It was a combination of both. Barnhart was in a position of not upgrading the facilities and coaching, leading to the total loss of fan support. UK football would have gone from a positive revenue sport to a drag on the budget. He and Eli Capilouto are not stupid, they know letting one of the two sports with a positive revenue stream collapse would be devastating to the athletic department and more important the university. The fan revolt was the trigger and the Stoops name brought excitement to the program after recruiting started. Coach Brooks was very adamant about facility upgrades and I would venture to guess Coach Stoops told them upgrades would be necessary to take the program where it deserved to be. Eli Capilouto is not only a leader, he is a business man who understands to be successful you must continually invest to upgrade your product. An example of this is UK Hospital and new construction university wide, including Commonwealth Stadium, the new state of art practice facility. Stoops is remanufacturing UK football, not just rebuilding it. Rebuilding implies, there was something to build upon. There was not. I have total confidence in Coach Stoops and understood from the start it was going to get ugly and there would be set backs. Can you imagine building a football program to compete in The SEC from the ground up? A bit of a daunting task, wouldn't you say? Just my opinion.
How high or low is your confidence in Stoops?
- Thread starter screwduke
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OK lets look at what has happened here since Stoops arrived. The first year Stoops inherited an absolute mess of a roster with just a handful of SEC level athletes to play with. He did in a very short time period help that years recruiting immensely. That year we were predictably terrible and it showed on the field with two wins.
The next year we started out of the gate with a bang although it was a schedule front loaded with the easier games that year. As we got into SEC play and a hard SEC grind at that, our very thin roster showed it was not up to SEC level and we did not win a game the second half of the season. National writers for sports publications talked of a second half collapse paying little attention to the intensity of the schedule increasing four-fold the second half of the season. Worst yet the few players that were here when Stoops got here and some outstanding JUCOS who were SEC players (Bud, Z, Miller, and Blue) graduated making for more roster challenges. Even so we go from 2 wins to 5 wins, good improvement but a feeling of let down because of the schedule being back loaded with SEC teams.
The third year we have to replace our OC. The man hired was the third person Stoops wanted after Riley and Gran didn't take the job. We play with a roster of mostly sophomores and freshmen and again start with a bang but finish poorly. That year is worse than before because expectations have risen. Although the roster has been improved a great deal, there is no team unity or chemistry and players start to go their separate ways it seems. Whatever happened internally most people feel the main characters (coaches and players) in last season tragedy have for one reason or another left the team. Again 5 wins and a second half of the season disaster.
Looking forward we can say that the roster although still younger than what one would want heading into a SEC schedule has been significantly upgraded. A person could reasonably say our coaching staff looks to be upgraded as well. Certainly our facilities are much better and continue to improve. It is kind of hard to disregard all that has been done to improve our football team and facilities when judging the job Stoops has done. I kind of wonder what Rich Brooks has to say when he comes back and sees what is being done.
When considering all that has been accomplished in just three years to improve our program I do think that merely looking at the wins and losses of our program does not tell the whole story. We here have been ranting about how behind we are as a program and most, not all but most of our structural improvements are done or are in process of being completed. It is only fair to look at the immensity of the job Stoops had waiting for him and all that has been accomplished structurally when judging the job Stoops has done.
It cannot be denied that we are in a much better position now with Stoops than we were when he took the job. Plain and simple.
The next year we started out of the gate with a bang although it was a schedule front loaded with the easier games that year. As we got into SEC play and a hard SEC grind at that, our very thin roster showed it was not up to SEC level and we did not win a game the second half of the season. National writers for sports publications talked of a second half collapse paying little attention to the intensity of the schedule increasing four-fold the second half of the season. Worst yet the few players that were here when Stoops got here and some outstanding JUCOS who were SEC players (Bud, Z, Miller, and Blue) graduated making for more roster challenges. Even so we go from 2 wins to 5 wins, good improvement but a feeling of let down because of the schedule being back loaded with SEC teams.
The third year we have to replace our OC. The man hired was the third person Stoops wanted after Riley and Gran didn't take the job. We play with a roster of mostly sophomores and freshmen and again start with a bang but finish poorly. That year is worse than before because expectations have risen. Although the roster has been improved a great deal, there is no team unity or chemistry and players start to go their separate ways it seems. Whatever happened internally most people feel the main characters (coaches and players) in last season tragedy have for one reason or another left the team. Again 5 wins and a second half of the season disaster.
Looking forward we can say that the roster although still younger than what one would want heading into a SEC schedule has been significantly upgraded. A person could reasonably say our coaching staff looks to be upgraded as well. Certainly our facilities are much better and continue to improve. It is kind of hard to disregard all that has been done to improve our football team and facilities when judging the job Stoops has done. I kind of wonder what Rich Brooks has to say when he comes back and sees what is being done.
When considering all that has been accomplished in just three years to improve our program I do think that merely looking at the wins and losses of our program does not tell the whole story. We here have been ranting about how behind we are as a program and most, not all but most of our structural improvements are done or are in process of being completed. It is only fair to look at the immensity of the job Stoops had waiting for him and all that has been accomplished structurally when judging the job Stoops has done.
It cannot be denied that we are in a much better position now with Stoops than we were when he took the job. Plain and simple.
Thanks Levi. A very good and fair analysis. I as you, am looking forward to the fruits of the labor. It can not be understated what Stoops walked into. I really think this will turn out well.
Pretty much what Levi said. If you wanna go strictly by the number though...
Year 1 - Stoops first season is hard to measure. First of all, a brand new regime and play style was coming. The players that were here were not suited for that system.
Also take into consideration this was Stoops first head coach job.
On top of that, most of the players that were here end up transferring to FCS schools...which gives you an indication at the poor talent level that was here.
At the end of the season though, Stoops had won 2 games. The only one you can really argue that we maybe should have won was WKU, and I'm not even sure about that.
Year 2 - More roster turnover and attrition and getting used to a new system and tons of young players should have led to an abysmal season.
That team should have won only 3 games...maybe 4 tops. But it actually won 5. Thats why I say Stoops best season (coaching wise only) was actually season 2. That team overachieved in a big way.
But it lead to false expectations to year 3 which made the fan base anxious.
Year 3 - Last years team was capable of winning 5 games. And maybe 6 with a couple of breaks. It didn't happen and the team only won 5.
But I don't really think you can say that is underachieving. The team pretty much did what was expected. We still have a very young roster and the offensive line was atrocious.
However, year 3 should be the telling year of where things are headed. And when you look at where we have come from Year 1 to Year 3; you can't deny that things are headed in the right direction.
Next year things fall into place for Stoops. Anything under 6 wins will be a major disappointment.
But I think we finally make noise next year.
I have full confidence.
Year 1 - Stoops first season is hard to measure. First of all, a brand new regime and play style was coming. The players that were here were not suited for that system.
Also take into consideration this was Stoops first head coach job.
On top of that, most of the players that were here end up transferring to FCS schools...which gives you an indication at the poor talent level that was here.
At the end of the season though, Stoops had won 2 games. The only one you can really argue that we maybe should have won was WKU, and I'm not even sure about that.
Year 2 - More roster turnover and attrition and getting used to a new system and tons of young players should have led to an abysmal season.
That team should have won only 3 games...maybe 4 tops. But it actually won 5. Thats why I say Stoops best season (coaching wise only) was actually season 2. That team overachieved in a big way.
But it lead to false expectations to year 3 which made the fan base anxious.
Year 3 - Last years team was capable of winning 5 games. And maybe 6 with a couple of breaks. It didn't happen and the team only won 5.
But I don't really think you can say that is underachieving. The team pretty much did what was expected. We still have a very young roster and the offensive line was atrocious.
However, year 3 should be the telling year of where things are headed. And when you look at where we have come from Year 1 to Year 3; you can't deny that things are headed in the right direction.
Next year things fall into place for Stoops. Anything under 6 wins will be a major disappointment.
But I think we finally make noise next year.
I have full confidence.
Very high.
I have always said the talent level was UK's main problem, and no wonder with our facilities and support system. I don't think anyone should be able to complain about the progress there, not just in the ratings but in their evaluations, which have also landed us a bunch of sleepers, IMO.
Now we need some growth in our coaching decisions, and I think experience and the new hires will make that take a big jump this year, I believe he will be able to concentrate more on the defense and trust our new coaches on O a lot more than the prior OCs.
A lot of positives everywhere you look now, JMO.
I have always said the talent level was UK's main problem, and no wonder with our facilities and support system. I don't think anyone should be able to complain about the progress there, not just in the ratings but in their evaluations, which have also landed us a bunch of sleepers, IMO.
Now we need some growth in our coaching decisions, and I think experience and the new hires will make that take a big jump this year, I believe he will be able to concentrate more on the defense and trust our new coaches on O a lot more than the prior OCs.
A lot of positives everywhere you look now, JMO.
Stoops is a football guy through and through. He's not an idiot. Some coaching decisions that have been made have frustrated myself and others but being a new HC in the SEC, well you're going against the best and your weaknesses will be exposed. He is learning and as long as he continues to learn, grow, and rectify those mistakes, he'll get us there. Stoops strikes me as the kind of guy who's going to be harder on himself and the players for mistakes than we ever could be.
hardly ever respond but this seems like a strange time to jump ship after the joker fiasco
There are plenty on this thread that think he's underachieving & needs to redeem himself.