Fix it

Apr 13, 2002
44,001
97,149
0
The only reason we won 7 regular season games during those years is because UofL was a dumpster fire with kragthorpe. Then we got to 8 in a bowl against opponents that didn't really want to be there. I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that anything better than 8 regular season wins is even remotely possible. How far do you have to go back to even get that many? 32 years?

Sorry you all can't face reality.

If those teams played against this SEC, they'd been in Atlanta. At least two of those teams would've won the east, at the level of competition Stoops faced from the east.
 

ukalumni00

Heisman
Jun 22, 2005
23,367
39,154
113
Jim Tressel is the answer. He'll be eligible soon. And he'll get hired. We should be talking to him now.
Would 100% be the right hire at the right time. Same tangibles as Brooks had but a more proven winner.

Should be attainable for UK to get.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EliteBlue

akaukswoosh

Hall of Famer
Jan 14, 2006
78,966
120,579
93
I would go to Wisconsin and dissect their program top to bottom. Anybody that thinks Wisconsin is a hotbed of football talent,needs to look closer. Barry Alvarez, Brett Bielima,and current coach have mastered their system,where they take less stars and regularly beat more stars! That's coaching and schemes,which by the results on the field,we don't have!
Wisconsin is a school which usually outperforms its recruiting in football AND basketball.
 

willievic

All-American
Aug 28, 2005
6,167
7,111
0
I would set down with Coach Stoops, tell him what I expected, and explain that if he doesn't go at least 7-5 next year he's gone. I would ask him to evaluate ALL his coaches, and make changes so we aren't embarrassed like we were against USM. Maybe he should change the DC.
I would tell him I was NOT happy with our progress and our fans aren't either.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
 

JBHolmesfan

All-Conference
Jul 23, 2009
8,181
4,747
0
I'd try and get an established guy that isn't in the game anymore (ala Brooks). I'd love Jim Tressel. I'm not sure of the other names that fit this mold, not Art Biles, but someone like Tressel could come in and take advantage of the talent we have on the roster. Hopefully upgrade the D line and win 7-8 games. Then in 3-4 years when that coach moves onto a better program we can assess where we are at that point. Hopefully we can get to a point where we can could a coordinator like Kirby Smart who was waiting for a good fit not just a coordinator waiting for the first HC job that pops up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JStaff21

merrimanm

Heisman
Dec 14, 2009
17,725
30,383
113
I would keep firing coaches every four years until I got someone who could turn it around in 2 years. I would continue to blame every coach that comes here and run them off before having a fair chance to correct our horrible losing football culture.
 
Last edited:

JStaff21

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
12,735
58,188
0
The only reason we won 7 regular season games during those years is because UofL was a dumpster fire with kragthorpe. Then we got to 8 in a bowl against opponents that didn't really want to be there. I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that anything better than 8 regular season wins is even remotely possible. How far do you have to go back to even get that many? 32 years?

Sorry you all can't face reality.

You make it sound like UofL has the talent level of Bama now and has beat UK by 4 TDs a game. You get someone who can coach and that game becomes very winnable.
No one is saying Kentucky will become a BCS playoff contender... Just that with the right hire, we could compete and potentially have a great season every so often.
 

Xception

Heisman
Apr 17, 2007
26,407
22,344
0
Fix it????

Go ahead and out-Louisville the country. Hire Orgeron as recruiter, Briles as head man, go ahead and get Kiffen in the mix.

After we get off probation, we will be in the title hunt.
Works on Madden College football with every team.
Pay the piper, take your medicine and win.
Worked for Miami.
Working for Louisville.

Seems like that's the secret to success.
Replace Alabama as what the NCAA called the most unrepentant multiple offender ever.

AUBURN did all right with it with Newton.
Meyer made a career of it at Florida.
We won't even talk about Penn State or the Oklahoma dynasty.
You are probably right but you need to be an elite cheater to get away with it , when a nobody starts doing it the elite programs complain to the NCAA until that attempt to join their club is put on probation . I mean for the love of everything we got on probation for 1500 dollars to a high school coach from Bassett .

That's petty compared to what others are doing but UK got destroyed for marginal efforts at cheating . But I agree that you either have boosters that buy your success until you can float it off of tradition or a rare case where your booster is so rich that the program is upgraded beyond belief (Oregon) .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katwatcher

JC CATS

Heisman
Jun 18, 2009
23,517
12,221
0
A lot of elite coaches would not come her Would John Calapari leave to go to say, Alabama if they offered him 20 million a year?
 
May 9, 2002
2,542
310
0
For those who want Mitch Barnhart fired, get real.

How many ADs have been fired at Alabama, LSU, tOSU, PSU, UF, ND, FSU etal because their basketball programs sucked? As long as UK basketball is doing great, MB's job is safe. I can't recall any AD at UK even being on the hot seat because of football performance going back 50+ years.
 

crazyqx83_rivals88013

All-Conference
May 2, 2004
167,872
4,311
0
You make it sound like UofL has the talent level of Bama now and has beat UK by 4 TDs a game. You get someone who can coach and that game becomes very winnable.
No one is saying Kentucky will become a BCS playoff contender... Just that with the right hire, we could compete and potentially have a great season every so often.
Nobody wants to come here. Why is that so difficult to understand?

We hit lightning in a bottle with a D2 coach with an innovative scheme in the late 90s and then drug a decent coach from the fishing hole (which was a favor for an old buddy). That's been the extent of our success over the past 40 years, which topped out at 7 regular season wins.

I am sorry you all are under epic delusions of grandeur, but no halfway decent coach wants to come here. Surely not a proven one. I guarantee you that 99% of them would rather just not coach than coach here.
 

optimus-blue

All-American
Oct 17, 2007
8,645
9,953
0
lits like we are on self imposed probation now, NCAA is a joke, they have let everybody of the hook lately.
 

JStaff21

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
12,735
58,188
0
Nobody wants to come here. Why is that so difficult to understand?

We hit lightning in a bottle with a D2 coach with an innovative scheme in the late 90s and then drug a decent coach from the fishing hole (which was a favor for an old buddy). That's been the extent of our success over the past 40 years, which topped out at 7 regular season wins.

I am sorry you all are under epic delusions of grandeur, but no halfway decent coach wants to come here. Surely not a proven one. I guarantee you that 99% of them would rather just not coach than coach here.

You're right about this not being a desirable job. And maybe a large percentage won't want to come here. But we should at least approach some of these names and try. And at some point you may have to take a risk on someone who isn't squeaky clean and give them their second chance.

I'm not delusional and I don't think most "positive" fans are. I don't think we'll hire that coach anytime soon, but it's because we don't even try. Sadly the fans will probably have to bail on the program for anything to change.
 

JStaff21

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
12,735
58,188
0
lits like we are on self imposed probation now, NCAA is a joke, they have let everybody of the hook lately.

Yeah, we just need to pay recruit's fathers, hire prostitutes for their visits, and have them "attend" fake classes and we'll be a power house in a year or two :sunglasses:
 

shutzhund

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2005
29,202
2,619
0
Smart move would be to make a change now (season end) but Mitch will never do that. He's patient to a fault and financially it appears a waste. The problem with his approach though is that he waits til the program is run in the ground and then the program loses any attractability it may have once had. Right now is the time to cash in on our new facility, renewed $ commitments from the admins, and really good talent at skill positions on the roster if UK is serious about winning football imo. The longer Mitch waits, the more the program will lose value and be harder and harder to sale.

Biggest problem with this is the guy doing the firing would unfortunately be the guy doing the hiring.

Maybe we should look more for talent in the linemen so the skill positions have an opportunity to use their skill.
 
  • Like
Reactions: allabouttheUK

allabouttheUK

All-Conference
Jan 28, 2015
3,079
3,390
0
I never saw one big name that we went after. Maybe we did, but we obviously didnt go hard, because the names that were surfacing were crap. I don't believe we went after a home run hire willing to spend the money.

Bill Parcells
Steve Spurrier
Butch Jones
Mac Brown
Mike Riley
Tom Herman

The first three names are fact, the last three were rumored. First two, and Mac Brown were before we got lucky and talked Brooks out of retirement. The others were mentioned during the search that led to Stoops.

Maybe the facilities would make it more attractive to a big name coach with a solid reputation, nobody knows for sure. I guess the question is, if you had an ego the size of texas and a solid reputation, would you risk it at a school that never has really been?

We need a modern day H. Schnellenberger, not a Nick Saban, IMO.
 

ManitouDan

Heisman
Dec 7, 2006
20,074
32,442
0
And Billy couldnt know less about football than the current guru's we have .. last year we couldnt even get the punt team ON THE FIELD , now we do .. it gets blocked and the next 3 go grade school level.
 

StubbornPenny

All-American
Nov 2, 2009
10,562
9,892
0
FWIW Jim Tressel would be 64, 5 years removed from football, and is officially retired from coaching. Rich Brooks was hired at 62 or 63 I believe and many people said he was too old.
 

JBHolmesfan

All-Conference
Jul 23, 2009
8,181
4,747
0
FWIW Jim Tressel would be 64, 5 years removed from football, and is officially retired from coaching. Rich Brooks was hired at 62 or 63 I believe and many people said he was too old.
I think he can be the right guy. He can get us 8-9 wins on occasion. He'll be taking over a program that has a decent roster. Much better than the one Brooks inherited so the down years shouldn't be there. When it's time for him to retire we can then try and get a better, younger name.
 

sluggercatfan

Heisman
Aug 17, 2004
35,953
29,631
0
To me, I'd go after a list of 10 home runs. I'd try. Thats's the problem, we don't try. You know the obvious home runs so I don't have to waste time.

My second tier would consist of guys like Leach or Tressel. Proven Head coaches. Again, will it work? I don't know, but I know what won't work. No name defensive coordinators with zero experience.

I don't think if the money was right we'd go past a second tier. We've got the money, spend it.
More importantly than the money we now have the facilities... And all that would have to be done to make a coach know that the fanbase would be there is to show the cisches videos of the 50,000 that were at the first spring game when Stoops got here..
 

sluggercatfan

Heisman
Aug 17, 2004
35,953
29,631
0
Smart move would be to make a change now (season end) but Mitch will never do that. He's patient to a fault and financially it appears a waste. The problem with his approach though is that he waits til the program is run in the ground and then the program loses any attractability it may have once had. Right now is the time to cash in on our new facility, renewed $ commitments from the admins, and really good talent at skill positions on the roster if UK is serious about winning football imo. The longer Mitch waits, the more the program will lose value and be harder and harder to sale.

Biggest problem with this is the guy doing the firing would unfortunately be the guy doing the hiring.
Not to mention that if this season dosen't turn out well and he brings MS back then how many more season ticket losses are tacked onto this year's 7K?
 

Cawood86_rivals

Heisman
Feb 20, 2005
36,711
64,713
0
UK will have to play like the big boys do if they truly want a good football team. That means they need to get some alma maters involved (Tim Couch, Woodyard) who still have connections out there that can feel out some coaches that would be willing to come to UK.
UK lacks nothing now compared to other school facilities wise. Don't worry about media perception or the backlash that will come. Get the coach that can win and has proven he can. Tressel, Butch Davis, Art Briles, etc. Make your move and don't apologize for it. We got this coach because he's proven he can win and we believe he will win here. Weather the shots and let him do his thing.
Anybody that thinks that any of the big time schools don't still do whatever they have to get recruits and win just willingly ignorant. Either get in the big boy game or put a roof on Commonwealth and be done with it.
 

sluggercatfan

Heisman
Aug 17, 2004
35,953
29,631
0
Ya know, Leach is a madman. He's borderline crazy and something comes full circle in a severely meaningful way. It'd almost perfect for Uk.

Why not? Someone answer that?
11 straight bowl games at TT and now seems to have WSU headed in a positive direction! !
 
  • Like
Reactions: morgousky

UKnCincy_rivals

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2008
3,504
4,024
0
The primary challenges facing UK are structural. Firing a coach or AD will not solve them. It'll require heavy investments over several years to get UK to a point of sustained success in football. I'm not sure most UK fans are willing to spend what it will take to become a program capable of regularly contending for SEC titles. I just don't. I see too much complaining when ticket prices go up.

I don't think it's any surprise that if over a period of years you look at football revenues, booster donations, ticket prices, etc. by SEC school, the rankings will generally match how the schools performed on the field.

If UK fans want that kind of program, then we're going to have to pay for it. And there's no sense complaining about it or the apparent lack of results. Unfortunately, it costs more to get there, especially when playing catch up, than it does to stay there.

As far as Mitch and Stoops are concerned, I understand the angst over Saturday's game. That was as big of a gut punch as I can remember. However, they have also managed to secure $156 M in funding for facility upgrades during a down period and while hamstrung by a budget process that required the Athletics Department to pony up an additional $60 M or so for academics upgrades. That is a tremendous accomplishment that addresses some of these issues, but you're not going to see results from that overnight.
 

sluggercatfan

Heisman
Aug 17, 2004
35,953
29,631
0
I don't think there is a sure fire coach out there. I know there is Saban and Meyer who are good coaches, but they stepped in to already established programs with football traditions. Steve Spurrier is only coach that comes to mind that actually brought a SEC team from the bottom tier to a contender and that took several years and struggles which didn't hold up for long.

I think the only solution that many don't even want to consider is to give the coaches the needed time it takes to build a program. We are still in the same cycle of hiring coaches and then not having the patience to support them through the hard times. I'm talking about upwards to ten years or even longer. I think it will take this to ever be successful

We have had some good coaches that have failed because the fans and administration think they can go out and fix the problem with a big name. Not going to happen. Kentucky in my opinion is probably the hardest place to coach in nation.

Kentucky is a traditional basket ball state playing in a traditional football conference. Kentucky probably has fewer high schools that play football than any other state in SEC conference. It has taken a while but our facilities are among he best in nation. Now lets support the coaches and players and quit throwing them under the bus every time we lose.

Just my opinion.
Otis is in KENTUCKY, right? They sure aren't having much of a problem are they? The only difference is who the AD picked to be HC...One gets it right, the other dosen't.
 

sluggercatfan

Heisman
Aug 17, 2004
35,953
29,631
0
I think you have to go after a coach that has won at a place that usually doesn't. Most of the time it's usually someone with an offensive background that puts up an insane # of points. Seems like defensive coaches struggle to win with talent gaps. Also look for coaches that either produce immediate impact when they get to a place or the program kind of takes a step back whenever they leave. Have to have a coach that seems to be in football games that it shouldn't be when you look at it based on recruiting. Never going to have the talent here to consistently win the Les Miles way.
Les Miles is on the hot seat in BR.
 

Beast Johnson

Sophomore
Oct 21, 2012
281
169
0
Everybody has an opinion on how to fix UK football but what exactly would you do ? Be specific and realistic , you can say hire Saban but that is not realistic and it can't happen . Should UK set a contract record and for who ? The only sure fire coaches are probably Saban and Meyer , you know they could win here . Anybody else is just a hope , so do you break the bank and who is the most elite coach that UK could realistically attract ?

Posters always pined for better facilities because they said it would turn the program around , that's now in place . So who has the can't miss solution to this decades long enigma ?

I have given up trying to fix UK football. I don't have the answer.