2 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

I think it would be a tough sell for any NFL coach to take a position that would require them to recruit, regardless of the school. 

I agree, but we have now seen it with a few DC’s recently. Wink Martindale, and Matt Patricia. So starting to see it happen some.

1 hour ago, futurecoach said:

I agree, but we have now seen it with a few DC’s recently. Wink Martindale, and Matt Patricia. So starting to see it happen some.

If you are a good fit in the portal you probably might want to play for guys with NFL ties. The state of recruiting has changed dramatically since the portal and NIL have arrived.

Joe Sloan is the new OC, not Justin Burke per KSR. 

6 hours ago, All State Baseball said:

Joe Sloan is the new OC, not Justin Burke per KSR. 

This is not a very inspiring choice. I would almost have rather them have kept Hamden.  The couple of times that Stoops seemed to let him call his game, he didn't do too bad.  

On 12/2/2025 at 10:32 PM, futurecoach said:

With how quickly this hired happened after firing Stoops. Basically shows they didn’t really reach out to many people at all. Which I’m not a fan of. I get needing to be quick with signing period coming. However, it’s even more important making sure you get the right hire. Which maybe he would have still been the guy they liked the best. However, I definitely would have liked to seen them open it up a bit more. 
 

They did the coach in waiting thing with Joker taking over after Brooks, instead of opening it up to try to find the best guy. That didn’t work out well. Then in this case, seems like they already had Stein as the guy they wanted, without opening it up much. So that part is a little frustrating. However, as others have said maybe this will work out great and they found the next great young coach. 

I don't agree with you on this point. People always say a good AD has his list of the next coach ready to go at all times. It looks like Mitch had his list ready and his top choice said yes.

Geeez…

So, the guy who did the offense, for an LSU team that ..

•was absolutely LOOOOADED with returning and added playmakers

•who also had a QB that many tabbed as Heisman Finalist (if not the winner)
 

•that was also projected by EVERY CFB media member to AT WORST be a CFP team

• ..whom MANY of them even tabbed as their preseason National Champ DUE to this roster full of returning & added 4/5 stars whom had lived up to their “hype” either at LSU or elsewhere.

•… but, was later fired 2/3 into the season, along with their HC, where they averaged a WHOPPING 20 ppg (+/-) & no, I’m not taking their game vs FCS Southeast LA into that & had an ABISMAL rushing game.

Was just hired to run the offense at UK?!

On 12/3/2025 at 2:43 PM, Jumper_Dad said:

General Manager and Recruiting Coordinator on boardm

 

They brining Uncle Phil and his Nike Headquarters just blocks away from Autzen Stadium with them, too? ?

7 hours ago, Calico Jack said:

Geeez…

So, the guy who did the offense, for an LSU team that ..

•was absolutely LOOOOADED with returning and added playmakers

•who also had a QB that many tabbed as Heisman Finalist (if not the winner)
 

•that was also projected by EVERY CFB media member to AT WORST be a CFP team

• ..whom MANY of them even tabbed as their preseason National Champ DUE to this roster full of returning & added 4/5 stars whom had lived up to their “hype” either at LSU or elsewhere.

•… but, was later fired 2/3 into the season, along with their HC, where they averaged a WHOPPING 20 ppg (+/-) & no, I’m not taking their game vs FCS Southeast LA into that & had an ABISMAL rushing game.

Was just hired to run the offense at UK?!

While I get it, think about how many offensive coordinators under Stoops looked terrible then immediately looked great at their new jobs. Remember, Brian Kelly got fired from LSU, so the coordinator might have been more of a reflection of Kelly than himself, the same as Stoops at UK. Give it a chance.

47 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

While I get it, think about how many offensive coordinators under Stoops looked terrible then immediately looked great at their new jobs. Remember, Brian Kelly got fired from LSU, so the coordinator might have been more of a reflection of Kelly than himself, the same as Stoops at UK. Give it a chance.

 Now, why did they and have they looked better elsewhere? Was it Stoops or because of having better/more equal talent to their current competition?

Liam Coen 1.0 compared to 2.0, IMO, was solely because of QB play. There was hopes that Leary was going to pick right up where Levis left, but there was obviously a glaring difference, despite the '23 team still having a solid 7 win season. 

Eddie Gran? I know I'll likely be in the extreme minority with this thinking, but I don't think it was appreciated by just how good he did. It might have not been fashionably flashy enough, but his tenure as their OC from 16-20 was arguably Stoops best stretch in his tenure...the '20 season included. I don't think Stoops wanted to nix him from that spot, either. That was a pressure type deal from an optics (fan base). Had an IDENTITY and knew who they were, giving them the best chance at success.

The last two years? Your guess is as good as mine. ?   See flashes of "We have something here" and then not so much (and, that would vary some vs teams that, defensively, were very similar). Head scratching. 

 

8 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

I don't agree with you on this point. People always say a good AD has his list of the next coach ready to go at all times. It looks like Mitch had his list ready and his top choice said yes.

That short list of knowing who he wants as the next head coach. Also got them Joker Phillips, because he believed the next coach was already on staff. That short list of knowing who he wanted, without opening it up didn’t work well for him then. It’s good to have an idea who you may want, but you also limit yourself to possibly missing out on someone who may be better, who could have blown you away that changed your mind. 

Which I said the same things on here back then, and so I say it now. I always hate when any team does that. Unless you truly open it up, you don’t know if maybe someone else could be better. Or if after opening it up, you may still think that person is the best guy. Then yeah go for it, but don’t limit yourself right from the start. 

I'm not against this hire at all. I personally have always hated when any school limits itself, and possibly only interviews one person. So more the process that I am not a fan of, and always have said that on here. 

9 minutes ago, Calico Jack said:

 Now, why did they and have they looked better elsewhere? Was it Stoops or because of having better/more equal talent to their now competition?

Liam Coen 1.0 compared to 2.0, IMO, was solely because of QB play. There was hopes that Leary was going to pick right up where Levis left, but there was a glaring difference, despite the '23 team still having a solid 7 win season. 

Eddie Gran? I know I'll likely be in the extreme minority with this thinking, but I don't think it was appreciated by just how good he did. It might have not been fashionably flashy enough, but his tenure as their OC from 16-20 was arguably Stoops best stretch in his tenure...the '20 season included. I don't think Stoops wanted to nix him from that spot, either. That was a pressure type deal from an optics (fan base). Had an IDENTITY and knew who they were, giving them the best chance at success.

The last two years? Your guess is as good as mine. ?

 

I'll be in the minority with you. He adjusted his scheme to fit what he had. I also think he was held back by Stoops. There is a reason that Georgia tried prying him away from us.

21 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

That short list of knowing who he wants as the next head coach. Also got them Joker Phillips, because he believed the next coach was already on staff. That short list of knowing who he wanted, without opening it up didn’t work well for him then. It’s good to have an idea who you may want, but you also limit yourself to possibly missing out on someone who may be better, who could have blown you away that changed your mind. 

Which I said the same things on here back then, and so I say it now. I always hate when any team does that. Unless you truly open it up, you don’t know if maybe someone else could be better. Or if after opening it up, you may still think that person is the best guy. Then yeah go for it, but don’t limit yourself right from the start. 

I'm not against this hire at all. I personally have always hated when any school limits itself, and possibly only interviews one person. So more the process that I am not a fan of, and always have said that on here. 

I'm public enemy #1 of 2nd guessing this  (made a post, this thread or another one of throwing out names like PJ Fleck at Minnesota, HC at North Dakota State, etc. Proven HC's at, on the surface anyway, of 'hard to win places' but do. As they would be the reality in the caliber of coaches that could leave where they currently are for a bigger stage job) & I'm not so sure that this wasn't & hasn't been done even in years past. We will likely never know. 

What I'm afraid of, though, given the fact that UK Football has only managed to hire away ONLY 3 coaches in it's history that were HC's at other FBS/FCS programs (Bear Bryant- Maryland, Claiborne- Maryland, Curci- Miami) is that it's always been viewed as a career suicide type job & I'm afraid, with the expansion of the SEC into being the monster that it is? Those feelings in the college coaching world are even more.

** I didn't include Curry in that list, because he and Alabama, at the time, was more or less a mutual parting of ways. Had he not taken the UK job, he wasn't going to have the Alabama job anymore. He'd gone 0-3 vs Auburn & contract negotiations on things he wanted (pretty basic requests) weren't happening**

6 minutes ago, Tones said:

I'll be in the minority with you. He adjusted his scheme to fit what he had. I also think he was held back by Stoops. There is a reason that Georgia tried prying him away from us.

"WHO IS COMING WITH ME?!?!"- Jerry McGuire

...is all I'm feeling right now! ?  My man.  Yes...he did.  Yes they were.

The same reason why Stoops was TAMU's first choice and many, many, many UK fans couldn't understand why?

I told them WHY, like I'm sure you did.

Because the people at TAMU saw a guy that took, what's historically been at the bottom two of the SEC and won 6-10 games with them for a stretch. And THEY were smart enough to realize, not having 'blue goggles' on that...."No his W/L % might now be that eye popping, but the fact that he's been able to win THERE any at all? Just think what he could do HERE." 

11 minutes ago, Tones said:

I'll be in the minority with you. He adjusted his scheme to fit what he had. I also think he was held back by Stoops. There is a reason that Georgia tried prying him away from us.

Do you ever think that, despite the successes Stoops obviously brought to the program. Considering where the program was at the time of takeover, it's hard not to argue that he and Rich are the best two coaches UK has ever had...

...but, I always have felt that Stoops struggled with the battle of "Who he really is as a coach" (Iowa, defense, low scoring, not going to be flashy..bc, like Iowa, we just don't get the dudes to go toe toe with the competition like that) vs "What he knew would/wouldn't appeal to the fan base".

I think he always battled those two wolves. One being in his heart, one being in his head. 

I will say I've found Stein's third-person comments over the past few days pretty amusing considering it seems to be that he's struggling to bring in quality assistants to this point. But then again, it's only been a few days, so that could very possibly change.