Regardless of how anyone feels about it, Kentucky still has a pathway to a bowl. We would have to beat South Carolina, Mississippi State, Missouri, Vandy, Austin Peay. If you have been reading my posts all the way back to June, you will know that I have never believed we can win 6 games this year. But there are caveats. It looks like Stoops has finally found a quarterback who can move the chains in Gran's offense. Johnson won't move the chains much against Alabama and Tennessee, but he might move them against South Carolina. Johnson understands how to use Conrad and Hart. Boom and Benny are real SEC running backs. Grant McKinness is a viable punter, and our kick coverage teams are playing well. But our front 7 is bad, and Eliot doesn't have the answers. There is still no pass rush. We can't even stop NM State from gaining 5-6 yards running up the middle on 1st down. If Stoops beats South Carolina next week, then all this "fire the coach" rhetoric needs to stop out of respect for our players. But if Stoops loses to South Carolina, that would get him on the hot seat for real. It is important to understand the decision facing Barnhart in real terms, not just how it looks during a Sunday morning hangover. Stoops has recruited well, and he will have about 19 incumbent starters back in 2017. To any reasonable athletics director who wants to keep being an athletics director, that generally isn't the time to fire your football coach. Kentucky will not pay Stoops $12 million (and several assistants several $millions more) to go away with 5 wins against this schedule and 19 starters coming back. But if Stoops only squeezes 3 wins out of this schedule, Kentucky's recruiting class would collapse and Barnhart and Capilouto might decide their hand is forced. That would be interesting, because that decision could put both Barnhart and Capilouto on the hot seat too, depending on the next hire. If Stoops comes back in 2017, he MUST take his veteran 2017 team to a bowl, or else get fired. There are other considerations. Bringing Eliot from Tallahassee as defensive coordinator was Stoops' biggest mistake. Replacing Eliot with a more effective coordinator could make for quick improvement. If Stoops survives 2016, I believe he will finally be forced to fire Eliot. Kentucky's football facilities are now state of the art. To his credit, Stoops has been instrumental in making that happen. But OTOH, the new facilities would be attractive to a new coach too. So there is actually a lot for Barnhart to think about. And for fans who think they can force Barnhart's hand by staying home and trashing him on radio shows, remember that Barnhart already experienced that with Rich Brooks in 2005.