How many wins should it take for Stoops to keep his job this season?

[John Anthony]

It is really amazing to me how many people think UK can just run out and grab a great coach like they grow on trees. This truly is one of the worst football destinations there is' date=' and has historically been a coaching graveyard. -Part of that is that we have always been a basketball school. -Part is because there has never been enough in-state talent. (that is getting better) -Part is because the schedule will always be brutal. -Part is because the fan base is unwilling to give a coach a chance to succeed. -There are more parts. On the positive. -We have a guy here who wants to be here. -He has a football pedigree and knows how to recruit. -Moving from coordinator to head coach has a learning curve. Especially in a BCS conference. -In an ideal world you want a guy with HC experience. Well this isn't an ideal world. -Is he lightening in a bottle like Franklin was at Vandy - no. But no one had heard of Franklin before his success at Vandy, and maybe he just got lucky and walked into some talent.[/quote']

 

Do you think he's a coach that power schools will come chasing in 2-3 years?

[coldweatherfan]

Do you think he's a coach that power schools will come chasing in 2-3 years?

 

Don't know. I think he's still learning how to be a head coach. I mean he is going up against some of the best there is.

 

If they can only manage 5-7 a season over the next three then no.

 

If he can get 7/8/9 over the next three then I would think yes.

[BigVMan23]

UK gave Grandpa Brooks a lot more time than people thought he deserved and they will need to do the same for Stoops. Many UK fans are delusional in believing that the job UK is an attractive job simply because it is in the SEC and UK can ditch a coach after 3-5 years and expect a good replacement can be found. To possibly someday attract a good coach, UK needs to set a precident that shows it gives coaches plenty of time before canning them to even hope of landing a decent replacement.

 

I take it that this comment shows you don't think Stoops is a good coach? Don't worry, I'm right there with you if that's your thought.

 

Recruiting is supposedly better, and if going by national rankings I guess it is, but by gosh the teams he has had so far just do not look good, and many times just look un prepared. There also appears to be some talent there that has either not developed or has regressed.

 

With all that said, I'm not sure you can place a specific number of wins and say "if X isn't attained then he has to go". They could win 4 ball games and look like a solid, competitive team on the rise, or they could win 4 ball games and look totally overmatched for the most part. Same 4 win season with two totally different looks/feel. Regardless of number of wins, in my mind the team has to start showing a lot more improvement than they have shown the past couple of seasons.

[plantmanky]

I take it that this comment shows you don't think Stoops is a good coach? Don't worry, I'm right there with you if that's your thought.

 

Recruiting is supposedly better, and if going by national rankings I guess it is, but by gosh the teams he has had so far just do not look good, and many times just look un prepared. There also appears to be some talent there that has either not developed or has regressed.

 

With all that said, I'm not sure you can place a specific number of wins and say "if X isn't attained then he has to go". They could win 4 ball games and look like a solid, competitive team on the rise, or they could win 4 ball games and look totally overmatched for the most part. Same 4 win season with two totally different looks/feel. Regardless of number of wins, in my mind the team has to start showing a lot more improvement than they have shown the past couple of seasons.

 

Careful PP92 will stop talking to you with post like that :lol2:

[Wireman]

If he gets 6 wins, he will keep me on board.

[NKY Bandit]

Former EKU coach Dean Hood possibly being added to the UK staff to replace Andy Buh, per KSR.

[okie1]

UK has recruited better than ever the past 3 years, but they aren't developing their talent near as well as Brooks and company did IMO. There has to be a healthy mix of good recruiters and good teachers of the game. I still question whether Stoops and his staff are good teachers of the game.

I want to turn on a game and see UK play hard and be sound in what they do...they didn't do that last year. IMO that is coaching and I desperately hope as a UK fan that changes this coming year!

[Bert]

I take it that this comment shows you don't think Stoops is a good coach? Don't worry, I'm right there with you if that's your thought.

 

I'm not sure yet but I don't want to dump him at the end of this year simply because KY doesn't make a bowl. Part of that is because I want to give him more time to develop his program and also because I don't think a better coach would even take the job unless UKs AD shows a commitment to giving coaches all the time they need to build UK to a bowl team.

[WestDanville]

If the coaches are so good at recruiting it shouldnt take 5-6 years to see improvement.

 

UK has recruited better than ever the past 3 years, but they aren't developing their talent near as well as Brooks and company did IMO. There has to be a healthy mix of good recruiters and good teachers of the game. I still question whether Stoops and his staff are good teachers of the game.

I want to turn on a game and see UK play hard and be sound in what they do...they didn't do that last year. IMO that is coaching and I desperately hope as a UK fan that changes this coming year!

 

I felt these sentiments while sitting in the stands for a few of those losses last year until I picked up the program with the 2 deep depth chart and saw it loaded with the letters Fr & So. The team is still very young. Even this season you will see a lot of so & jr on that same chart. You can almost throw out Stoops first recruiting class. It counts as his but he came in late and tried to sign as many as he could in 2 months. The quality guys out of that class were juco guys that have now already graduated. It will be another 2 years before it's an all Stoops team that he recruited for a year plus. Stoops is still trying to build quality depth and until we have that it's going to be tough to see a major difference year to year. A 5-7 season again this year wouldn't surprise me not would it have me call for Stoops head. We are talking about a program that averages 2 relevant seasons per decade for the last 70 years. It's going to take time and a lot of it to truly build it in to something sustainable and something that will attract the 5* guys it's going to take to move UK out of the middle to bottom of the conference and into the top.

[strongopenyon]

There will be no magical number of wins needed for Coach Stoops to keep his job after this season.

 

His contract will allow him to keep his job, with the exception of a scandalous event.

 

His number of wins will be a function of how much pressure is on this coaching staff after next season and into the fall, 2017 season.

[That One Guy]

If UK doesn't make a bowl game, I think Stoops will keep his job, but it'll hurt recruiting and set him up for a pressure packed season. This year, he needs to win 3 games: Austin Peay, New Mexico State and either an SEC team or Louisville

[PurplePride92]

Careful PP92 will stop talking to you with post like that :lol2:

 

Nah, BigV isn't irrational. He's just stubborn like I am.

[PurplePride92]

I take it that this comment shows you don't think Stoops is a good coach? Don't worry, I'm right there with you if that's your thought.

 

Recruiting is supposedly better, and if going by national rankings I guess it is, but by gosh the teams he has had so far just do not look good, and many times just look un prepared. There also appears to be some talent there that has either not developed or has regressed.

 

With all that said, I'm not sure you can place a specific number of wins and say "if X isn't attained then he has to go". They could win 4 ball games and look like a solid, competitive team on the rise, or they could win 4 ball games and look totally overmatched for the most part. Same 4 win season with two totally different looks/feel. Regardless of number of wins, in my mind the team has to start showing a lot more improvement than they have shown the past couple of seasons.

 

The problem with Stoops first few years has been depth. He's brought in the best recruiting classes UK has ever had and those kids have hit the field immediately. They are learning SEC football in a baptism-by-fire manner and that is the main reason UK football teams have declined as the season has gone on the past two years. Stoops needs to have 4* juniors and seniors with 4* freshmen and sophomores backing them up and competing for their jobs on a daily basis for a "program" to take shape. Having 3 and 4* freshmen starting from day one and playing SEC football is a recipe for disaster and rebuilding. We have to let that man build and build and build. Westry was having an awesome freshman season until he got worn out and the schedule got a lot harder. Until UK gets to a point where the 3 and 4* freshmen are actually on the sidelines learning and not on the field learning then UK is never going to be worth a fart. This ain't basketball where the best recruits play one year and go pro. This is college football where the best recruits play 2-3 years and then go pro. How in the hell is UK ever going to win if their best recruits are playing as freshman in the SEC? Alabama ain't starting a crapload of true freshmen. Hell, Florida isn't either and they suck now.

[ball_coach_4]

The problem with Stoops first few years has been depth. He's brought in the best recruiting classes UK has ever had and those kids have hit the field immediately. They are learning SEC football in a baptism-by-fire manner and that is the main reason UK football teams have declined as the season has gone on the past two years. Stoops needs to have 4* juniors and seniors with 4* freshmen and sophomores backing them up and competing for their jobs on a daily basis for a "program" to take shape. Having 3 and 4* freshmen starting from day one and playing SEC football is a recipe for disaster and rebuilding. We have to let that man build and build and build. Westry was having an awesome freshman season until he got worn out and the schedule got a lot harder. Until UK gets to a point where the 3 and 4* freshmen are actually on the sidelines learning and not on the field learning then UK is never going to be worth a fart. This ain't basketball where the best recruits play one year and go pro. This is college football where the best recruits play 2-3 years and then go pro. How in the hell is UK ever going to win if their best recruits are playing as freshman in the SEC? Alabama ain't starting a crapload of true freshmen. Hell, Florida isn't either and they suck now.

 

The thing is PP, you're absolutely right about time and depth to compete for championships in the SEC. I'm only talking about winning 3 games in the SEC though. Also, developing those guys a little better. I saw in another thread that Joker's average class ranking was 44 (a bunch of 3 stars and a few two stars) and Stoops average class is 32 (a good mix of 4 stars and high 3 stars). I made Joker reference because anyone on that roster this season should be good enough to compete. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of the players on this season's team are Stoops' kids though. Now all of his first class 4 stars like Timmons are Seniors, and will be playing and starting for four years in the SEC. and others Juniors as well. And they're the best group of talent UK has ever had. So with that being said, he shouldn't be held accountable if they can't win 3 SEC games? That's still a losing record in the SEC. Vandy did it with worse players. Heck UK did it with worse talent with Brooks. The question wasn't to beat the Bamas and Georgias. It was to beat the bottom feeders of the league and teams on down years and win simply 2 or 3 SEC games. Is that too difficult with the best talent ever assembled at a school for a 4 year period? Those 2-3 SEC wins are enough to get them to bowls and a 6-7 win season with an easy non-conference schedule. I'm asking if he should get canned if they simply aren't a below average team. They have above average players.

[Voice of Reason]

UK should follow the Simon Kenton / Jeff Marksberry model. It took Marksberry 9 years to win more than 6 games. Hang onto Stoops for about 8 years and hope it works out like it did for Marksberry. Schedule weak as long as you can and hang in there.