Hawkeyefan

I can see why you would think this, but Craig would have to be totally delusional to think he'd get the UK WR job. He's been a high school coach and small time college coach; those guys just don't get hired to Power 5 jobs. Craig is a smart guy and knows this.

I think it's much more likely that Russ simply realizes UK isn't in a great spot right now.

I think any scheme that succeeds at UK has to be something that is unusual and doesn't rely on having the best athletes on the field. That's why the Air Raid was successful; it was unusual and could get by without having dominant OL. I think the triple option would do the exact same thing.

Step one is to put the focus on beating the non-elite teams on the schedule. UK should never lose to WKU, EKU, or any other non-power 5 team. Until that gets fixed none of the rest matters. They have to win the 3 easy out of conference games each year

Step two is to beat Missouri and Vandy all the time. There is no reason that they can't do this. The only advantage Missouri has is that it isn't a basketball school, but with their coaching change, they are ripe for decline.

Step three is to beat Louisville. This seems like a coaching issue. UK seems to always out recruit Louisville, but it doesn't result in wins. That has to be the result of Louisville's ability to develop players, develop solids schemes, and adjust in game.

Step four fight tooth and nail against a nine game conference schedule. If that happens, UK's ability to get to a bowl becomes significantly harder.

Nope, you are seeing clearly. Either Stoops wins this year or this thing spirals down hill fast.

Exactly. If we don't want baseball / basketball coaches to pressure kids into quitting football, we should be proactive and not pressure kids into participating in spring ball instead of playing baseball, running track, or playing lacrosse.

Seems clear that the hope and immediate playing time message is wearing thin. Eventually you have to prove it on the field. Stoops and company haven't done that. When you have multiple de-commitments from your most high profile recruits, it's alarming. When one of them is the son of one of your best players, that should set off alarm bells. Either Stoops win this coming season or the recruiting woes will get much worse. That will make the on field product worse. That will make recruiting worse. Downward spiral.

Who said anything about getting rid of lifting?

If you think spring practice influences the number of D1 players in a state, you are delusional. Kids are either D1 or they aren't. 10 practices in the spring does not have any effect on a kids ability to get a scholarship.

This is exactly right and especially true in basketball. What is the difference between an "open gym" and a practice? It's not clear to me. The players (correctly) believe that if they aren't present for these year-round sessions, they will not play.

I agree they are specializing at earlier ages, but I don't think it always, or even most of the time, has to do with playing time. I think it has much more to do with the misplaced idea that they can only play and succeed at one sport; this is an idea reinforced by both the structure the KHSAA has in place and by the actions of many coaches.

....or simply screw all of the crap in June and July for all sports, go back to how things used to be and everybody go the hell home/hang out/do stuff things you're supposed to do in the summer.

 

Exactly right. I think a hard dead period from the end of school until football practice begins in Late July or early August is better for everyone

 

It's always 70 degrees for basketball. They should be last in the topic of the big 3.

 

Start football practice August 1. Knock two games off the regular season ( non district scheduling is a headache as is since the birth of 6 teams). Still end the 1st weekend of December.

 

Baseball only needs 20 regular season games..which would make their season a couple weeks shorter..same for basketball.

 

All of this summer crap is a joke anyway. Ties up way too much time for kids, coaches and families of both (not to mention with cuts in extended days, coaches aren't getting compensated for it...and, I hate to say it (actually I don't)..but, it's not that dang important in the first place. Know why we are losing so many coaches, only to never see the vast majority of them resurface? Tell ya why...summers and no pay for it.

 

In football, we wonder why it's getting harder and harder to get kids out, yet programs are now practicing three FULL weeks in the month of July (and, many at an average of 6 times a week when you factor in "camp week" and 7v7 tourneys on Saturday's). Yet we wonder why kids don't want to play...really? Is it that hard to see why?

 

Correct, factor in that we also have kids trying to play summer baseball and basketball tournaments, and it becomes pretty clear why so many good athletes get burnt out and specialize

 

You aren't going to meet a bigger believer in working hard, while at the same time knowing fully well that there is also something to be said for that when it boils down to...you either have a group of kids (or kid) that either can or cant (as well as a schedule loaded with more teams that are worse than you).

 

...but, admitting that stuff above doesn't allow the ole' chest to stick out as far.

I think this is why it's so important that the changes come from the KHSAA. Individual schools can make changes to help, but only systematic change that applies to everyone can resolve the biggest issues, if for no other reason than that coaches will never enact change on their own if it is perceived to put them at a competitive disadvantage.

Agree, it's nice to think that coaches would simply do the right thing and encourage, or at the very least not actively discourage their players from playing other sports, but the truth is, with the current strutcture, coaches are incentivized to discourage multi-sport participation. When faced with the choice between winning and doing what's best for the school's overall athletic program, many - maybe most - coaches will choose winning.

If you want kids to play multiple sports, you have to enact policies that encourage it. Having sports overlap sends a clear message that the system is not designed for multi-sport athletes. That discourages participation.

Until education on topics like those I listed is "mandatory" it can't be assumed to be known. Once you require it and follow through, the excuses stop.

Exactly, I hate that Tackett talks about how kids should play multiple sports while putting forth a calendar that obviously makes kids choose between sports. No basketball coach is going to be happy in the current system if his school's football team makes a deep playoff run. His team would already be playing games by the time the football kids show up. This produces a system where the rational response of the basketball coach is to discourage participation in football.

I'd be fine if basketball practice started as soon as schools were done with football season. I also think one week is fine. Regular season, non-district games have no importance in terms of wins and loses anyway.

Athletes should participate in as many sports as possible. Our current sports calendar discourages participation in multiple sports due to overlapping timelines. It also allows coaches to improperly pressure athletes to not play one sport in order to participate in the offseason program of another. Below is an athletic calendar for football, basketball, and baseball that would allow an athlete to play all three. All three sports give up a bit to make this possible.

Football:

Start: Last Monday of July

Pads: First Monday of August

Game #1: third week of August

Final: Third weekend of November

Give up: Week 0, one round of the playoffs, and spring practice.

Basketball:

Start: Monday after football state championship

Game #1: Last Week of November

Finals: 2nd week of March

Give up: One week of regular season, Open Gym, June tournaments

Baseball:

Start: Monday after basketball state championship

Game #1: 3rd week of March

Finals: 2nd to last week of June

Give up: One week of regular season

Dead Period:

Start: First day of Summer Break (except baseball)

End: 2nd to last Sunday in July

Rules:

- No sport-specific training outside of the established dates for each sport. Only weight training and conditioning allowed

- Maximum of 5 hours per week of conditioning during a sports offseason

Suggestions:

- High school coaches must read a KHSAA script that promotes multi-sport athletes at the start and end of their season each year. This must be observed by the athletic director of the school OR the principal if the athletic director is a coach.

- High school coaches should never encourage or require athletes to participate in non-KHSAA sponsored programs (AAU basketball, Club soccer, 7on7 leagues, Showcase Baseball, etc.)

- The KHSAA should mandate that all high school athletes watch a training video that covers the basics of recruiting including:

- Academic requirements at different levels

- the amount of scholarship money given in a given sport

- the percentage of high school participants who play a given sport at the college level

- the percentage that receive a scholarship to play a given sport at the college level

- the amount of scholarship money that the average player in a given sport receives to play at the college level compared to the total cost of attendance

- the average height and weight of players in each sport at each division competing in that sport

- The percentage of players in a given sport that were multi-sport athletes in high school.