Tell us about how you walked barefoot to school in the snow. Uphill both ways.

Lol

I actually did walk about a half mile to a 3 room school when I started first grade in 1960.

Hell, even coach Saban is bashing on the Wildcats when talking about his upcoming game with the Hilltoppers:

 

“We had two teams in our league that actually lost to teams that were nowhere near as good as (Western Kentucky),” Saban said.”

I usually stay away from these conversations and stick to my high school basketball forum but as someone who has been in attendance for every game in the Stoops era home and away I feel like I want to finally share my thoughts....

 

1. Nobody at UK will ever admit it but they hired the wrong guy. He had 0 head coaching experience and was brought into a SEC school, regardless of the level of SEC school he still has to play that schedule. It's real easy to "look" like you are a good D coordinator when you are at a school like FSU. They are always going to have talent on both sides of the ball because it's FSU and recruiting there is easier then at 90% of the schools in the country. I think a lot of people would "look" good coaching that talent. I have also heard many FSU fans say they weren't upset when he and Eliot left.

 

2. It is year 4, you have all your kids there and in the system. With the lack of strength in the SEC East this season it could've have been, and I guess still could be, a great year to go after 7-8 wins. Especially if you throw in a down Mississippi State team. Florida isn't what it used to be and Vandy, Mizzou, and South Carolina are average at best.

 

3. I feel like Stoops fell into feeling like he had to please the fans and hire an offensive guy that wanted to throw it all over the place because that's what people want to see. Let me tell you what people want to see, WINS, winning will make everyone happy at the end of the day. Instead of heavily recruiting a good line on both sides it seems like it's all about skill guys. I can't remember a team in the last 15 years in the SEC that's been successful just chucking it all over the place. UK has 0 identity on offense and hasn't had any sort of offensive or defensive line in 4 years.

 

4. Southern Miss is a good football team. Every media outlet that ranks all teams in NCAA Division 1 football had Southern Miss 15-20 spots ahead of UK. That team will win CUSA West and finish with between 9-11 wins. So the die hard Stoops supporters will have that to fall back on at the end of the year. I think if the game had been back and forth and Southern Miss just made some plays at the end to win the game it wouldn't be as hard on the fans as it has been. If you blow a 25 point lead with less then a minute to go in the 1st half that is on nobody but the coaches I don't care. Sure the dropped INT was a huge play but it's one play. One play doesn't win or lose a game.

 

5. He isn't going anywhere anytime soon because they won't justify buying him out at this point. That is on Mitch for even allowing that contract to be on the table. I think Stoops seems like a good guy, positive, says all the right things, and I'm sure he wants nothing more then to win games and be successful but all this things don't mean you're a good coach. At the end of the day some guys are just better as assistants and there is nothing wrong with that. Sadly for UK fans this is what you have to deal with. So go tailgate, enjoy watching good football teams come play in Lexington, and as always just talk about "wait until basketball season" to the other fan bases.

 

Sorry for the long post but just my opinions on things. I want to see UK football be successful because I think it's good for our state for them to be competitive. I'm a WKU fan first and foremost and at the end of the day it's UofL, WKU, and then UK and it's not even close!!!

#mooremiller31 hits the key points very well.

 

I had the chance to catch the presser or show with Stoops Tuesday evening. There was no spark, no confidence. It was hard to listen to - and not because of the static near #plantmanky s town on I-75.

 

The first person in UK football who should get fired this year is the PA person played Justin Bieber's Love Youself during the TV timeout in the second half before the must have score drive after Southern Miss took the lead. MJ and KSR did pick up on that Tuesday night as well. Don't they have the license to ESPNs Anthem CDs?

Stoops is going down the path of being UK's Kragthorpe.

For those that think Dawson was made the scapegoat by Stoops need to go back and review the threads from last year's games. Pretty much everyone on here would have helped Dawson pack his car at any point last year. The complaining about the play calling became a staple in the game threads. The offense was his responsibility and it was awful last year. Towles struggled getting the ball to the WR's and when he did they normally didn't catch it. The O Line had to be one of the worst in the country.

 

As far as this year goes, it's Stoops 4th year, no excuses. It's 100% on him. The offense looked really good in the first half but seemed like when S. Miss starting gain momentum everything started going wrong for UK.

 

At this point I really don't care what they do. I said in the game thread I was done with them and after having a few days to think about the game I really haven't changed my mind. I'm tired of getting geared up for these games to only be disappointed. Life's too short to be ticked off over a team that isn't changing.

 

View it from a literary standpoint: UK football is a comedy, not a tragedy.

On if he’s changed his role on preparing the defense: “Yeah. The question was asked and I think you’re asking the same thing, will you take a more active role, and the answer to that is yes, I will take a more active role. As far as the structure of our staff, that has not changed. Coach Eliot is the defensive coordinator. I’m assisting him but I’m much more involved this week and I will be until we get things turned.”

 

Read more here: Q&A: Stoops surprised by slide after start and his changing role on defense | Lexington Herald-Leader