This is a bye week post about the future. I will even use paragraphs to satisfy critics. Even though we are 3-3, 2-2 and our coach has 3 more years on his contract, some posters are just locked into the next Kentucky football coach and trashing Stoops. If you are 1 of them, please stop reading at this point, because continuing may spur you to sarcasm that isn't fair to other people interested in our current football team. Since June, I have said Kentucky will win 4-5 games in 2016, then at least 7 games in 2017. My 2016 forecast is looking very good. My reasoning was based on extreme inexperience on Kentucky's defensive front 7 and at the quarterback position. My 2017 reasoning is based on the opposite - 19 incumbent starters pIus both kickers coming back. Our most important personnel weaknesses of 2016 can be turned into strengths by 2017. I am not saying they will or won't. I am only saying they "can be".
It's time for people to forget about Southern Miss and put on our big boy pants, as Coach Claiborne used to say. We have a team with lots of talent, but also with fatal positional gaps. These positional gaps have largely been created by departures. I won't recite the list of departures, because they aren't about the future.
At this point, Coach Stoops can still succeed or fail. To succeed, Coach Stoops must do 3 things. Recruit at high level, develop staff better, develop players better. 1. We have begun to see recruiting momentum fall off. Less than 20 scholarships are available this year. Cedrick Dort and Jamin Davis should not be high priorities. Kentucky won't sign Jedrick Wills, but Stoops can still save this class by keeping Javonte Richardson and signing Danny Clark and a couple of high quality linemen and linebackers. Clark has already scheduled his announcement. A year from now, recruiting must be at a higher level. Jarren Williams is a good start, and he must be kept. 2. Kentucky's coaching staff is still a work in progress. The offensive staff has been stabilized by Eddie Gran. Matt House has stabilized special teams. But our defensive staff is still unsettled. This starts at the top. When Coach Stoops took over the defense, that was a no-confidence vote in Eliot and Clinkscale. Those 2 staff positions need upgrades. Especially Eliot. Stoops must hire an SEC-capable defensive coordinator. 3. Although Melvin Lewis, Josh Forrest, CJ Johnson were spectacular development stories, Stoops hasn't had enough of those. Too many players still underperform. Some of this is inexperience. Inexperience no longer a problem in 2017.
It doesn't matter what preconceived notions some fans had about season 4, unless those notions were supported by known facts. For example, strength at running back and wide receiver is a fact. Inexperience at quarterback and the front 7 is a fact. Whereas being tired of this or tired of that is an emotion, not a fact. Stoops and our players can't and shouldn't be responsible for emotions of fans. Even when we win, the same people are always upset and negative. That's compulsion. On the ground, this coaching staff has not failed yet. They can still succeed or fail. But recruiting must pick up, and our coaching staff still needs further development. More success in those 2 areas should lead to more consistent player development. If Stoops can pull them off. I'm not saying he can. I'm not saying he can't. But for now, all these posts about the next coach are pointless, at best. All they do is make people like Jordan Griffin's mother angry.
