Missouri as Blueprint for Kentucky Football Development

  Tonight's candidates for America's most popular game show:  Who's More Grizzled...   I am naturally inclined to root against the Missouri Tigers.  First, as a general opponent to change on any level, I do not like the Johnny-come-lately SEC teams.  I am still trying to get accustomed to Arkansas and South Carolina, and those greenhorns have been around here for a quarter century. The torment to which the traditional SEC programs have subjected my beloved Cats over the years notwithstanding, I have strong feelings of nostalgia for the SEC as I have known it.  Secondly, Missouri still seems an odd fit for the conference.  Columbia is not exactly south and it's not exactly east, so it is irregular from a geographical perspective, and I'm not sold that the culture of the program is a real fit. But what fuels my dislike the most is undoubtedly Missouri's early success within the conference.  After the Tigers' inaugural season, in which they struggled mightily to adjust to the rigors of America's toughest conference, Missouri punched a ticket to the SEC Championship game in jut their second year as a conference member.  Such instant success was a difficult pill to swallow for Kentucky fans who have never seen the Cats really even come close to that level of success within the conference. But while I am not a fan of the Tigers, I do believe there is a strong parallel between the Missouri and Kentucky football programs.  Specifically, I think that Stoops and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel are in many ways the same guy, and that Kentucky can take a page from Missouri's recent success in hitching their football wagons to Stoops for the long haul. Like Stoops, Pinkel hails from the state of Ohio, and personifies the no-nonsense mid-western persona.  He played football at Kent State under Hall of Fame coach Don James. Interesting aside number one.  Pinkel roomed with with future NFL Hall of Famer Jack Lambert, who likely never troubled Gary to borrow his toothbrush. Interesting aside number two. One of Pinkel's college teammates was Nick Saban. Just imagine what a good time those two wacky kids had together. Watching film, practicing delivery of football cliches in monotone, plugging Saban into the mainframe each night to recharge his battery. In any event, Pinkel, like his buddy the Sa-borg, learned under Don James, whose primary philosophy was hard-nosed, physical football. Stoops came up under much the same pedigree both from his father and from Iowa Hawkeye legend Hayden Frye. But what separates Pinkel, and I believe Mark Stoops as well, was his willingness to combine the toughness that is at the foundation of his football philosophy with a willingness to incorporate innovation within his program. Pinkel received his first head coaching job at Toledo, and in a decade with the Rockets, became their all time leader in coaching victories.  He took over a struggling Missouri program in 2001, and, like Mark Stoops, found the early going a bit rocky.  Pinkel finished 4-7 and 5-7 in his first two seasons in Columbia.  But Missouri rightly stood by Pinkel, and he has rewarded their patience and loyalty by leading the Tigers to 9 bowl games, three conference divisional titles and the most wins of any coach in Missouri history. This from a program that had only had had two winning seasons in 16 years prior to Pinkel's arrival.  Along the way, he has accumulated 181 victories as a college head coach, good for 6th among active FBS coaches.  Pinkel achevied much of his success, particularly at Missouri, by being one of the true forerunners of the spread offense in major college football.  Under Pinkel's direction, players like Brad Smith, Chase Daniel, Blaine Gabbert and James Franklin put the Tigers at the forefront of offensive football over the last decade.  While the offenses dazzled, Pinkel never lost the focus on physical and aggressive football.  Missouri's defense has again shown that saltiness this season as the Tigers lead the conference in sacks at 28 going into Saturday's contest with Kentucky. Like Pinkel, Mark Stoops inherited a program without much of a heritage of winning football.  He also seems to be attacking the situation in much the same way that Pinkel has with the Tigers.  When you hear Mark Stoops talk football, when you watch him in practice or on the sidelines, it is apparent that toughness is his calling card.  It would be easy for him to do what many tough guy coaches of the past have done and to rely on that toughness to try to simply overcome opponents by sheer force of will.  (The Billy Gillispie tougher guy wins mentality minus the booze.)  Instead, because Stoops cares more about building his program than branding himself as some sort of defensive guru, he has acknowledged that he needs an offensive-oriented attack to work in combination with his old-school core.  Thus, the hiring of Neal Brown and the massive investment into high performance.  Stoops recognizes that in 2014, old school must marry innovation, particularly at a program that historically struggles to find success on the field. Missouri's administration has ensured that Pinkel is rewarded for his success, and has managed to keep him in Columbia for 13 years despite multiple opportunities to leave for seemingly greener pastures.  Kentucky's administration obviously intends to do the same for their man.  A point I intended to make in this post was that the Kentucky administration had to do all things necessary to keep Mark Stoops in Lexington. While typing it, it was announced that Mark Stoops' contract has been extended through the 2019 season.  Does Mitch Barnhart always know what's happening in my head? I guess I'll find out in a few minutes if he brings me some biscuits from Cracker Barrel. Regardless, this extension is a fantastic, forward-thinking move by UK.  When you find the head man who is the right fit, as Missouri and Kentucky both have, you hang on for dear life.  With a little luck, Stoops can duplicate the decade of unprecedented success at Kentucky that Gary Pinkel has achieved at Missouri.