Maybe Barnhart will give Stoops another raise and contract extension

[Old School]

Really ugly night. All of last year's problems seem to have persisted: nowhere close to 4 quarters of decent QB play, turnovers at key moments, an ineffective run defense, late game fade, and declining fan interest. Conditioning? Elam?

Few if any positives to take away from this one. We hoped Barker could play well. So far, he has shown that he can...for a couple of quarters each week, maybe, kind of like Towles.

I assume the posts about how hapless Shannon Dawson is as an OC are a thing of the past.

Carolina, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State - none of them look good at all so far. Same for most of the rest of the conference. 6-6 was the low end expectation for a lot of fans going into the year. It's probably the high end now, likely requiring a 4-4 SEC record (wins against those four named teams).

The quantity of empty seats is probably going to be embarrassing, and will not help recruiting.

Great scheduling decision, Barnhart. Great idea to give Stoops that raise and contract extension before this season, and before this game. Ranks right up there with hiring Joker Phillips and Billy Gillispie. You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie, I mean Barney!

I wish this team well and want them to win, and they sure have opportunities on the schedule, but you probably couldn't have engineered a way to lose more fans than what they did tonight.

On to a nationally televised game at The Swamp.

[KCKUKFan]

I'm sure if he could, he would.

Mitch Barnhart sucks. Sorry, folks. I know that's not the popular opinion and I know he's done great work for our women's basket weaving team, but the guy sucks.


Joker "coach-in-waiting"
Billy Clyde.
Passed on Cal the first time.
Forced to hire Cal the second time.
Cal wants nothing to do with him, so there has to be a "basketball AD."
Stoops.
Stoops contract extension for no reason.

[Blue Heaven]

Ready for BOTH to go.

[teamchemistry15]

I'm really not sure why Stoops is getting all of the negative attention from this board. Eliot has to be responsible at some point. He should've been gone long ago. Stoops needs to step in and take over the defense. We have the secondary, our LBs showed some promise, and we can obviously score the points. Some of you are blaming a few TOs by Barker. What? We scored 35 points and forced 3 turnovers. That should be enough to win. We couldn't stop the run in the second half. That's a depth and conditioning issue. Keep in mind the losses of Tubman and Meant. There's some quality and depth right there. Would Hatcher be a senior? I think the game plan should've been reversed on offense. We need to keep our defense off the field to keep them fresh. We had four quick drives that, while led to scores, put our defense in a bad spot. Barnhart and his scheduling? Really? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we have UAB scheduled here? Forgive him for not being able to see the future when he scheduled that game. If you choose to stop watching football or cheer for another team then I have a suggestion: Get over yourself. While I'm not satisfied with the loss we all knew we had issues on defense and this was a high scoring, talented offense we were facing. Go back and look at the prediction thread. We lost, we shouldn't have, we need a new defensive coordinator. End of story. I'll be watching next Saturday.

[teamchemistry15]

And are we REALLY comparing an extension for Stoops to hiring Joker and BCG? That's one of the most asinine things I've ever read. We have more talent on the roster than ever. We had a few unexpected departures and injuries from quality players. That doesn't hurt established teams, but when you're building a program it can be devastating. This is his 4th year so you'd expect the team to be pretty solid going three deep. Our three deep at dline included Hatcher, Tubman, and Meant. Those guys would've been upper class starters this year. Instead we have to start guys who would've been second and third off the bench. Again, to established teams with proven success, no problem next man up. To a new coach trying to build a program big problem.

[Matt Dillon]

Good points, teamchemistry15. I think most of us knew, going in, that the run def. was going to be our Achilles Heel.

[Old School]

I'm really not sure why Stoops is getting all of the negative attention from this board.

Well, there were a few reasons posted above:

Eliot has to be responsible at some point. He should've been gone long ago.

We scored 35 points and forced 3 turnovers. That should be enough to win.

We couldn't stop the run in the second half. That's a depth and conditioning issue.

I think the game plan should've been reversed on offense.

Last year, people blamed it on Dawson. This year they're blaming it on Hatcher, Tubman and Meant. The excuses run out sometime, and someone else is ultimately accountable.

Toasted by a minor conference program in the season opener, toasted by the OC he fired last year, losing fans by the boatload...and you're not sure why Stoops is getting negative attention? Did you understand why Bill Curry and Joker Phillips got negative attention? Stoops is 12-26 as UK's head coach, and that's a worse winning percentage than either Bill Curry or Joker Phillips had as UK's coach.

I really wanted to see Stoops succeed. I don't hate the guy or even dislike him, but he's not getting the job done. Fan frustration is justified.

[Old School]

Barnhart and his scheduling? Really? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't we have UAB scheduled here? Forgive him for not being able to see the future when he scheduled that game.

Let's hear your reasons for why Barnhart made good decisions there.

He's a fool, and he made a big mistake scheduling this team. If you're going to schedule an OOC opponent that might beat you, make it count. Make it a respected program. By necessity, that's a program from a major conference.

Other SEC schools don't have any problem scheduling cupcakes for tune ups. This team needed it more than they did.

There are dozens of teams out there who would've taken the typical check to visit Commonwealth and would've provided that tune up for UK. Barnhart made a dumb decision and scheduled a minor confernence team that beat Kentucky in its season opener. That was stupid.

And Barnhart compounded his stupid decision by aso scheduling that same Southern Miss team as UK's season opener next year, in Hattiesburg. That's one fewer home game for UK, one significant loss in revenue, and one very unappealing road trip for UK fans.

[Old School]

And are we REALLY comparing an extension for Stoops to hiring Joker and BCG?

Yes. All three were very stupid decisions made by an AD who has proven time and time again that he is in over his head and has no business going anywhere near contractual dealings of any type with coaches. Stoops has a winning percentage of under .333. That's worse than what Curry or Joker had. And for that, he gets a contract extension and a raise? Can you seriously compare his $12 million buyout to what Saban makes and explain how it somehow makes sense or is justified?

We have more talent on the roster than ever.

And are 0-7 in our last 7 games against teams that aren't Charlotte, the very worst team in this NCAA division. That's a terrible result even if you aren't operating with "more talent on the roster than ever." And by definition you're saying that UK coaches with less talent did better than that, since there is "more talent on the roster than ever."

I hope this guy turns it around. I'll be the happiest guy on here if he does. But the results right now, and to date, are terribly lacking, especially given the talent upgrade this team is supposed to have.

[KevinHall]

Let's hear your reasons for why Barnhart made good decisions there.

He's a fool, and he made a big mistake scheduling this team. If you're going to schedule an OOC opponent that might beat you, make it count. Make it a respected program. By necessity, that's a program from a major conference.

Other SEC schools don't have any problem scheduling cupcakes for tune ups. This team needed it more than they did.

There are dozens of teams out there who would've taken the typical check to visit Commonwealth and would've provided that tune up for UK. Barnhart made a dumb decision and scheduled a minor confernence team that beat Kentucky in its season opener. That was stupid.

And Barnhart compounded his stupid decision by aso scheduling that same Southern Miss team as UK's season opener next year, in Hattiesburg. That's one fewer home game for UK, one significant loss in revenue, and one very unappealing road trip for UK fans.

I think UAB was supposed to be the team to open up with this year. They dropped their program,temporarily, and UK was stuck. I'm not sure they had many other options to schedule a lesser team.

[Joneslab]

Kentucky football absolutely does not have more talent than ever. That's totally wrong.

I will give Stoops and Elliot credit for that: I think the defense, particularly up front, has sort of been patchworked together. So what we see on defense isn't just coaching mistakes; there are major personnel problems on this team, and if you listened to the coaching staff, even going back to the spring, they knew it was going to happen.

There was way more pessimism coming into this season than last. Some fans just refused to hear it. Stoops was nowhere near as excited about this bunch, probably because he got a look at those linebackers and worried that situations like Saturday were possible.

[J.Jennings]

Well, there were a few reasons posted above:









Last year, people blamed it on Dawson. This year they're blaming it on Hatcher, Tubman and Meant. The excuses run out sometime, and someone else is ultimately accountable.

Toasted by a minor conference program in the season opener, toasted by the OC he fired last year, losing fans by the boatload...and you're not sure why Stoops is getting negative attention? Did you understand why Bill Curry and Joker Phillips got negative attention? Stoops is 12-26 as UK's head coach, and that's a worse winning percentage than either Bill Curry or Joker Phillips had as UK's coach.

I really wanted to see Stoops succeed. I don't hate the guy or even dislike him, but he's not getting the job done. Fan frustration is justified.

Wow, 12-26, did not realize it was that bad. The one coach whom I felt overachieved and actually gave me a little hope, he left. Is Guy Morris still coaching high school football in Lexington now??

[SBCatMan]

First, I have no problem at all with the hiring of Stoops. In fact, at the time, it was sort of a coupe. You get the defensive coordinator from one of the hottest teams in the country. One year later, FSU won the National Title. At that point, Stoops would have been in such demand we would have had no chance to get him. He would not even have returned our calls. Score one for Mitch here.

Now, that having been said, there is no denying that his time as a head coach has been a horribly steep learning curve. And, it is one he may never master.

Also, it certainly seems, to an un-trained eye such as mine, that the defense needs a complete, total overhaul -- the DC, the DL recruiting (which, admittedly, is difficult) and the scheme (the 3-4 does not seem to lend itself to stopping the run).

[Old School]

12-25. I missed the key by one. Still, that's worse than a .333 winning percentage.

Morriss had an outstanding year in 2002. He was two plays away (final play vs. LSU and any of the final says on UK's last drive vs. South Carolina - including the TD pass missed whenTommy Cook

[Old School]

12-25. I missed the right key by one. That's still worse than a .333 winning percentage.

Morriss had a great year in 2002. They were two plays away (the final play Hail Mary vs. LSU and any number of plays, including the missed TD pass when Tommy Cook slipped in the muddy end zone vs. South Carolina) from a 9-3 season. Florida barely beat them in the Swamp. That was a fun season, and Morriss had a staff that really had those kids focused and motivated. They played smart football and played way beyond their star rankings or expectations. I don't know how Morriss would have fared long term though. His recruiting wasn't great. But I will always remember that season fondly. It was a fun time.

He fared well at Baylor compared to most of his recent predecessors, and came close to turning the corner. That program really took off after he left though.