teams for decades and has been #1 in the country on multiple occasions. One is listed as a top 25 coach in the history of the sport.

The other.. gets invited to bowl games to play against teams who are barely above .500. Maybe has one win over a top 10 team in his 12 years as a head coach. Has maybe cracked the top 10 once.. although not sure about that. Doesn’t wanna be here but literally can’t find another job at a power conference school who actually wants him.

Again I ask, huh?

Cal was the best recruiter in the game, no doubt, which aside from his UMASS days was the catalyst of his success. He got loads of talent at Memphis and UK yet never knew how to coach it. Really don’t care about his hall of fame induction as that is a mere slap in the face to those who actually belong. Stoops has taken UK and made them a respectable program in the best conference in the land despite coaching like a scared pussy the majority of the time. UK might never take that next big step of being a consistent competitor in the SEC and top 15 but it certainly will not with stoops as he cannot or will not adjust his coaching schemes.

We have all watched cal coach enough for the past 15 years to see he actually knows nothing about actual coaching. Give me a break about his accolades list, it’s talent driven, not because he is some great mastermind. If he was just average he would have 4-5 titles on his resume instead of the 1.