Early in the 2006 season Coach Brooks gave an unusually candid interview, widely reported, assessing his own professional odds/chances.
He said, paraphrasing . . . "6-6 record, we go forward for another year, and anything less than that and we're probably looking at a change . . . . Anything more than that, we might be talking extension."
An arse-whooping to LSU on the road, a ballsy prediction by Dickie Lyons, Jr. for the Mississippi State Game (backed up by Lyons' amazing one-handed grab at State) and a home win over Georgia sealed the bowl . . . . and then a 2 point sneaker over a Louisiana directional gave us 7 for the season.
That mid-season turnaround gave us a year of UK football easily arguably the best 12 month/12 game stretch since Curci, during which we went 10-2, beating No. 1 LSU, a ranked Louisville, and lost the two games, to Tennessee on the road (finishing 2006 regular season), and South Carolina (mid-2007) by a total of about 20 points.
Of course, our current position can be easily compared to many other seasons/eras where opportunity was not seized, and a mid-season shot at a bowl melted into 4-8 and 5-7 seasons.
I still hold out hope that the current cast of Cats have started turning the same corner. I watched the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Bama' loss and saw defenders still putting out effort, and an offense that was still gaining yards. It was a bad loss, but not so much so in comparison to Florida in 2016, or LSU in 2006.
I would be interested in hearing the same candor from Coach Stoops, as Brooks displayed during the 2006 season, but I don't look for it. Brooks' candor raised a lot of eyebrows in 2006, and his buyout, had it come to that, was a fraction of what Coach Stoops' would be.
It all comes down to player determination and performance. I hope and think we have some players coming on to mount a serious second-half of the season, against more manageable opponents.
The only thing about this and other boards that pisses me off consistently is the poster who responds "if you don't want a change now, you're the problem." Well, thru 50 years of fanship, I've seen UK try it all . . . mid-season firings, etc., etc. Curry's retention was likely the only LENGTHY error made, and we can argue about the timing and effect of the others . . . . we have a large sample size of 3 to 6 year changes.
For those who strongly believe that fans hungering/demanding immediate change is the solution, an older fan like myself hears "lather, rinse and repeat." Unfortunately, everyone can point to our history to prove whatever point they wish regarding change, or the lack thereof, and our future prospects.
He said, paraphrasing . . . "6-6 record, we go forward for another year, and anything less than that and we're probably looking at a change . . . . Anything more than that, we might be talking extension."
An arse-whooping to LSU on the road, a ballsy prediction by Dickie Lyons, Jr. for the Mississippi State Game (backed up by Lyons' amazing one-handed grab at State) and a home win over Georgia sealed the bowl . . . . and then a 2 point sneaker over a Louisiana directional gave us 7 for the season.
That mid-season turnaround gave us a year of UK football easily arguably the best 12 month/12 game stretch since Curci, during which we went 10-2, beating No. 1 LSU, a ranked Louisville, and lost the two games, to Tennessee on the road (finishing 2006 regular season), and South Carolina (mid-2007) by a total of about 20 points.
Of course, our current position can be easily compared to many other seasons/eras where opportunity was not seized, and a mid-season shot at a bowl melted into 4-8 and 5-7 seasons.
I still hold out hope that the current cast of Cats have started turning the same corner. I watched the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Bama' loss and saw defenders still putting out effort, and an offense that was still gaining yards. It was a bad loss, but not so much so in comparison to Florida in 2016, or LSU in 2006.
I would be interested in hearing the same candor from Coach Stoops, as Brooks displayed during the 2006 season, but I don't look for it. Brooks' candor raised a lot of eyebrows in 2006, and his buyout, had it come to that, was a fraction of what Coach Stoops' would be.
It all comes down to player determination and performance. I hope and think we have some players coming on to mount a serious second-half of the season, against more manageable opponents.
The only thing about this and other boards that pisses me off consistently is the poster who responds "if you don't want a change now, you're the problem." Well, thru 50 years of fanship, I've seen UK try it all . . . mid-season firings, etc., etc. Curry's retention was likely the only LENGTHY error made, and we can argue about the timing and effect of the others . . . . we have a large sample size of 3 to 6 year changes.
For those who strongly believe that fans hungering/demanding immediate change is the solution, an older fan like myself hears "lather, rinse and repeat." Unfortunately, everyone can point to our history to prove whatever point they wish regarding change, or the lack thereof, and our future prospects.