I've always been a huge Eddie Gran fan. I don't think he wanted to push back on Stoops. I think it's just the opposite! Gran is the only college OC who completely adjusted his offense to fit his personnel. I agree with you that he showed at UC that he was capable of airing it out.
I think the plan with Barker was to have a balanced offense similar to Coen. Barker literally broke his back and they brought in Smitty to run the show. Gran revamped the offense around a young Benny Snell and some decent receivers. This led to success and they stuck with it. They tried to balance the offense out again with Touchdown Terry, but we ended up with our 3rd string QB, then down to Bowden having to play quarterback. (Yet, Gran still won games!)
This string of QB injuries combined with successful RBs was being used against UK in recruiting. Good QBs and receivers were not interested in UK. Gran knew this and fell on his sword, and stepped away from OC. This kind of loyalty and committment to the program is the reason Stoops will always make room for Eddie Gran somewhere in the program. EG wouldn't stick around UK (after giving up his OC position) if he thought Stoops held him back. How many coaches want to remain with the program after losing a coordinator position???
EG will always be hold a place of respect in my book! I agree with you 110% that anyone who throws shade toward Eddie Gran doesn't know football, how many times he revamped our offense to make it work, and his importance to the UK program. This was also during the timeframe that the program was climbing out of the toilet. He was in control during our first 10 win season since the telephone was invented! Stoops knows how important Gran has been to the program!