All of you who want Stoops fired after year #3, ask yourself a question, where is UK in the pecking order of South Carolina and Missouri?
Some need a shot of reality in the arm. UK is 3rd in the pecking order of South Carolina and Missouri. With all these openings that happened this off season South Carolina hired a proven loser who hired the same OC that he had at Florida, and everyone turned down the Missouri job and so they had to hire the DC as the head coach. Seriously, do you people want DJ Eliot or Shannon Dawson as your head coach? That's the equivalent that you'd get if you fired Stoops right now.
People saying that not firing Stoops is delaying the inevitable, but what do you do when you have an offseason with the most openings that FBS has seen and schools in a higher pecking order than you fail to make a splash hire. Logic will tell you that the inevitable would be that you hire someone with a fraction of the coaching ability as Stoops, and you would hire then for a 3 year period where recruiting wouldn't be nearly as good, thus delaying anything that the next Head Coach could do with a talent deficient roster like the one Stoops inherited. Which means you begin the circle of failure again.
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For those who said Stoops doesn't know what he's doing, ask yourself this question... Why did he figure it out for the first half of the season 2 years in a row, but not the 2nd half?
Another shot of reality needs to be given to some. Starting 4-1 this season, and starting 5-1 last season obviously shows that Stoops has figured it out enough to have his team playing competitively and inspired for the first half of the season. For those who is comparing Stoops to Joker, ask yourself when did Joker do that? I like Joker and know him, but the staff and the head coach from that era to this era is night and day. Joker had an issue with assembling a team, let alone even playing a game. Stoops' problem is figuring out how to get his players to sustain the energy and competitiveness that they start the season with. That's a far cry from Joker!
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Do any of you realize that Mark Stoops inherited the worst roster of any team in a P5 conference? That's not just me saying it, several pundits have said that and continue to say that. It was remarkable that Stoops even began last season with a 5-1 record. For those who think James Franklin did a remarkable job, go and look at how many Vandy players he inherited sniffed the NFL. I'll give you a hint, it was more than he inherited at Penn State. The outcome of his lack of success at Penn State compared to when he was at Vandy is no coincidence. So don't compare what James Franklin did at Vandy to what Mark Stoops is doing at UK. Bottom line is the NFL players Stoops inherited are Avery Williamson and Bud Dupree, the rest he's recruited himself or converted from a WR to a LB and developed them himself. Crazy thing is Bud Dupree said himself that he developed more under Stoops in 1 year than he did his entire time under Joker. I really believe you guys think UK is in a better position than we really are.
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Another dose of reality needs to be given to fans who think they'll pull another successful head coach from another team at this level. Mark Stoops was a coordinator, Joker was a coordinator, Rich Brooks was former NFL DC who was out of work, Guy Morris was an OLine coach off of a staff that left because of NCAA infractions, Hal Mumme was a D3 head coach, Bill Curry was a head coach who was about to be let go..... News flash all UK is going to be able to get from a high level school is a coordinator, and as long as that is the case, we will have to deal with a HC who is learning on the job. Sure we can go get Mark Hudspeth, but recruiting will severely suffer, I'm talking someone who is struggling to land Joker like recruits. If you look at the SEC's history of HC's coming in without any prior HC experience it ain't good. For every Philip Fulmer there are like 10 Will Muschamp's. Unless UK suddenly jumps up in stature, its best Head Coaches will always be coordinators. That unfortunately comes with a learning curve and it will always take them some years to get over that learning curve. Yeah you could find a James Franklin, but that's rare. Are you willing to fire the next 5 or 10 HC's to find a James Franklin who inherits a nice roster, or will you let a coordinator go through his pains of being a first time HC while showing competence and recruiting the best in program history and let him build something out of what was previously nothing?