A difference between Pope and Stoops
- Thread starter akaukswoosh
- Start date
If you’re being fair I think another clear difference is relative to his competition, Pope is in a very favorable position in terms of NIL dollars. Stoops not so much. So I’m not sure you’re making a fair comparison.
Building a 12 man roster isn’t even close to what Stoops has to deal with. I’m not high on Stoops atm, but this is a silly comp
If the anti Stoops factions will be honest, Stoops has done a good job trying to put a good team on the field. winning and how you win seems to be a problem with UKs fans. Anti Stoops says we need to throw the ball more and open up the offense and then you have fans that say win by running the ball. stoops is the coach and he wants to run the ball, end of st
Mark Pope coaches a premier program with maximum support. Mark Pope coaches an SEC bottom feeder program with one of worst support systems in the SEC.
Well not so fast....
I agree Pope's job is not as hard as Stoops given the support, etc... But UK football ain't chopped liver (we are paying him 9M which was 4th best in SEC a few years) and Stoops has himself to blame for the trajectory of the team plummeting to a 4 wins followed by back to back 7 win disappointment years.
Stoops makes more money in a quarter of a season than most of us will see in our entire life. Sorry if I don’t feel bad for him!
Stoops doesn't have the best or one of the top 2 to 3 best NIL warchests n his sport either. UK football isn't getting the money osu, Alabama, Georgia, michigan, UT, lsu, Texas and on and on are.
Purely apples to oranges. When you have a ton of money it's easier to attract and buy players to have success.
Purely apples to oranges. When you have a ton of money it's easier to attract and buy players to have success.
Stoops is being paid like a top ten coach yet his performance is nowhere near top ten. I appreciate what he’s done but the aTm incident showed his true colors IMO. Stop crying and retire.
Pope coaches the flagship program of college basketball.
Stoops coaches a place holder.
big difference.
Stoops coaches a place holder.
big difference.
I’m not sure what Stoops salary has to do with UKs NIL support in football.
Stoops being paid top 10 money for much less than top 10 results.
Stoops is perhaps the luckiest guy to ever coach. He gets his first head coaching job in the SEC.
14 years later, he has a losing record. Zero SEC titles, but, still being paid millions of dollars.
In fact, he’s been getting paid like a perennial Top 10 coach, but, with a couple of exceptions, has gotten top 40 results.
Now, he can’t even beat the SEC bottom feeders.
14 years later, he has a losing record. Zero SEC titles, but, still being paid millions of dollars.
In fact, he’s been getting paid like a perennial Top 10 coach, but, with a couple of exceptions, has gotten top 40 results.
Now, he can’t even beat the SEC bottom feeders.
Stoops wants out of Lexington so bad he can taste it. But he is stuck with us and we are stuck with him.
I pray the next AD never writes another contract for a head coach like the one Stoops got.
I pray the next AD never writes another contract for a head coach like the one Stoops got.
Stoops is running on fumes and getting paid like he's a Ferrari, Only question this fall is if we'll finish above Vanderbilt.
I was not a Pope's the man guy when Pope arrived, but everything he's done since impressed me. He learns on the job and he's a better coach for us today than the day he was hired.
I do agree Stoops is way overpaid but that's on braindead Barney and not Stoops fault.
I wanna be a Stoops fan but he has not capitalized on his limited successes like he could or should have.
He put together a couple 10 win seasons but didn't get the lift in talent lots of teams do with 10 win seasons elsewhere in CFB.
I don't know Stoops and I don't know Pope, but Pope makes you feel like you know him. If I was a kid looking for a school, Pope would definitely have me interested just by virtue of his personality. Plus we are the premier program in the country.
Stoops seems to just be a luke warm guy that is uninspiring. NIL is a problem but so is our coach's ability to get kids exited to come to UK and do something special.
Just my take
He put together a couple 10 win seasons but didn't get the lift in talent lots of teams do with 10 win seasons elsewhere in CFB.
I don't know Stoops and I don't know Pope, but Pope makes you feel like you know him. If I was a kid looking for a school, Pope would definitely have me interested just by virtue of his personality. Plus we are the premier program in the country.
Stoops seems to just be a luke warm guy that is uninspiring. NIL is a problem but so is our coach's ability to get kids exited to come to UK and do something special.
Just my take
Money and NIL plays a part in this but there is so much more. There is zero comparison in the two. If you compared Pope to say Kirby who has a top end program, enough NIL, etc, it would still be a silly comparison. Football coaches have 85 scholarship athletes plus walk-ons. A much larger staff to micro manage. Basketball brings in a few HS recruits and a few transfers each year. Football brings in 20-30 HS recruits and depending on the program 10-30 transfers. There is way more recruiting plus trying to keep the guys you have. Many HS basketball recruits come in and play immediately. Most freshman football players need 2-3 years to get on the field. So the coaches bust their tails to brings these guys in that situation the branch a couple years and leave b4 they’re ready to take the field. There is almost nothing that compares between the two except salaries. 
To be totally honest, Mark wasn’t qualified to be an SEC head coach when Barnhart hired him 14 years ago. Stoops hadn’t accomplished much of anything at that point. I thought he might grow into a decent head coach over time, but, he hasn’t. Consistent missed assignments. Lack of discipline. Same mistakes over and over again. Clock management is as bad now, as it was his first year. Offense always sucks. Nothing gets better.
This is the correct answer. The current college football model isnt sustainable. I don't know how any of these football coaches do it.
Also, one of those answers is honest and the other is pope's trademark optimism. I love pope, but surely by now people can tell when hes playing the optimism card.
Agreed. However if he can pull his record up to 6-6 with a win in the bowl game, I’ll begin to believe in magic.
He literally the winningest football coach in UK history and has some great things. It’s time for him to move on beat he had a nice run and raised to standards to a level the has hasn’t recently reached.
I love Pope, but you are right about the comparison. if Pope is trying to get 12 players out of 100 free agents, Stoops is trying to get 85 out of over 700. The effort and dollars needed is vastly different.
He also had the most support, and best facilities upgrades than any coach in UK football.history. He also was by far, the highest paid UK Football coach in history, and he was given an extremely long leash. All things considered, especially with the state of the program the last couple of years, I consider his tenure here as disappointing at best. He’s also has the most losses of any Coach in UK football history.
Stoops has recruited more four stars than previous coaches but the quarterback situation never seems to develop to sec level standards.
It’s fair to be disappointed about the past few years, but to say his tenure has been disappointing is completely dishonest.
Totally agree with this. I'm disappointed about the trajectory, but sheesh. His "highs" have been higher than any coach in my lifetime, and his "lows" haven't been as low.
To all the people pointing to the salary, there are two big factors at play. 1--Barney isn't a great negotiator and Jimmy Sexton is. 2--Stoops could've bounced when he was hot and didn't. The why isn't important, he just didn't. The negotiations and his pay reflect that.
You're delusional if you think we have ever really been any more than chopped liver. Stoops is responsible for the only sustained run of respectability since 50's.
depends on what we are calling "sustained success", but I thought we were respectable the last 4 years of Papa's reign.
I think Stoops is the best UK coach I guess since Bear....never watched those teams.
Claiborne and Brooks were solid
Stoops surpassed them IMO.
Curci was top notch but the cheating is hard to surpass
Curry and Joker were awful
Mumme was a bit better than awful
Morris was in and out to fast to tell.
But at the end of the day, Stoops had a 13 year run at UK and he's been backsliding for more than last year...and with another crapper of a season on the way....it's hard to argue sticking with him and moving on from what he's established...which ain't a terrible thing.
I'd have to go with keeping him. Back him 100%. Get him in gear to have a better attitude starting with the fans. Fan turn out. Cheer for UK like they're the best team ever. Keep a positive attitude about UK football and work off of what he has established. Not saying pay Stoops more. But maybe get him some more NIL money. He makes enough. But get behind the coach for at least a couple more seasons. Stoops has a tough road to go. He seems down on his luck and he needs support. I know. Rah rah rah. But it might make a difference.
Why did you just change it from respectability (which is what I actually said) to success? 8 straight bowls far exceeds any length of quality we have put together since the 50's, exactly as I stated.
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Always an excuse.
Never the coaching ever.
He has regressed and his product has regressed.