Now to start, I am not saying that he has been successful on the field and at developing players...I do not think the jury is out yet but I am leaning towards him not being a good coach(I wanted Petrino in 2012 so I will always be biased).
I think Stoops and his staff have done the job they needed as far as "leaving the campsite better than he found it".
When he took over...this program was a mess. Brooks made the program OK for a few years...but it really was masked with 4 cupcake non-conference games(UofL being down) and then getting lucky on some down SEC programs(Vandy was AWFUL). Brooks' best trait as a coach was that he could develop and game-plan to a point where UK could be competitive with the big dogs (winning at Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia, beating #1 LSU, and going down to the wire in Tuscaloosa). The ultra-conservative style that was maligned by fans was his way of masking the bigger problems. Even his best team in 2007 underachieved greatly in 2007 with a losing conference record and a narrow bowl win against FSU w/o 20+ suspended players. And then the next two years he was VERY lucky that we had Randall Cobb who was a once in a generation talent.
Brooks knew we did not have in place what it took to compete with facilities and funding...so he left and let Joker take over. Joker takes over, w/ Cobb and Locke, does decent for a year, and then it collapses after they graduate and add in that UofL is back on top with a great coach in Strong. If Cobb does not come to UK...the bowl streak would have stopped after Woodson left or even think about if Petrino never left UofL what the mindset of the fan base would have been? The problems masked by lucky breaks and a smart head coach led us to believe that our average to mediocre talent winning 6-7 games narrowly each year was successful...but the problems were still there once the breaks stopped.
Now on to Stoops when he takes over. Joker was not that good of a coach, had terrible assistants that couldn't coach and develop players at a SEC level, and the recruits were SunBelt/FCS level that had a lot of attrition due to qualifying and arrests. The roster was depleted and could not even beat WKU. The best recruiter in the nation now, Tee Martin, was here and he couldn't even get players to commit to UK because of the facilities and hype around the program. IT WAS BAD, but then again it was never that good to begin...
When Stoops arrived, he came in with the attitude that nothing was impossible. He has brought in talent that UK never would have even imagined getting just 4 years ago. On day 1 he goes into Louisville at almost the end of recruiting season and gets a 4 star Trinity player named Jason Hatcher to come to a 2-10 program instead of going to USC(remember when we couldn't get Lamar Dawson to commit?). He then got the #1 all-purpose back in the nation, BOOM Williams, to commit just a year later along with stealing a 4 star QB from Steve Spurrier. Recruiting classes have been in the top 30 year in and year out since he has arrived. The argument that UK cannot win because they cannot recruit top level talent has been proven to be false since Stoops has arrived.
Stoops has energized the donor class as well the fans(who he has lost after last week sadly). Kentucky finally got around to making the big rennovations for Commonwealth Stadium that added in much needed luxury seating, a state of the art recruiting room, and just an overall face lift that it needed. Stoops has been able to get Mitch to open up the pocket book to get whatever assistants he has wanted. UK also has a top of the line practice facility that puts them on par with most of top facilities in the nation. The Brooks dream of UK being able to spend to compete at high level has come true with the Stoops regime.
The results on the field are the same as ever..but the team is better than when Joker arrived. Who knows what the results would be if Stoops would've been a little luckier. In 14', if delay of game is called and Kragthorpe was coaching for UofL...7-5 bowl game. Heck if Kragthorpe had coached the last two years for UofL then Stoops would be coming off back to back bowl games. We get mad about the USM game last week, but lets not forget the 08 game where UK almost lost to MTSU...and that team did narrowly get to a bowl at 6-6.
Now to my ending...I think Stoops has done a good job of moving the needle forward. He rebuilt the base of the program that was on life-support after Joker. The facilities and talent are now in place to succeed...but I do think maybe it will take another coach to get us over the hump of competitiveness. Stoops has made the program more attractive to a better coach than the program was in 2012 when he took over. Maybe he will get the job done on the field...but I will point out the positives that he has brought to the program.
I think Stoops and his staff have done the job they needed as far as "leaving the campsite better than he found it".
When he took over...this program was a mess. Brooks made the program OK for a few years...but it really was masked with 4 cupcake non-conference games(UofL being down) and then getting lucky on some down SEC programs(Vandy was AWFUL). Brooks' best trait as a coach was that he could develop and game-plan to a point where UK could be competitive with the big dogs (winning at Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia, beating #1 LSU, and going down to the wire in Tuscaloosa). The ultra-conservative style that was maligned by fans was his way of masking the bigger problems. Even his best team in 2007 underachieved greatly in 2007 with a losing conference record and a narrow bowl win against FSU w/o 20+ suspended players. And then the next two years he was VERY lucky that we had Randall Cobb who was a once in a generation talent.
Brooks knew we did not have in place what it took to compete with facilities and funding...so he left and let Joker take over. Joker takes over, w/ Cobb and Locke, does decent for a year, and then it collapses after they graduate and add in that UofL is back on top with a great coach in Strong. If Cobb does not come to UK...the bowl streak would have stopped after Woodson left or even think about if Petrino never left UofL what the mindset of the fan base would have been? The problems masked by lucky breaks and a smart head coach led us to believe that our average to mediocre talent winning 6-7 games narrowly each year was successful...but the problems were still there once the breaks stopped.
Now on to Stoops when he takes over. Joker was not that good of a coach, had terrible assistants that couldn't coach and develop players at a SEC level, and the recruits were SunBelt/FCS level that had a lot of attrition due to qualifying and arrests. The roster was depleted and could not even beat WKU. The best recruiter in the nation now, Tee Martin, was here and he couldn't even get players to commit to UK because of the facilities and hype around the program. IT WAS BAD, but then again it was never that good to begin...
When Stoops arrived, he came in with the attitude that nothing was impossible. He has brought in talent that UK never would have even imagined getting just 4 years ago. On day 1 he goes into Louisville at almost the end of recruiting season and gets a 4 star Trinity player named Jason Hatcher to come to a 2-10 program instead of going to USC(remember when we couldn't get Lamar Dawson to commit?). He then got the #1 all-purpose back in the nation, BOOM Williams, to commit just a year later along with stealing a 4 star QB from Steve Spurrier. Recruiting classes have been in the top 30 year in and year out since he has arrived. The argument that UK cannot win because they cannot recruit top level talent has been proven to be false since Stoops has arrived.
Stoops has energized the donor class as well the fans(who he has lost after last week sadly). Kentucky finally got around to making the big rennovations for Commonwealth Stadium that added in much needed luxury seating, a state of the art recruiting room, and just an overall face lift that it needed. Stoops has been able to get Mitch to open up the pocket book to get whatever assistants he has wanted. UK also has a top of the line practice facility that puts them on par with most of top facilities in the nation. The Brooks dream of UK being able to spend to compete at high level has come true with the Stoops regime.
The results on the field are the same as ever..but the team is better than when Joker arrived. Who knows what the results would be if Stoops would've been a little luckier. In 14', if delay of game is called and Kragthorpe was coaching for UofL...7-5 bowl game. Heck if Kragthorpe had coached the last two years for UofL then Stoops would be coming off back to back bowl games. We get mad about the USM game last week, but lets not forget the 08 game where UK almost lost to MTSU...and that team did narrowly get to a bowl at 6-6.
Now to my ending...I think Stoops has done a good job of moving the needle forward. He rebuilt the base of the program that was on life-support after Joker. The facilities and talent are now in place to succeed...but I do think maybe it will take another coach to get us over the hump of competitiveness. Stoops has made the program more attractive to a better coach than the program was in 2012 when he took over. Maybe he will get the job done on the field...but I will point out the positives that he has brought to the program.
