KSR Today: Does it all come to an end?

50,000 fans showed up for Mark Stoops‘ first Spring Game as the head coach of Kentucky. I was proudly one of those 50K, rocking a Stoops’ Troops shirt, just as I did for his first career game against WKU in Nashville. We knew pretty early that his debut season was going to be a transition period as he set the foundation in Lexington, and Big Blue Nation was perfectly fine with that, because they trusted the vision. Take the early lumps while the staff accumulates SEC talent in a true and total rebuild — all the way down to the $110M renovation of Commonwealth Stadium.

If you build it, they will come was the dream, one that high school recruits believed in almost immediately. In mid-June 2013, Kentucky had the No. 1 recruiting class in college football, according to Rivals.com. Jojo Kemp didn’t realize it at the time, but his famous, “Why not Kentucky? Why not us?” interview after running all over South Carolina for Stoops’ first signature win as a head coach in 2014 wound up being program-altering words. If you didn’t believe in these Wildcats, they were going to make you believe, from coaches down to players and recruits. It was a total buy-in.

Every year had a milestone or two signaling they were chipping away at SEC status and earned-not-given respect. 2013 was about the recruiting, 2014 had South Carolina and “Why not us?,” 2015 was USC and Mizzou, 2016 was Louisville and bowl eligibility, 2017 was Tennessee, 2018 was Florida and the first 10-win season since 1977, 2019 was Lynn Bowden, Louisville and Virginia Tech, 2020 was Tennessee and overcoming an all-SEC COVID schedule with a Gator Bowl win and 2021 was the second 10-win campaign and Citrus Bowl — Stoops shattering whatever the ceiling was thought to be in Lexington over and over again. And then when they’d power through another one, they’d push the goal posts back and tighter together with promises of taking down Georgia and punching a ticket to the SEC Championship, then the College Football Playoff.

They all sounded like crazy people, but they were our crazy people, and if they’d already done what was thought to be impossible at this school, who were we to tell them they couldn’t finish the job? We were the feisty underdog who would either win or go down swinging. The media darlings you see today, the Vanderbilts and Indianas? That was us.

That program disappeared in 2022 as complacency and crying from the top-10-paid-coach-in-college-football yacht turned into slippage, which turned into Stoops bringing things right back to how he found it in 2012. He traded out his blue collar for a white, ham sandwiches out of lunchpails becoming Japanese A5 Filet Mignon with a smoked Old Fashioned. Somewhere in his transition from Youngstown Tough to “Like it or not, I’m a Kentuckian,” he lost his way.

Taking arguably the most talented team on paper in program history coming off that 10-win season, Stoops went 7-6, followed by another 7-6 finish with Stoops asking fans to “pony up” if they want better. When the funding came in, he responded with a 4-8 “one-year blip,” followed by a 5-7 finish that somehow felt worse, considering the only two name-brand opponents you beat all season either just fired their coach or fired them right after losing to you. You were their rock bottom and cause for immediate change. In the seven other power conference losses, Kentucky was outscored by 144 points at 258-114 with only two one-score games — not even an attempt to be competitive.

There was no greater example of that than the Wildcats’ embarrassment at Louisville, the cherry on top of a disastrous season in the form of a 41-0 loss for the program’s worst shutout since 2006. And it came against the Cardinals’ scout team, down to their fifth- and sixth-string running backs, Stoops destroyed in the way he used to beat up on teams in the trenches. A walk-on and wide receiver-turned-back combined for 225 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries while UK picked up just 140 total offensive yards on the day.

Kentucky’s 40-0 loss to Vanderbilt in 2012 was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Joker Phillips. This was worse, both in terms of deficit and opponent. The end result needs to be the same, too, giving a fresh start to all parties involved.

Will Mitch Barnhart make that call? Today should be the day, one way or another. The ball is in the UK AD’s court.

Mark Stoops says he’s not walking away

If a change is made, it won’t be out of the goodness of Stoops’ heart. He scoffed at the idea he’d walk away shortly after the 41-0 loss in enemy territory.

“Come on. I mean, I don’t want to be disrespectful to you,” Stoops said. “You think I’m going to walk away? Are you kidding me? No. Zero means zero. Zero percent chance I walk away. … I’m going to be here as far as I’m concerned. I can’t control what decisions are made. If you’re asking me, I said zero. Zero means zero. Zero percent chance I walk away.”

Matt Jones believes it’s time to move on from both Stoops and Barnhart

“How do you sell this? What is there to be excited about? We just got destroyed.”

Those were Matt Jones’ words to open his Louisville postgame show, one that saw him ultimately call for the end of the current era of UK Athletics, moving on from both Stoops and Barnhart.

KSR’s Rapid Reaction was an all-timer

Nick Roush and Adam Luckett agreed that a change with Stoops is necessary in a live KSR Rapid Reaction from Louisville.

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“This might be the end,” Roush said. “It’s been 13 years of Mark Stoops and he’s won more football games than any other head coach, but things have soured in a catastrophic fashion.”

The KSR crew talks about what happened and how we got here, live on the YouTube channel:

All of the big-picture takeaways from an embarrassing loss

KSR was a must-listen, must-watch and must-read after the loss, attacking this thing from all angles with the ugly, uglier and ugliest when it comes to the next steps in Lexington. If you missed any of that content, pour another cup of coffee and make sure you’re caught up below:

There is no better time to join KSR+

The coaching carousel is about to start spinning out of control with Lane Kiffin set to be the first major domino to fall, followed by Jon Sumrall — could Kentucky throw a wrench in that decision? What would be left for the Wildcats if Barnhart decides to make a move?

That’s what KSR+ is for, a one-stop shop to get all of the latest intel on the future of Kentucky football from the best insiders in the game. You can sign up today for a 50% deal that gives you a full year of access, plus On3, Rivals and a subscription to The Athletic.

Regularly $119.99, you can get all of that today for just $59.99. It’ll be the best investment you make all year, folks.

JOIN KSR+ NOW.

Kentucky VB will be a No. 1 seed in today’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show

It’s Selection Sunday for Craig Skinner and the Kentucky volleyball team — and it’s gonna be a good one for the Cats.

After taking care of business in the SEC Tournament with a league crown, along with a ninth straight regular season championship, UK is going to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and is expected to host the first couple of rounds in Lexington. This team is a wagon and should be considered, at worst, a co-favorite to win the whole thing. What will that path look like? We find out tonight at 6 p.m. ET, live on ESPN with Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak and Mary Wise unveiling the field of 64.

KSR will be in attendance, getting reactions and talking with Craig Skinner and select players. The best team and coach on campus are about to get the shine they deserve on the national stage.

Time for another national title, Cats.