There are only about 200 football schools give or take in KY( in SIX classes). KY never produces enough quality HS players to fill an SEC roster in a four year cycle. States in a 350 mile radius all have at least one or more high powered Power 5 programs that get regional talent. Basically UK's only hope is the portal. Maybe some boosters pony up a thoroughbred as an NIL incentive lol. Coaching becomes less of an issue if you have remarkable talent.

It all comes down to expectations. I would warn BBN to be careful what you wish for as UK can make a wrong hire and completely fall off the map. That next step up to being “just below title contender program status” is a tough tier to break in to. 
 

Even though UK ranks near the bottom of the SEC in recruiting rankings, the talent level and overall depth has exponentially improved under Stoops. 

Listening to some UK "fans" and haters you'd think the only Bowl Stoops ever gets UK to is the Music City Bowl. But UK under Stoops has been to as many Citrus Bowls (2) and Gator Bowls (2) as MCBs(2) in 8 total Bowl appearances. FWIW UofL has been to as many Music City Bowls as UK in the last 9 years.

Rich Brooks went to 3 MCB in 4 years, about 15 years ago.

1 hour ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Listening to some UK "fans" and haters you'd think the only Bowl Stoops ever gets UK to is the Music City Bowl. But UK under Stoops has been to as many Citrus Bowls (2) and Gator Bowls (2) as MCBs(2) in 8 total Bowl appearances. FWIW UofL has been to as many Music City Bowls as UK in the last 9 years.

Rich Brooks went to 3 MCB in 4 years, about 15 years ago.

You’re right. How dare us! How could we forget about the Gator Bowl. 

2 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

You’re right. How dare us! How could we forget about the Gator Bowl. 

Gator Bowl is higher on the list than a lot of bowls, its third highest for ACC. Point being your comment about going to Music City Bowl yearly is completely wrong...he's been twice in 8 years.

Just now, Jumper_Dad said:

Gator Bowl is higher on the list than a lot of bowls, its third highest for ACC. Point being your comment about going to Music City Bowl yearly is completely wrong...he's been twice in 8 years.

Cool. I stand corrected.

The post still stands. Don’t be salty about the message because of who said it. Louisville and the ACC has nothing to do with this thread. 

4 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Cool. I stand corrected.

The post still stands. Don’t be salty about the message because of who said it. Louisville and the ACC has nothing to do with this thread. 

Just used ACC rank to show heiarchy of the bowl...don't be ACC touchy! ? 

 

12 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Just used ACC rank to show heiarchy of the bowl...don't be ACC touchy! ? 

 

You also brought Louisville into it in your first post.

You’re mad at Mark Stoops, not at me. ??‍♂️

8 hours ago, 9068 said:

There are only about 200 football schools give or take in KY( in SIX classes). KY never produces enough quality HS players to fill an SEC roster in a four year cycle. States in a 350 mile radius all have at least one or more high powered Power 5 programs that get regional talent. Basically UK's only hope is the portal. Maybe some boosters pony up a thoroughbred as an NIL incentive lol. Coaching becomes less of an issue if you have remarkable talent.

Bear Bryant said something pretty similar... a long time ago. 

 

The Way I Heard It... Bear Bryant and Adolph Rupp

I saw this today in an article about all of the coaches contracts under Barnhart. This is what is said about his contract with coach Stoops. 
 

Perhaps the most controversial contract, Barnhart extended head coach Mark Stoops, who now earns $9 million a year. Stoops also receives an automatic one-year extension every season he wins at least seven games and a two-year extension for reaching 10 wins in a year. Additionally, each SEC win beyond two games earns him a $100K bonus. This clause has made Stoops untouchable, with over a $40 million dollar buyout, especially considering the program has taken steps back, losing 11 of 13 home SEC games.

Is NIL going to make Stoops’ job even more impossible to attract SEC competitive talent?

4 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

Is NIL going to make Stoops’ job even more impossible to attract SEC competitive talent?

Or his coaching ability as well. We have had several players make it to the NFL the past several seasons so that will help getting some talent, but he needs to start doing more with it in my opinion.

On 10/31/2024 at 11:10 AM, 16thBBall Fan said:

I saw this today in an article about all of the coaches contracts under Barnhart. This is what is said about his contract with coach Stoops. 
 

Perhaps the most controversial contract, Barnhart extended head coach Mark Stoops, who now earns $9 million a year. Stoops also receives an automatic one-year extension every season he wins at least seven games and a two-year extension for reaching 10 wins in a year. Additionally, each SEC win beyond two games earns him a $100K bonus. This clause has made Stoops untouchable, with over a $40 million dollar buyout, especially considering the program has taken steps back, losing 11 of 13 home SEC games.

Well, there won't be any extension this year or SEC win bonuses. 

At the time this contract was signed, Barnhart would have been ran out of town if he hadn't locked Stoops up.

27 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Well, there won't be any extension this year or SEC win bonuses. 

At the time this contract was signed, Barnhart would have been ran out of town if he hadn't locked Stoops up.

To an extent but Barnhart has a bad history now of making some bad contracts that are very prejudiced to one side, whether it was for Calipari or a situation like this.

I don't think Stoops really wants to be at UK anymore.  He tried to bail last season but A&M's donors revolted at the attempt to hire him.  I wouldn't be surprised if he takes another job in the offseason but based on this year's performance I'm not sure if a lot of teams would be calling him.  There's also a lot of money on the table for him were he to choose to exit.

1 hour ago, DanvilleFan said:

To an extent but Barnhart has a bad history now of making some bad contracts that are very prejudiced to one side, whether it was for Calipari or a situation like this.

I don't think Stoops really wants to be at UK anymore.  He tried to bail last season but A&M's donors revolted at the attempt to hire him.  I wouldn't be surprised if he takes another job in the offseason but based on this year's performance I'm not sure if a lot of teams would be calling him.  There's also a lot of money on the table for him were he to choose to exit.

In both cases the Fans would have lost their minds if Barnhardt didn't sign Cal and Stoops. Both programs were rolling and Cal had an offer to leave in place from UCLA. Hindsight is always 20/20, but both were thought to be the right thing to do at the time. No coach is going to sign an unguaranteed contract, any coach hired anywhere is guaranteed the remainder of their contract. 

Maybe Stoops is having regrets about the A&M job that fell apart. I'd kinda be shocked if a quality program comes after Stoops this season.