I have never posted or thought Stoops should be fired. Disgusted, like most, but feel with his recruiting class coming in In Feb. we will be a much better team Next year. Not drinking blue cool aid, Just feel like coaching and play from our players will be much better in 2016 So my support is Go Big Blue.
Ok, Time to get Back on Stoops ban Wagon
- Thread starter frost1
- Start date
Not off the wagon but have some serious concerns.
Maybe it's just me, but recruiting rankings don't really do it for me when a team looks poorly coached and there is almost zero player development happening. I know the recruiting rankings (which are good, not great) were exciting for the first couple years, but I'm struggling to understand how those rankings (which still place us almost dead last in the SEC) are giving some of you so much excitement about this staff's ability to win games.
At the end of the day, even with 5 more years of Stoops recruiting we're going to be less talented than Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. With that being the case, are we going to beat those teams with superior coaching from Stoops and Co? Where is the optimism coming from? At least with Brooks we could out-coach other teams at times and develop under the radar talent. With Stoops we have virtually zero chance of climbing the ladder because he struggles not only to hire a competent coaching staff but he struggles to make competent in game decisions. He struggles not to let his emotions override his thinking. He struggles to develop the talent he has. He struggles to make in game adjustments, with his teams routinely getting out-performed in the second half of games. He even struggles to beat the few teams on the schedule where he does have a talent/depth advantage, blatantly showing which team has the superior coaching staff.
Are you really going to tie your support to him based on so-so recruiting rankings alone? Come on. Are we just throwing logic out the window at this point or have we just said oh well, let's go all in on drinking the blue Kool Aid? I know we have some really supportive fans, but I think some of you are confusing being supportive with being an enabler that blindly supports a coaching staff like Joker, Stoops, Gillispie, etc., simply because they're the coach of "our team".
At the end of the day, even with 5 more years of Stoops recruiting we're going to be less talented than Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. With that being the case, are we going to beat those teams with superior coaching from Stoops and Co? Where is the optimism coming from? At least with Brooks we could out-coach other teams at times and develop under the radar talent. With Stoops we have virtually zero chance of climbing the ladder because he struggles not only to hire a competent coaching staff but he struggles to make competent in game decisions. He struggles not to let his emotions override his thinking. He struggles to develop the talent he has. He struggles to make in game adjustments, with his teams routinely getting out-performed in the second half of games. He even struggles to beat the few teams on the schedule where he does have a talent/depth advantage, blatantly showing which team has the superior coaching staff.
Are you really going to tie your support to him based on so-so recruiting rankings alone? Come on. Are we just throwing logic out the window at this point or have we just said oh well, let's go all in on drinking the blue Kool Aid? I know we have some really supportive fans, but I think some of you are confusing being supportive with being an enabler that blindly supports a coaching staff like Joker, Stoops, Gillispie, etc., simply because they're the coach of "our team".
Last edited:
CMS will be given five years ... to much has gone into stadium upgrades, contract extension, improved recruiting, etc. But, expectations should be lowered to 4-5 wins next year and focus should be whether CMS is growing in his coaching ability and whether recruits are staying around and getting better. UK won't get sufficient talent to be successful without coaching the guys up and putting them in a scheme to succeed. That is the challenge.
Year 5 will be the W-L test and the pressure will be on then to get to a bowl.
Year 5 will be the W-L test and the pressure will be on then to get to a bowl.
I think the tone that fans need to take is, "OK Stoops you are in year 4, you've had 2x seasons at 5-7 and we've been younger, you've now got some of your own recruits as upperclassmen you really need to show me something". I think that's the tone to take this off season. I don't think anyone should be calling for him to be fired or coming to conclusions that he can't be a good head coach because honestly its too early and Stoops isn't showing anymore signs of not knowing what he's doing than Rich Brooks did in his first years here. People forgot about Rich Brooks' delay of games and too many men on the field and so on.... Stoops doesn't look like some others that look completely clueless.
You may be right about the tone fans should have but I can guarantee that the tone will actually be more like "win and we will come back".
What most fans don't seem to realize is what a deep hole the UK Athletic Dept headed by mitch dug us into with TEN YEARS (decades with other losers in charge) of minimum support (ridiculous, really) that allowed recruits that were told that UK was not just a basketball school to be brought in and be exposed to the "recruiting room". which immediately made a liar out of all our coaches. Along with the other subpar facilities and jokes for a football operating budget and recruiting budget.
Repeating myself, but it needs to be repeated, Brooks and Joker never had a chance in the SEC.
Joker's first team in 2010 had its senior class (with very few decent redshirts, they had to play if they were any good) a group from 07 (after only our fourth SEC break even season since the SEVENTIES) that had NINETEEN two stars (only one a 5.4, Lendl, that had to quit) that averaged a LOFTY (LOL) 5.1 plus on Rival's recruiting Richter Scale. The team had TWO JC four stars playing, and when they played Florida that year Florida AVERAGED higher than a 5.9 (Higher than Boom's rating, for FORTY FOUR players) for their TWO DEEP on both offense and defense-------while UK started more two stars than three stars AND two walkons. Florida aided the seven SEC opponents that year (excluding Vandy but including the two Misses) to AVERAGE 38 four star commits over the past four years.
Right, coaching can make up that kind of difference, talent doesn't matter that much.
But that gap is closing, talent PLUS experience hasn't that much yet, but we should expect a couple of games a year where the players (and coaches) exceed their talent level, after all a truly incompetent coach according to most posters (Joker) upset top ten USC (with a HOF coach) and lost to Cam and the NC by only 39-36.
And in a couple more years the talent level won't be such a tremendous mismatch, and we will have a lot of senior leaders. If we can manage to win a few more games this staff will be able to show people what kind of recruiters they really are, they have already shown me that they are great.
And TALENT with experience is still UK's greatest problem.
By for now.
Last edited:
After a brief hiatus after the UL debacle, I am back on the bus. But I do believe Stoops has really dug himself a bit of a hole with the fanbase next year. I do expect ticket sales to suffer quite a bit unfortunately.
I tell you what has got me back believing again. Seeing these recruits stick together and show how much they want to turn this thing around at UK. That's all I've needed to see to know that I need to get back behind this staff and show them we aren't just giving up on them. Yes, the schedule is tougher next year, but these guys showed they are capable of playing with most teams in the SEC. So we absolutely can go bowling.
I tell you what has got me back believing again. Seeing these recruits stick together and show how much they want to turn this thing around at UK. That's all I've needed to see to know that I need to get back behind this staff and show them we aren't just giving up on them. Yes, the schedule is tougher next year, but these guys showed they are capable of playing with most teams in the SEC. So we absolutely can go bowling.
I admire your confidence in this program but the only thing that gets me excited about this program going forward is wins.
Attendance will be way down next season. Fans aren't going to watch that crap anymore. They feel burned by Stoops. They will only come back if he starts winning the games we are supposed to win. That includes UL and Vandy and not going to OT vs. EKU. Just pathetic we couldn't beat UL or Vandy.
UK fans should not go to games and watch that crap until the product improves. We've waited and waited. When are we going to start dominating UL and Vandy on an annual basis? Once that happens, I'll start paying for tickets. Until then, UK will NEVER get out of the cellar of the SEC.
I'm still waiting Coach Stoops. Are you going to beat Vandy and UL next season? Is that too tall of an order from the UK fan base?
Am I asking for miracles when I just want to beat Vandy and UL? An unreasonable request, right?
UK fans should not go to games and watch that crap until the product improves. We've waited and waited. When are we going to start dominating UL and Vandy on an annual basis? Once that happens, I'll start paying for tickets. Until then, UK will NEVER get out of the cellar of the SEC.
I'm still waiting Coach Stoops. Are you going to beat Vandy and UL next season? Is that too tall of an order from the UK fan base?
Am I asking for miracles when I just want to beat Vandy and UL? An unreasonable request, right?
Yes, that would be very exciting. I hope we can actually win some games and make a bowl next year, but not betting on it with Stoops coaching ability.
I think the fans should stand behind this team because it's our team. The coaches are getting paid to do a job that we all help pay for. So for the sake of the future of the program I'm still on board but the message to staff and players needs to be "earn it".
We showed up 50000 strong to a spring game with just a promise of better days ahead. We were there and loud for Uf and aub. We did our part the last 3 years and now this staff needs to earn back that level of support.
The fans might consider taking the same approach with this staff as the players do for a big game. The exuberance at the beginning is impressive and makes for a great start but the game is won or lost during that period after the initial exuberance has worn off, the grind. That part of the game when you just have to maintain your focus and avoid mistakes. The grind is where the hard work is done and the ability to stick to the game plan and execute can make all the difference. Some players give up but the winners will not throw in the towel, they just keep doing their job. That is how coach Brooks made it work, he was one tough SOB that that took a couple of shots to the mouth and came back swinging.
Just a fun analogy.
Just a fun analogy.
Don't disagree with any of this, but have a sense that Stoops is as aware as anyone that HE and his staff have as much work to do to get better as the players do and believe he will work to do that. I don't think he has the ego to try and deflect all the problems on them and knows they have to work in the off season to be better coaches in every way, in Nutter and in games.
Wishful thinking op but no way in hell will Kentucky football win 6 or more games with Stoops as our head coach..... Especially next season
In two years he will be fired and Kentucky will be the same old Kentucky. Unless brainfart hires a quality top notch proven winning coach nothing will ever change at Kentucky.
In two years he will be fired and Kentucky will be the same old Kentucky. Unless brainfart hires a quality top notch proven winning coach nothing will ever change at Kentucky.
Well, actually yes it is------this early in the season, I don't think we are even through spring practice yet.
And KentuckyWildcat, Kentucky will be the same old Kentucky??? It already isn't the same old Kentucky, a huge upgrade in the talent level, still young and learning though.
I support CMS but I don't agree with you OP
Recruits are great but you have to do something with them once they get here
Didn't we just send a highly-touted Kentucky boy coming out of school on down the road to play QB elsewhere?
It is time to "show me" and next season is a ball-buster of a schedule again, making it harder than ever to do just that
And CMS isn't the only one who needs to step it up
As we have seen before, the only thing that gets results with Mitch is EMPTY SEATS
Stay home and watch on TV and you can still be a great, great fan while making a point that you're done with forking over cash for a sub-par product year after year after year
Spend the money on something else, NFL maybe or take up turkey-hunting
If we all did that this team would improve immensely in no time
Recruits are great but you have to do something with them once they get here
Didn't we just send a highly-touted Kentucky boy coming out of school on down the road to play QB elsewhere?
It is time to "show me" and next season is a ball-buster of a schedule again, making it harder than ever to do just that
And CMS isn't the only one who needs to step it up
As we have seen before, the only thing that gets results with Mitch is EMPTY SEATS
Stay home and watch on TV and you can still be a great, great fan while making a point that you're done with forking over cash for a sub-par product year after year after year
Spend the money on something else, NFL maybe or take up turkey-hunting
If we all did that this team would improve immensely in no time