A guy that has 36 years coaching and recruiting experience all over the country vs a guy who has zero coaching and recruiting experience and works in real estate doesn't excite you? Odd.
UK Hiring New LB Coach
- Thread starter UK2KJAG
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Same here. I pitched the idea of a 4-3-5 defensive scheme
I'm just glad some here aren't involved in UK football personnel decisions.
My complaint wasnt that he didnt open it up more, it was that he got to where he tightened up when the game tightened up and got very predictable which led to some close losses and several other hang on wins that could have been eaiser. But he clearly did do some great work in difficult circumstances.
Legend has it a couple coach's are still laughing and one hurt himself laughing and will miss spring ball
This time, it is happening. Mike Stoops is UK's new ILB coach.
To me, this seems like an unusual move in some ways, despite the fact that Mike and Mark are brothers. It is not common for a football coach to work for his younger brother. To this point, Mark Stoops has tended to hire younger assistant coaches known more for recruiting than for developing players, with the exception of Dean Hood. So Mike Stoops is not the typical hire.
Mike is 60 years old. He has experience as a DC at Oklahoma and FIU, and served as Arizona's HC. Previously, he turned down a job as a UK defensive position coach, but the pay may be better now. Mike brings a couple of big advantages. He coached in NC games at OK. So there's that. And he is an experienced recruiter with connections in TX and FL, which should come in plenty handy at UK. It's an interesting hire, but it is hard to imagine Mike Stoops ending his career as a LB coach. I have to wonder how long he will stick around here.
Mike Stoops obviously played here for Iowa too.
As far as his coaching experience, there's plenty....and lots of it has been a bit rocky. Fired as HC at Arizona and his time as Oklahoma's Defensive Coordinator for brother Bob was quite controversial-- Bob pressured strongly to remove his brother at one point. Ultimately Lincoln Riley fired him at OU as DC.
Being a position coach should be a good fit for Mike. In the past he was known to has some temper issues, but think that's improved.
On the flip side as a recruit would you connect more to a young former NFL player or a 60 year old who never played in the league? Who would you rather learn from? Who has more desire to prove something, a washed up fired HC or a young guy who wants to make a name for himself?
I’m lukewarm on the hire, mainly because Stoops will never fire his brother if he doesn’t have fire to succeed.
I loved Wes Woodyard as a player, but he was never an option for this particular coaching job. These days, nobody begins their coaching career as an SEC position coach. Not saying it has never happened in history. Just saying a coach of a 10-3 SEC team does not hire a LB coach with no experience for OJT these days. The uncertainty is too high, and the pressure for immediate results is way too heavy. There are always experienced options, especially this year. Whether Mike Stoops is the best of those is a different discussion, but it is a safe hire with some interesting recruiting implications in FL and TX. Recruiting is largely about connections.
Mike Stoops' recruiting experience cannot accurately be described as being based in KS and OK. He has recruited in TX for a long time, and he is coming here from FL. Those are potentially important recruiting states where we can use more connections. The better our program gets, the more important those states become. I won't bore you with a list of excellent prospects previously recruited by Mike Stoops, and also won't try to make a case that recruiting at UK is just like recruiting at OK. Obviously there are differences. But this is an interesting hire.
actually he did play a few games in the NFL as well as Arena FB
how many coaches in CFB played in the NFL?
maybe half?
Costly in illegal procedure, too many men on the field, penalties, since 12 doesn't work well south of Canada.
The post I was replying to stated "he could dip into Kansas and Oklahoma for a few recruits" and I replied why that wasn't viable for our program for reasons I previously stated. I don't think his one season at FAU really gave him enough time to make inroads in recruiting down there. But if the staff wants to try to get back into Florida then I'm all for it. I would be more interested though in him having Texas as his main recruiting area as I believe he has vast recruiting ties there.
I would prefer someone who has excelled at actually playing the LB position or coached the position successfully. However I do agree that Stoops probably made it a point in his negotiations. And that’s why I thought it would happen when we started discussing replacements for Sumrall.
Why do we keep hearing people talk about Woodyard? Has he applied for ANY coaching job? I pick reanimating Bear Bryant and having him coach LBers!!!
Oklahoma fans relieved for us he’ll only just be a position coach
Perhaps. I'm only skeptical because we get this same headline every single off-season when we have ANY job opening on the football staff. The man's been on the verge of getting hired by Mark for what seems like 5 years.
I don't have any issues with the hire although I'd hoped for someone younger and more exciting but I'd be fine with Mike Stoops.
As a positional coach what do you really have to lose? He’s the greatest LB to ever play the game and his legendary status I bet would be a needle mover in recruiting.
Not sure why anyone would question CMS and his hires, especially on the D side of the ball. I don't know anything about him, but if I were a UK fan I would climb on board with whoever he wanted, especially on that side of the ball.
Good news, then. For interest, here are some hs players from the state of FL successfully recruited by Mike Stoops. He actually has a track record. As you see, no reason to be concerned about his recruiting inroads in FL.
Gary Simon, St. Petersburg, #30 CB nationally in 2012
Ahmad Thomas, Miami, #36 S nationally in 2013
Brendan Radley-Hiles, Bradenton, #38 ranked player and #5 CB nationally in 2018
Nik Bonitto, Ft Lauderdale, #220 ranked player and #17 LB nationally in 2018
Jaden Davis, Ft Lauderdale, #222 ranked player and # 25 CB nationally in 2019
All in all, as a college assistant coach, Mike Stoops has successfully recruited at least 57 hs players, 5 of whom were national top 100 and 16 of whom were national top 200. Of interest to us, 11 were from TX, 3 from CA, and 2 from our neighboring state of MO. The man can recruit.
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Does age slow down a coach as a recruiter, or does it make him wiser as an evaluator and planner? Mike Stoops is younger than Nick Saban, Brian Kelly, Sam Pittman, Mike Leach, and Mac Brown. They still seem pretty well plugged in. Mike Stoops just recently spent two years working as an analyst at Alabama, which tells me that he is still inquisitive and invested in college football.
You were not a supporter of the Mark Stoops hire either. So there's that.
I see both potentially good and not as good aspects of hiring Mike. But mostly good. In any case, Mark has done a pretty good job of building his program and his staff. He has earned the benefit of the doubt. I will gladly give that to him, not that it matters.
When I mentioned WW it had nothing to do with this job. Just think on down the road he could turn into a good coach. One of those guys that has a high work ethic built in along with a drive to lead and succeed. Our program is way too far along to take any high chances at any position. To me this hire first has to be someone that can recruit at a high level if we are going to maintain what we have obtained and possibly move it further along. The coaching part of it is big but the guy has to recruit. On the coaching part it is a matter of having the ability to physically and mentally prepare a group of guys at the LB position and a part of that is him being able to communicate and motivate. The good part of it is the guy has as much experience you can ask for, the kind that will help MS not have to worry a lot about that part of the job, all the little things that make a difference. The guy has potential to be a good recruiter with that experience and all the connections he has already attained. And third he is working under White who has done a good job with the talent he has had and considering the programs he has had to go against. So it is a safe hire that has the potential to move the needle some. And finally the way MS is, the drive he has for the program, IMO if his brother is dragging the program down any he would make a change and I think his brother would be fine with it at his age.
I wouldn't complain if he were able to bring in some top 100 talent we will see how it all plays out. I'm just skeptical of the hire but hope he knocks it out of the park.
no one really knows if WW would be a good coach or a good recruiter
it is all just speculation
he could turn out to be great or a flop
with that said i would like to get him in the fold at some point to find out (providing he wants too)
I find all this angst over hiring Mike Stoops to coach a position pretty amusing. The guy has been a P5 HC for crying out loud, and coaching for 36 years... he's over qualified. He sure as hell knows what he must do on the recruiting trail, and easily understands how to coach the LB unit.
I’ve never really
That has always been my take from afar. That he was too emotional to be ‘in charge’ but as a position guy you can bring that without the emotion impacting strategy and decision making.
And I would add that I really haven’t cared about the defensive hires in recent seasons because that’s Mark’s gig and if something isn’t working he’ll make the adjustments and changes quickly, he knows what he’s looking for. It’s been more the offensive hires that I wonder if it will end up making sense at times. Didn’t seem like he had a feel for what he wanted on that side.
When he promoted Buffano that had the feel of ‘questionable’ from a resume perspective but in my mind it didn’t bother me because he’ll get things stepped up if he needs to on that side. Once he let DJ Eliot out of here I think it showed he would do what he thought he needed to do.
I mean yeah we would all love that. Obviously Kentucky's recruiting has came a long, long way under Stoops, but do you realize how few of those guys we have gotten in our entire history? And that includes Vince.
Oh I know, that's why I said earlier that he did all this at OU. That's why I don't think he will be all that great here on the recruiting front. Unfortunately, UK doesn't have the same weight behind its name as OU does so I don't see him coming close to bringing in any of that type of talent. I know he can coach LBers, I just think this is just going to be another recruiting dud on the staff when we needed an ace recruiter with this hire. I'm not a fan of this hire but hoping it pans out because if it doesn't I don't see Mark firing him.
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