Currently #56 in Rivals recruiting rankings

[Jaxcat]

Unless Stein can pull some top talent out of the transfer portal, we may have a serious talent disadvantage in 2026. By all accounts, Stein is a great recruiter -he's gonna need a few more on the staff. Stoops & co. were seriously lagging this recruiting cycle and it's understandable. But, certainly puts us in a pretty deep hole immediately and could get much worse if we see wholesale transfers out (although, with Stein, I doubt that happens).

I've read that there's at least a possibility Stein might bring one of the OR QBs with him. If so, does Boley transfer? Ward? Saunders? Ponatoski signed today (thank goodness) so we'll have him as a backup if all else goes to pot. If I were a QB, I'd sure want to see what Stein is all about at least through spring ball.

Either way: 'good players make good coaches'. It was true and is still true. We need better than 56th most talented roster when all is said and done. Go get 'em staff!

[The-Hack]

The current ranking, alone, does not worry me.

Where were Vandy and IU last year or two years ago in December.

Maybe Stein pulls a Diego Pavia miracle or lures some Oregon talent.

And given our timing, and current low profile, we could not have expected better, and narrowly avoided far worse results.

[Helix]

"And given our timing, and current low profile, we could not have expected better, and narrowly avoided far worse results."

This. I've got hope, which was in short supply a mere two weeks ago.

[Jaxcat]

The current ranking, alone, does not worry me.

Where were Vandy and IU last year or two years ago in December.

Maybe Stein pulls a Diego Pavia miracle or lures some Oregon talent.

And given our timing, and current low profile, we could not have expected better, and narrowly avoided far worse results.

^Yep. And, all of these 'rankings', after about 2 years, would change drastically as players transfer, some studs prove to be not so good and some overlooked players look like NFL players. IIRC, one of our more recent recruiting classes has only a handful of players still at UK and that's after maybe 2 seasons. Plus, some team rankings get exaggerated when a school lands, for instance, two 4* QBs when everyone knows, at best, only one will stick around and play if they're good enough. Same goes for stud RBs - only so many carries to go around and the days of stockpiling 4- and 5-star players 'just in case' is long gone.

[Jload]

Recruiting still matters. Very few catch lightning in a bottle like IU and Vandy. We are gonna have to give this fella a couple of years. He going into a 9 game SEC schedule with very few bullets in his gun next year.

[Jaxcat]

I'm hoping Stein & the staff have a very good idea of what the schemes are going to be and recruit for those systems. So frustrating to see both FB and BB recruit athletically talented guys who don't fit our system(s). Whatever position they're recruiting, know what the scheme is going to be and what type of player (and his physical characteristics) would best fit into our style. As we can see on BB side, just because someone is athletic doesn't mean he's going to fit into a system that relies on good shooters and passers. Same for FB, of course. A 255 lb DE who is explosive off the edge may not be ideally suited to a 3-4 scheme where the 3 are used to occupy blockers and, thus, require quite a bit more bulk than 255#.

[blueheretic]

I think we need to calm down and let things play out.

But that's just me.

Kentucky football ain't no powerhouse.

Perhaps, we should chill and let Will Stein do his thing.

If I was as good at coaching football as people on this forum, I'd be coaching at LSU right now.