Whats it gonna take to put U.K football program over the top.
- Thread starter rdm1960
- Start date
Better recruiting is the only cure to get more than the 6-7 win syndrome possessed by many UK fans. And these recruits need to be down lineman and LBs. UK has always had enough skill players but it's the trenches that makes separate the men from the boys.
a shift to a football specific agenda...more money...bringing in football people...the board and big boosters getting on board with a football plan...
BBN needs to start demanding booze in CWS...selling it in stadium and outside stadium on game days would bring in some nice cash to spend...
a greater fan presence at games...being there isn't enough...got to be louder...
AD and University need to do something to improve student involvement...students need to show up and be a presence, or their seats need to be sold to the general public...
coaching staff has to develop players better...from weight room to fundamentals and technique on field...as well as game planning and adjusting in game...
BBN needs to start demanding booze in CWS...selling it in stadium and outside stadium on game days would bring in some nice cash to spend...
a greater fan presence at games...being there isn't enough...got to be louder...
AD and University need to do something to improve student involvement...students need to show up and be a presence, or their seats need to be sold to the general public...
coaching staff has to develop players better...from weight room to fundamentals and technique on field...as well as game planning and adjusting in game...
Whats it gonna take to put U.K football program over the top?
Leave the SEC
Leave the SEC
Sign 8 defensive lineman every class...the ones who can't rush the passer get moved to offense. Simple really. We get beat upfront every year and every game in the SEC
I agree with most of what trueblue said. First and foremost Barny has to go. He in his own way is a cancer on the football program. He would have been if allowed to continue being a part of the basketball program. Thankfully the money boys had the vision to go hire Cal. The BCG fiasco was totally on Barny and would have warranted a firing at most other schools, but it turned out ok in the end. The next thing after removing Barny from the process is having football people in charge of the hiring. We need a coach that has proven head coaching experiencing and the organizational skills to handle an SEC program. That choice needs a huge budget for an experienced DC and OC and the other assistants incl the #1 recruiter in the country. Whoever that might be. We spent $180 million dollars on the the football facility. Then shortchanged ourselves and went on the cheap when we went after coaches. But as for the people that are doing the on the ground work, most are inexperienced or friends of the staff. Its a business and we need to run it like that,,,,,,,, I have nothing but TOTAL admiration for the fans. They have been total troopers and hung in there now for decades. Its time football was not treated as an also ran.
It's amazing how everyone was all hyped up when we hired Stoops, especially after his first class of recruits. I don't know where he's going to work out or not, but what I do know, we are stuck with him for two more years.
Not hiring a proven HC was probably a mistake. Stoops has made more mistakes in the games then any coach I have ever seen, and I have been watching football for over 70 years. Sure, we all second guess coaches, but the mistakes Stoops made in some of the games were just stupid. That has to be cleared up.
He needs to quit micro-managing and let the DC and OC do their job. If they can't do it, fire them and hire someone else.
Figure out what kind of offense he wants to run, and stick with it. At the present, he has NO idea, and I don't think his OC does. This could be because of Stoops micro-managing.
He would be much better paying attention to the game, and less arguing with the officials. He hasn't won an argument with them this year.
We need to mix our plays up. Watch other teams games on TV and copy some of the plays. There are some good OC's out there. Just my take on Coach Stoops. I hope he gets it figured out.
OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
Not hiring a proven HC was probably a mistake. Stoops has made more mistakes in the games then any coach I have ever seen, and I have been watching football for over 70 years. Sure, we all second guess coaches, but the mistakes Stoops made in some of the games were just stupid. That has to be cleared up.
He needs to quit micro-managing and let the DC and OC do their job. If they can't do it, fire them and hire someone else.
Figure out what kind of offense he wants to run, and stick with it. At the present, he has NO idea, and I don't think his OC does. This could be because of Stoops micro-managing.
He would be much better paying attention to the game, and less arguing with the officials. He hasn't won an argument with them this year.
We need to mix our plays up. Watch other teams games on TV and copy some of the plays. There are some good OC's out there. Just my take on Coach Stoops. I hope he gets it figured out.
OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
Recruiting, consistency and giving the right coach time to change the program. We're not going to get over the top quickly, it will come in fits and starts, two steps forward one step back. The Joker hire really hurt because Brooks had already gotten us on solid ground and now we have to go through that entire process again.
The formula for winning is the same just about everywhere. You need good players. In the SEC, you need really good players. A ton of them.
I imagine just about every team in the NFL has at least one lineman from a Southeastern Conference school. Not coincidentally, play in the trenches has been UK's biggest weakness for decades. In the last 20 years, UK has had ONE offensive lineman drafted. That's unbelievably putrid.
Soooo, long story short, recruit as many lineman as you can even if it means going one short everywhere else. Finding a QB that can throw the ball accurately should always be a focus as well. UK hasn't had a dependable quarterback in almost ten years.
GBB!!!
I imagine just about every team in the NFL has at least one lineman from a Southeastern Conference school. Not coincidentally, play in the trenches has been UK's biggest weakness for decades. In the last 20 years, UK has had ONE offensive lineman drafted. That's unbelievably putrid.
Soooo, long story short, recruit as many lineman as you can even if it means going one short everywhere else. Finding a QB that can throw the ball accurately should always be a focus as well. UK hasn't had a dependable quarterback in almost ten years.
GBB!!!
After letting the loss on Saturday fade away and being able to think clearer, I think more than ever this staff, team and program need even more support than we've given them. Have got to turn around this negative attitude around the program right now.
I feel as if people are actually wanting Stoops to fail now. What good does that do us? To go after the next hot coach? Meanwhile we start back at the beginning in a never ending series of rebuilds. We all need to HOPE and PRAY that Stoops can move this program forward. They need the support now more than ever.
Program is going through growing pains and if we just give up we're starting right back where we were. Gotta continue to recruit and bring in some fresh blood in the assistants. And that requires the fans to give this just a bit more time. Next year will tell us where this thing is going for sure. It will either improve or get alot worse. Either way, we'll have given it a good amount of time to see whether Stoops can get the job done. I'm still rooting for him to do it. He's an intelligent coach and had a plan that now needs some revising.
I feel as if people are actually wanting Stoops to fail now. What good does that do us? To go after the next hot coach? Meanwhile we start back at the beginning in a never ending series of rebuilds. We all need to HOPE and PRAY that Stoops can move this program forward. They need the support now more than ever.
Program is going through growing pains and if we just give up we're starting right back where we were. Gotta continue to recruit and bring in some fresh blood in the assistants. And that requires the fans to give this just a bit more time. Next year will tell us where this thing is going for sure. It will either improve or get alot worse. Either way, we'll have given it a good amount of time to see whether Stoops can get the job done. I'm still rooting for him to do it. He's an intelligent coach and had a plan that now needs some revising.
An experienced, intelligent HC. One who assembles a solid staff, that can both recruit and teach. And can manage the game, have disclipine, and run a clean program.
First step is buyout stoops. Barnhart is going to have to do it. He got himself in this mess by giving the man a very undeserved extension. No reason for the fans to suffer because of a horrible mistake Barnhart made. We're going to have to buy him out. That's the first step to getting over the hump.
Here is an idea. Maybe we start a gofundme page for stoops buyout? I'd donate at least a few hundred dollars for the cause.
The hard truth is that UK will never get over the top. The sec is the conference of death. Now we might get a special year every once in a while but I just can't see uk ever consistently getting 9+ wins a year. Unfortunately and we can't help it but high school football in Kentucky isn't good.
I'm not sure how true this number is considering I have no idea how man cats football fans there are in this world. But let's say there are 100,000 cats fans with successful careers who are at least middle class. Each of us donate 120 dollars. That's 12 million right there. People keep complaining about how ridiculous his buyout is. But I really think if us fans did our job we could buy him out and it wouldn't hurt any of our pockets. I hate dreaming I wish this could just become a reality.
I agree with what most are saying, however, this is not where the reset button is pushed. It starts with the president (Capiluoto). Powerhouse football schools have a president that requires excellence in the AD office and front office of the head coach. It appears that Capiluoto does not desire to become involved and require more than what we are seeing. Lee Todd was in love with Mitch and made sure they were on the same page with the development of minor sports. It seems that Capiluoto is followning suit.
Until we get a president that demans excellence we will be kept in check with less than mediocre uninspired football.
The president is the CEO and needs to commandeer the athletic dept.
Hello brother... Lot of us are just like you, and many who'll defend MB... I have fell off (hard) the Mitch Barnhart fan wagon...MB, is a swell guy... He's kept UK's nose clean and he can talk... A great citizen and community member... His bio can be an impressive read... My financial commitment is to the football program/University of Kentucky ... He's failed miserably in that regard and the reasons are numerous, to me, the guy that buys the ticket. I won't begrudge anyone if they are satisfied with MB/football during his years as AD... I figure that a fan during that time (1998-2015) buying a couple season tickets, has invested at a minimum 20K in University of Kentucky football.... If you like what you're getting for the money then be happy... I'm not, and as long as Mitch Barnhart is the AD at UK why should I feel the results will be any different? I don't.
UK has always had pretty much basketball A.D.'s ! Hagan , Newton , Ivy ! Barnhart was suppose to be more of a football guy . Well you see how that has turned out after 12 years . Until we get an A. D. who is a football guy and makes the right hires it will never change . Barnhart fumble the ball when he had chances to hire proven winners like Leach and Petrino but chose to hire coaches who had never been Head coaches before and we got stuck with guys who are learning how to be a Head coach ! On the Job training ! Now we have Lost to our in state Rival 5 years in a row . And we drop WKU because they beat our butt 2-years in a row . We are a Joke in this state in Football ! And it's all Mitch Barnhart's Fault ! We cant' beat WKU and Louisville Pathetic , and That's on him !
For a few years now, these are the 4 things I have thought needed to happen to make UK football successful:
1. We have to find something unique that defines our program from this point forward. Something that when Kentucky football is brought up, people immediately go, "Oh yeah, that team with the ....". Think about how Oregon originally became known by their uniforms 20 years ago, and how Boise State started becoming a household name because of the blue turf. We have to find something that makes us unique and that no other school is doing.
2. We have to find an offensive coordinator that runs a unique offense. People don't want to hear this, but maybe it is the route that Navy and GaTech. Something an SEC team would only see once a year. When Mumme started, his offense was unique (and we had the perfect QB to run ut( and it was succesful. Problem is that it wasn't so unique after a few years as other teams started to do it. I can tell you this, running a pro style offense will never work here.
3. We have to consistently be the 4th best recruitng class in the East behind Florida Tennessee and Georgia. This would put us ahead of South Carolina, Vandy, Mizzou and Mississippi State on an annual basis. To know that we will have more talent on the field than 8 of our opponants every year, would be a good feeling.
4. We have to continually update facilities. You can't wait 15 years between significant upgrades, remodels, expansions, etc. You do this by appeasing the University administrators and get the ability to use significant bond debt when needed by agreeing to put 60 million towards academic buildings after the previous $60 million of bond debt runs out (aka Science Building athletics is funding).
1. We have to find something unique that defines our program from this point forward. Something that when Kentucky football is brought up, people immediately go, "Oh yeah, that team with the ....". Think about how Oregon originally became known by their uniforms 20 years ago, and how Boise State started becoming a household name because of the blue turf. We have to find something that makes us unique and that no other school is doing.
2. We have to find an offensive coordinator that runs a unique offense. People don't want to hear this, but maybe it is the route that Navy and GaTech. Something an SEC team would only see once a year. When Mumme started, his offense was unique (and we had the perfect QB to run ut( and it was succesful. Problem is that it wasn't so unique after a few years as other teams started to do it. I can tell you this, running a pro style offense will never work here.
3. We have to consistently be the 4th best recruitng class in the East behind Florida Tennessee and Georgia. This would put us ahead of South Carolina, Vandy, Mizzou and Mississippi State on an annual basis. To know that we will have more talent on the field than 8 of our opponants every year, would be a good feeling.
4. We have to continually update facilities. You can't wait 15 years between significant upgrades, remodels, expansions, etc. You do this by appeasing the University administrators and get the ability to use significant bond debt when needed by agreeing to put 60 million towards academic buildings after the previous $60 million of bond debt runs out (aka Science Building athletics is funding).
Hire a coach that recruits believe will "make them a pro".
They come to Ky in round ball because of Cals track record of putting kids in the pros . Also because of our tradition in basketball .
Since we have no tradition in football it has to be that the kid believes our coach is so good it will help him play on Sunday's
They come to Ky in round ball because of Cals track record of putting kids in the pros . Also because of our tradition in basketball .
Since we have no tradition in football it has to be that the kid believes our coach is so good it will help him play on Sunday's
I think its ridiculous to buy out his contract regardless of how you raise the money. Those who are for firing Stoops and most of his staff are forgetting that history tells us that doesn't work. Its just a repeat of the last 50 years.
The next coach will face the same problems that Stoops has right now. Nothing is going to change. We will still have to play the tough SEC schedule, compete with other schools for the elite recruits.
I've never understood how paying two head coaches solves the problem. Money must be plentiful to be able to do that.
I am at the point where I truly believe KY will never compete at a high level in the SEC. I am a defeated fan. KY's only chance is to go to an easer conference and build its credibility much like TCU and other programs who started low and now are one of the power brokers in college football.
If Stoops turns this around I will eat crow until the cows come home and it will taste good.
If Stoops turns this around I will eat crow until the cows come home and it will taste good.
If you have been around as long as I have why do people like you blame all this on Mitch Barnhart... I do agree that the hiring of Brooks turned out to be a good hire The Joker and looks like Stoops hires are going to be a disaster... But think of it this way we now have the best facilities are as good facilities is anyone in the country... Surely good enough to be able to recruit Top Flite talent and a top-flight coach... My only and I mean only request would be no more defensive coordinators... bring me an offensive head coach or an offensive minded coordinator who will bring in an excellent defensive coach as well... Mitch Barnhart has not been the athletic director here for 40 years... You want to go back in time the basketball a AD that were here that cared absolutely nothing about football and I do mean absolutely nothing.. CM Newton... Cliff Hagan... and Larry Ivy were much more at fault for the football program being in the shape it is today than Mitch Barnhart is..