Mark Stoops' questionable decision making continues to baffle many UK fans. This board has debated at length his poor game management. He clearly has no offensive vision of his own as to how he wants his teams' to play. He hires Dawson as his second offensive coordinator only to fire him within a year. He then tells Towles and Phillips that Barker will be his quarterback despite the fact that Barker failed to beat out Towles for the starting position during two previous spring and fall practice sessions. Barker has certainly not demonstrated any more ability to succeed than Towles. What Barker has demonstrated is considerable poor judgment in some highly publicized off the field incidents. One involved shooting a pellet gun with some of his teammates on UK's campus. The other incidents involved being in a bar fight and getting cold cocked at an EKU dorm.
After Stoops showed Towles the door at the end of last season, Stoops "wished him the best" and at the same time proclaimed that he "expects to see Towles play on Sunday". Say what? He thinks Towles has enough skills to play in the NFL but can't play for lowly UK? I don't blame Phillips and Towles for going elsewhere as apparently, Stoops has already anointed Barker as the quarterback for the future notwithstanding what happens during next year's spring and fall practices. Now, Stoops has no depth at quarterback and must rely on unproven, freshmen to replace Barker in the event he gets hurt or simply can't get the job done.
As a long time UK fan, I very much want Stoops to succeed. While he has been able to lure better players to UK than his predecessor, I have seen little evidence that these players have improved or made UK a better football team. We still can't block anybody, can't protect the quarterback and when our receivers are open they often drop the ball. Defensively, we have never been more than mediocre or worse. Of course, UK has been playing this same way, for the most part, on offense and defense over the last 60 years.
No one can reasonably expect Mark Stoops to suddenly reverse more than a half century of losing football. However, as fans, we do have a right to expect the person filling the position as UK's head football coach to at least have the ability to exercise good judgment when it comes to: (1) hiring his staff,(2) developing and instituting a vision for what it takes for UK to have football success, (3) developing his players and (4) correctly making critical in game decisions. We also have a right to expect that if there are rifts between players on the team that the head coach has the ability to correct such rifts and not let such rifts fester to the detriment of team success.
After 3 years, I have yet to see substantial evidence that Mark Stoops has the requisite minimal abilities to be UK's head coach. What I have seen is someone painfully learning, at UK's considerable expense, of how not to be a successful head coach.
After Stoops showed Towles the door at the end of last season, Stoops "wished him the best" and at the same time proclaimed that he "expects to see Towles play on Sunday". Say what? He thinks Towles has enough skills to play in the NFL but can't play for lowly UK? I don't blame Phillips and Towles for going elsewhere as apparently, Stoops has already anointed Barker as the quarterback for the future notwithstanding what happens during next year's spring and fall practices. Now, Stoops has no depth at quarterback and must rely on unproven, freshmen to replace Barker in the event he gets hurt or simply can't get the job done.
As a long time UK fan, I very much want Stoops to succeed. While he has been able to lure better players to UK than his predecessor, I have seen little evidence that these players have improved or made UK a better football team. We still can't block anybody, can't protect the quarterback and when our receivers are open they often drop the ball. Defensively, we have never been more than mediocre or worse. Of course, UK has been playing this same way, for the most part, on offense and defense over the last 60 years.
No one can reasonably expect Mark Stoops to suddenly reverse more than a half century of losing football. However, as fans, we do have a right to expect the person filling the position as UK's head football coach to at least have the ability to exercise good judgment when it comes to: (1) hiring his staff,(2) developing and instituting a vision for what it takes for UK to have football success, (3) developing his players and (4) correctly making critical in game decisions. We also have a right to expect that if there are rifts between players on the team that the head coach has the ability to correct such rifts and not let such rifts fester to the detriment of team success.
After 3 years, I have yet to see substantial evidence that Mark Stoops has the requisite minimal abilities to be UK's head coach. What I have seen is someone painfully learning, at UK's considerable expense, of how not to be a successful head coach.
