Who Here Thinks Mark Stoops Will Turn Things Around?

[UKWinsAgainYep]

Who here thinks Stoops will end up turning the program around and be here at least another 3 years?

Who here thinks Stoops will prove the naysayers wrong in the end?

Could this be a similar Rich Brooks' moment after the LSU beatdown?

 

[Ctroberts1024]

No

 

[JumperJack]

I have wondered about a Rich Brooks moment.

We have been competitive the last couple years. I can't figure where this collapse is coming from. It's more than just bad coaching.

 

[Lewdogg]

I do ...

 

[UKCATS8]

I don't think he will... This is worse than Jokers last year, at least with Joker the expectations wasn't really high.

 

[bigbluewildcat84]

Stoops is up against an up hill battle. Coach Brooks at least had the locker room. He was able to rally the players. Stoops has lost his troops and lost the fan base and the media is turning. As a last ditch effort, he's threw a hail mary and said he's going to be more involved in the defense. If the defense does not improve hes thrown himself under the bus and is directly responsible for its failure.

So you ask if he can turn it around?? I believe he has hit bottom. Its either go up or lose his job.

 

[Rockford]

Count me as thinking he can't do it.

Would have already been done.

Last 2 and a half games have been the worst of his tenure. Trending in wrong direction.... Straight nose dive into the ground.

 

[akaukswoosh]

Who here thinks Stoops will end up turning the program around and be here at least another 3 years?

Who here thinks Stoops will prove the naysayers wrong in the end?

Could this be a similar Rich Brooks' moment after the LSU beatdown?

No hope. Wondering if he can even get the team up to take out frustrations on NMSU.

 

[ukbrian]

He's done. Once you lose a team it isn't turning around.

Not going to happen. They don't believe in him.

 

[phart]

stoops does not have his kids tough enough. love at middle lb will not attack he is acoward. barker is acoward ,woulding beat a good junior school.

 

[Lonesome Hippopotamus]

I did.... I really did.

 

[brianpoe]

Look at the first 2 games of 2006 and look at the first 2 games this year...

Woodson >>>>>>>> Barker

Woodyard >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Our entire defense.


Woodson had 7 TDs after 2 games - we havent had a completed pass in 6 quarters.

We have given up more points in 6 quarters vs a CUSA team and poor offensive Florida team then we did in 2006 to Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee combined.

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

How do some of you know he lost the locker room? That's just conjecture.

 

[Lonesome Hippopotamus]

How do some of you know he lost the locker room? That's just conjecture.

I would like to know that too.

 

[catfanjd]

Who here thinks Stoops will end up turning the program around and be here at least another 3 years?

Who here thinks Stoops will prove the naysayers wrong in the end?

Could this be a similar Rich Brooks' moment after the LSU beatdown?

I want to believe Stoops can turn it around but the way they played this weekend has me very doubtful. Go ahead pile on. I want continuity for this program. UK can't seem to find that. I still believe UK would be better off in another conference. We have a brand in basketball that certainly doesn't need the SEC. U of Hell figured it out our administration Board and boosters need to figure it out.

 

[Tapemaster8]

Who here thinks Stoops will end up turning the program around and be here at least another 3 years?

Who here thinks Stoops will prove the naysayers wrong in the end?

Could this be a similar Rich Brooks' moment after the LSU beatdown?

I have no idea. But I do know that the reason I didn't want coach Brooks hired was because of his age and I didn't think he would stay long enough to turn the thing around and he didn't. I said when Stoops was hired if they aren't going to give him six years then they are wasting their time and money. I still believe that! I don't like the product I am seeing, but they mess we were in can't be solved in 4 years is what I believe.

 

[JC CATS]

I have no idea. But I do know that the reason I didn't want coach Brooks hired was because of his age and I didn't think he would stay long enough to turn the thing around and he didn't. I said when Stoops was hired if they aren't going to give him six years then they are wasting their time and money. I still believe that! I don't like the product I am seeing, but they mess we were in can't be solved in 4 years is what I believe.

You may be right, but the problem is we are not getting better. We are not going in the right direction. We are trending down. Outside of the first half of S Miss, we have no semblance of an offense, no defense whatsoever. Players aren't giving effort, players are out of position on every play. No group outside of the wide receivers look like they can play whatsoever. Jordan Jones wasn't on defense we prolly would have given up about 8 more TD's. The problem isn't losing. It is how we are losing. It is losing to CUSA schools and a bad Fla team that barely beat UMass. We didn't lose like 28-10 It was 45-7, the 7 being a gift. Things are not on the right path

 

[brianpoe]

You may be right, but the problem is we are not getting better. We are not going in the right direction. We are trending down. Outside of the first half of S Miss, we have no semblance of an offense, no defense whatsoever. Players aren't giving effort, players are out of position on every play. No group outside of the wide receivers look like they can play whatsoever. Jordan Jones wasn't on defense we prolly would have given up about 8 more TD's. The problem isn't losing. It is how we are losing. It is losing to CUSA schools and a bad Fla team that barely beat UMass. We didn't lose like 28-10 It was 45-7, the 7 being a gift. Things are not on the right path

Not sure why this is so difficult for people.

BCG would still be here for many of these "continuity" folks.

 

[uk_king_cat2]

I guess we could be RAMS fans

 

[LadyCaytIL]

I guess we could be RAMS fans

was a Rams fan but now thanks to them.. I have memories of a title and free on sunday's to not be depressed at sh*t play. Them leaving was the best thing for us STL fans.

 

[LadyCaytIL]

How do some of you know he lost the locker room? That's just conjecture.

One of two things..........

1. Either stoops is OK with and coaches his players to quit

2. The players quit and thats absolutely losing the locker room.

And............... dont make me link the quote from Jordan Jones about a lot of players quitting

 

[BlueRunner11]

I would like to know that too.

It's pretty obvious if you're paying attention. He's either lost the team or he's a terrible coach or both. Either way, the results and the remedy are going to be the same.

 

[Katwatcher]

Not sure why this is so difficult for people.

BCG would still be here for many of these "continuity" folks.

One reason that its so difficult is the fact we keep hearing comparisons to the basketball program. It only takes 2-3 top recruits per year to full fill the goal of supplying players for the NBA.

It takes ten times that many top football recruits just to stay even with the majority of teams in SEC football.

Kentucky has no tradition in football. Its all been in Basketball for over 60 years. The basketball season for most of the SEC teams was for keeping players in condition to play football.

The only "continuity" we have in football is the fact we hire a football staff and give them less than 3-4 years in most cases to start criticizing and calling for a new set of coaches. Of course that means paying one coach to coach and one not to coach.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

The first reaction you hear from the same fans every year, "Our coaches have forgotten how to coach, they were good coaches "

Folks, wake up. We play in the best football conference in the nation. We have to recruit the neighboring states for the left overs and do a pretty good job, but that doesn't mean you can catch up in 3-6 years. It will take much longer.

I don't know if Stoops can turn it around or not, but this "continuity" of changing coaches every 4-5 years has proven over the years that it doesn't work.

Let me say one more thing, you don't have to look for Jordan Jones on the field. He will be where the ball is. He has the same coaches that the rest of squad has. He is a player.

Go Cats

 

[Cats_2010]

katwatcher.....it is not too much to ask as a fan for your team to be even slightly better in year 4 than we were in year 1 and 2 of a coaches tenure. We may be slightly better now than year 1(still to be determined) but we are glaringly worse than we were in year 2. The only thing stoops has done well is recruit a higher average star player but even that is going to come to a halt as what he's been selling is not translating on the field.

If we gave stoops 6 years this program would be dead, it is on life support now 2 games into year 4 and if he gets his 5th year which is very likely then this program likely dies with him. It would take one hell of a home run hire to breath life back into it after that but you would prefer to let us decay even a year longer? We got jokered then stooped so the next coach will likely have to earn the fans back which like you said is much harder in football than basketball as it takes longer. The next coach will likely have 2-3 seasons of trying to get things back on track, a brutal reality for us fans before we wait for that magical fourth year again to see if we have improved at all or status quo.

We have enough talent to work with now for a proven head coach to come and be successful (in our eyes) right away. Give stoops this year and next and if your way another year after that, then we are destined to be right back where we were when stoops took over and 6 years wasted.

 

[BlueRaider22]

OP, do you mean will he turn it around this yr or overall? Heck, I'll answer both.

This yr - with the information we have right now, I'll say no. I'm going to guess 4-5 wins right now. If that's a turn around in some eyes that's fine but not to me.

Next yr - perhaps but there's a catch. Stoops' teams have usually come out swinging the first half of the yr then collapsed the second. So, I think he will have the team ready to play out of the box next yr. And I think that Stoops and the roster "could" improve enough to get us to a bowl game. Which in turn will buy Stoops at least another yr.

I do think that Stoops can improve and get us to regular bowl games.....but that may be all he's capable of.....which also scares me. Brooks' streak was awesome and better than the current play but I want more. I'm afraid that doing well enough to get to bowls will be just enough to appease admin and fans. Then you're stuck.

 

[Rush2112 UK]

Folks, wake up. We play in the best football conference in the nation. We have to recruit the neighboring states for the left overs and do a pretty good job, but that doesn't mean you can catch up in 3-6 years. It will take much longer.

James Franklin and Dan Mullen say hello.

But hey... let's give Stoops another 3-4 years, see what he can do to the program. [poop]

 

[NCukcat62]

One reason that its so difficult is the fact we keep hearing comparisons to the basketball program. It only takes 2-3 top recruits per year to full fill the goal of supplying players for the NBA.

It takes ten times that many top football recruits just to stay even with the majority of teams in SEC football.

Kentucky has no tradition in football. Its all been in Basketball for over 60 years. The basketball season for most of the SEC teams was for keeping players in condition to play football.

The only "continuity" we have in football is the fact we hire a football staff and give them less than 3-4 years in most cases to start criticizing and calling for a new set of coaches. Of course that means paying one coach to coach and one not to coach.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

The first reaction you hear from the same fans every year, "Our coaches have forgotten how to coach, they were good coaches "

Folks, wake up. We play in the best football conference in the nation. We have to recruit the neighboring states for the left overs and do a pretty good job, but that doesn't mean you can catch up in 3-6 years. It will take much longer.

I don't know if Stoops can turn it around or not, but this "continuity" of changing coaches every 4-5 years has proven over the years that it doesn't work.

Let me say one more thing, you don't have to look for Jordan Jones on the field. He will be where the ball is. He has the same coaches that the rest of squad has. He is a player.

Go Cats

Here's my issue with your post. I'm not going to label you a pumper because your post was very well stated. However, we are on year 4 and it's time to show that we are coming together as a program. The past 2 weeks and the end of last season has shown no improvement and how we were in jokers last season. A good coach by year three or four will have a team competing and go to a bowl game. Had stoops gone to a bowl game his second and third season as he should, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Unfortunately both years showed a major collapse within the team, both on the field and off. That to me shows that stoops does not have it. And thus we must begin to look towards a different direction.

 

[LowCountryCat]

Not a chance.

I notice some of the gaslighters are avoiding this thread, too.

 

[LadyCaytIL]

One reason that its so difficult is the fact we keep hearing comparisons to the basketball program. It only takes 2-3 top recruits per year to full fill the goal of supplying players for the NBA.

It takes ten times that many top football recruits just to stay even with the majority of teams in SEC football.

Kentucky has no tradition in football. Its all been in Basketball for over 60 years. The basketball season for most of the SEC teams was for keeping players in condition to play football.

The only "continuity" we have in football is the fact we hire a football staff and give them less than 3-4 years in most cases to start criticizing and calling for a new set of coaches. Of course that means paying one coach to coach and one not to coach.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

The first reaction you hear from the same fans every year, "Our coaches have forgotten how to coach, they were good coaches "

Folks, wake up. We play in the best football conference in the nation. We have to recruit the neighboring states for the left overs and do a pretty good job, but that doesn't mean you can catch up in 3-6 years. It will take much longer.

I don't know if Stoops can turn it around or not, but this "continuity" of changing coaches every 4-5 years has proven over the years that it doesn't work.

Let me say one more thing, you don't have to look for Jordan Jones on the field. He will be where the ball is. He has the same coaches that the rest of squad has. He is a player.

Go Cats

if you want a continuity of absolutely embarrassing losses ... then by all means knock yourself out but dont expect any other UK fans to be watching that nightmare with you.

 

[BlueRunner11]

One reason that its so difficult is the fact we keep hearing comparisons to the basketball program. It only takes 2-3 top recruits per year to full fill the goal of supplying players for the NBA.

It takes ten times that many top football recruits just to stay even with the majority of teams in SEC football.

Kentucky has no tradition in football. Its all been in Basketball for over 60 years. The basketball season for most of the SEC teams was for keeping players in condition to play football.

The only "continuity" we have in football is the fact we hire a football staff and give them less than 3-4 years in most cases to start criticizing and calling for a new set of coaches. Of course that means paying one coach to coach and one not to coach.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

The first reaction you hear from the same fans every year, "Our coaches have forgotten how to coach, they were good coaches "

Folks, wake up. We play in the best football conference in the nation. We have to recruit the neighboring states for the left overs and do a pretty good job, but that doesn't mean you can catch up in 3-6 years. It will take much longer.

I don't know if Stoops can turn it around or not, but this "continuity" of changing coaches every 4-5 years has proven over the years that it doesn't work.

Let me say one more thing, you don't have to look for Jordan Jones on the field. He will be where the ball is. He has the same coaches that the rest of squad has. He is a player.

Go Cats

Here's the one major flaw in your approach to retaining coaches past the 4/5 year mark...

You're not taking into consideration player turnover. We're not stockpiling players here. For every Jordan Jones that emerges were losing a Josh Forrest. For every promising freshman coming in we're losing a solid senior. It's a constant revolving door of players where the yearly overall talent fluctuates between classes, positions, and sides of the ball but the wins and losses roughly remain the same.

This is and always has been UKs plight and longevity at the helm is a non factor in resolving it. Only program success is.

So we need a coach who can win with what we have now relatively speaking and 4/5 years is enough time to determine if a coach is capable of doing that. Stoops is in year 4 and is trending down already. If the season continues the way it has, the offseason will be full of decommits, transfers, and recruiting difficulties. Longevity doesn't cure that. Only winning will which Stoops hasn't.

You can only sell a dream for so long and then you have to produce because if you don't, everyone wakes up real quick.

 

[Nuke99m.]

A few years ago it was " I believe".
Well I don't anymore.

 

[Kooky Kats_anon]

This program has been dead since Damien Harris announced for Bama.

Now, it's a rotten corpse.

Next year, if this staff is still here, it will be a skeleton- making the next coach's job impossible.

Thanks Mitch.

 

[gamalielkid]

Who here thinks Stoops will end up turning the program around and be here at least another 3 years?

Who here thinks Stoops will prove the naysayers wrong in the end?

Could this be a similar Rich Brooks' moment after the LSU beatdown?

Well, we will know a lot more after this weekend's game. We are a 21 point favorite. Now that should mean a 40 point win under normal circumstances. Let's see what happens.

Go Big Blue!

 

[ukalum1988]

I wish he could and i hope he will, but deep down I doubt it. I will happily eat my share of crow if he unexpectedly proves me wrong.

 

[Knightlife10]

I believe! Do you guys think hiring an ambassador/consultant would help? The position Spurrier currently holds at Florida... Who do we want?! I would see if Bobby Bowden has anything left in the tank.

 

[shutzhund]

stoops does not have his kids tough enough. love at middle lb will not attack he is acoward. barker is acoward ,woulding beat a good junior school.

You're sitting on your narrow *** and calling these guys cowards? One SEC ball snap and you'd be curled up on the ground faking an injury.

They may not be SEC caliber players but they sure as hell aren't cowards.

 

[Dore95]

You could imagine a scenario where he "turns it around", at least with respect to the negative comments on the board, over the next two weeks. If UK beats NMSU (and it would help if FSU beat U of L), there will be many on this board who will puff their chests out and look forward to the South Carolina game. Then, if UK beats South Carolina, there will be a number of fans who will be talking bowl prospects again. It really would be that easy to "turn it around".

 

[Katwatcher]

Hey guys thanks for all your comments to my post. I agree with most of your remarks except the continuity. I am also confused about some of the coaching decisions thats been made and I think Coach Stoops will make some changes. We've only played 2 games and there was some improvement and some disappointments.

Its going to be a tough road ahead of us to be competitive with the established teams in the best conference in nation.

My point is that we are not wasting the four years that Stoops has been here, we are gaining experience that is going to help down the road. If we pursue the idea to change coaching staff again, it will be wasted.

Actually four years is a short period of time when you have to start over. You have transfers, injuries ,discipline problems, which all teams do, but it hurts teams like Kentucky the most.

Every coach thats been hired in the last few years were thought to be the answer to our problem, but same results. Even Rich Brooks was almost canned his third season.

I don't think hiring coaches loaded with baggage is the answer either. I had rather give someone like Stoops the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe we will see some real improvement next Sat. Go Cats

 

[Dakota25]

He isn't turning it around. There is talent to work with on this team yet look at the results.

 

[ukgrad83]

I do not. I have yet to see any indication that he knows how to hold his assistants accountable. There has been little to no player development, they lack conditioning, they appear to fail to understand basic football skills. He doesn't appear to be able to make halftime or in game adjustments. A miserable failure as a HC.