Kentucky NIL Spending Article

[BIG BLUE GURU]

[KCKUKFan]

The money is clearly there, and it's apparent that we have chosen to make basketball the primary focus.

Which is fine with me, but it will really chap Mark Stoops' tail.

[Morgousky]

The harsh reality is Kentucky simply cannot compete at the levels of a Texas and Alabama football. There’s no way to do it until there’s some regulations and even then we didn’t. Now that money is allowed forget it. I love UK football as much as anyone, if it’s UK across the chest that’s my boy. Simple reality is there’s no reason to not throw the bank at basketball and do what we do. Basketball.

Even if we could match Texas or Alabama football with money we’d have to overpay past them so much to get the players it’s not gonna matter anyway, and that’s if we could which we can’t.

what we can do is take advantage of that reality in ways others can’t. We can be the top NIL destination in the country for basketball and make sure we stack titles in what we’re known for.

love UK football and hope it turns up somehow but, it’s not gonna be with recruits. Hire the best candidate with a football mind you can and try to coach them up. That sure isn’t Stoops. Afraid until he’s gone all of this is moot anyway.

[BIG BLUE GURU]

The money is clearly there, and it's apparent that we have chosen to make basketball the primary focus.

Which is fine with me, but it will really chap Mark Stoops' tail.

I want to see both Football and Basketball do well. With that said I think Stoops has taken us as far as he can. I also think we are obviously known for a great basketball program and do not want to see that decline. I hope the University makes sure we put the resources needed to ensure we stay number 1 in Basketball. In Pope I trust. This year will tell alot. There are another 10 teams with as much talent as us on paper.

[KCKUKFan]

The harsh reality is Kentucky simply cannot compete at the levels of a Texas and Alabama football. There’s no way to do it until there’s some regulations and even then we didn’t. Now that money is allowed forget it. I love UK football as much as anyone, if it’s UK across the chest that’s my boy. Simple reality is there’s no reason to not throw the bank at basketball and do what we do. Basketball.

Even if we could match Texas or Alabama football with money we’d have to overpay past them so much to get the players it’s not gonna matter anyway, and that’s if we could which we can’t.

what we can do is take advantage of that reality in ways others can’t. We can be the top NIL destination in the country for basketball and make sure we stack titles in what we’re known for.

love UK football and hope it turns up somehow but, it’s not gonna be with recruits. Hire the best candidate with a football mind you can and try to coach them up. That sure isn’t Stoops. Afraid until he’s gone all of this is moot anyway.

The biggest issue is when Stoops leaves.

It's going to be really tough to pull in a winner when we've proven that we're not willing to put forth the financial effort to compete even at middle-of-the-pack levels. We are literally at the bottom of the SEC in football spending.

Which, again, is fine with me, because I'm a realist, and Kentucky football will always be Kentucky football, even when we are "good."

Unless we're counting on a Sumerall or Neal Brown, somebody with ties to the school, to come here out of a sense of loyalty, we need to accept that nobody will want to touch this job with a ten foot pole.

[CrimsonCats]

If we have indeed chosen to prioritize basketball with our NIL budget, that has to be a difficult calculation behind closed doors. Football is by far the biggest driver of revenue in the current sports landscape, so investing in having a reputable if not necessarily championship caliber team made all kinds of sense in the past model even if it rubbed Cal and basketball only fans the wrong way.

The pickle we’re in now that who’s on a roster is so directly driven by NIL salaries is that I’m not convinced our donor base is rich enough to keep up with some of the top spenders in football even if they tried. With that being the case, I can definitely see an argument that prioritizing basketball with what funds we do have is a better return on investment since a few elite players go a lot further there than in football. Hopefully Pope and the team can deliver the kind of season that rewards that vote of confidence.

[Morgousky]

The biggest issue is when Stoops leaves.

It's going to be really tough to pull in a winner when we've proven that we're not willing to put forth the financial effort to compete even at middle-of-the-pack levels. We are literally at the bottom of the SEC in football spending.

Which, again, is fine with me, because I'm a realist, and Kentucky football will always be Kentucky football, even when we are "good."

Unless we're counting on a Sumerall or Neal Brown, somebody with ties to the school, to come here out of a sense of loyalty, we need to accept that nobody will want to touch this job with a ten foot pole.

I see the point about stoops, but for whatever reason, he's hanging it up or so it appears. The issue to me is the contracts. It takes a special person to reel in that kind of money and stay hungry. Saban could do it, there are some others. Calipari couldn't hande it, I dont think Stoops can either. I also don't think he was ever worth that kind of money but that's a topic for another day.

The obvious choice is Sumrall but without good guarantees I'm not sure he'd take it at this point. Kentucky is going to have to get really creative and get some very wealthy men in Kentucky with ties or willing to create the relationship it would take. But with that, I don't see barnhart at his age as being the guy to lead that charge. I don't have the faith in the current administration to figure this out and it's going to start there.

[KCKUKFan]

Stoops was never worth that money. Ever. You're right.

And with that said, Mitch Barnhart is the king of the foolhardy contracts. With the way Stoops' current contract is set up, it would make it hard to fire him even if we went winless next year.

He's probably gonna have to leave on his own, and he should have when he almost took the A&M job.

[40bill]

This could be a true dollar amount…but part of me wonders if a large percent of that money is NIL.

this is a tricky deal. Although basketball certainly brings the passion, SEC football brings the bigger dollars. I don’t know who is in charge of dividing monies between sports then between players….but it’s gotta be nerve wracking.

[KYWILDCAT41035]

The harsh reality is Kentucky simply cannot compete at the levels of a Texas and Alabama football. There’s no way to do it until there’s some regulations and even then we didn’t. Now that money is allowed forget it. I love UK football as much as anyone, if it’s UK across the chest that’s my boy. Simple reality is there’s no reason to not throw the bank at basketball and do what we do. Basketball.

Even if we could match Texas or Alabama football with money we’d have to overpay past them so much to get the players it’s not gonna matter anyway, and that’s if we could which we can’t.

what we can do is take advantage of that reality in ways others can’t. We can be the top NIL destination in the country for basketball and make sure we stack titles in what we’re known for.

love UK football and hope it turns up somehow but, it’s not gonna be with recruits. Hire the best candidate with a football mind you can and try to coach them up. That sure isn’t Stoops. Afraid until he’s gone all of this is moot anyway.

Totally agree with this that's the reason I think the best candidate for the UK football job would be our very own Jon Sumrall.

[KYWILDCAT41035]

Stoops was never worth that money. Ever. You're right.

And with that said, Mitch Barnhart is the king of the foolhardy contracts. With the way Stoops' current contract is set up, it would make it hard to fire him even if we went winless next year.

He's probably gonna have to leave on his own, and he should have when he almost took the A&M job.

Mitch and contracts go together like oil and water!

[Pete Hogwallop]

I still don't believe a single $dollar figure that anyone ever throws out there about who is getting what. I'm pretty convinced they really don't have a clue, but they think high figures will interest people and get them clicks to their stories.

[Joneslab]

It's always going to be hard for the football program because of the emotional ties Kentucky fans have with basketball.

I've told this story a million times: I work with obituaries in my job with the state. I've read literally thousands. Of those, a CRAZY percentage of people put in those obits their love for UK basketball. I mean I'll go through an entire day of obits and almost every one in there will mention UK basketball. Men, women...doesn't matter. The number of times I've read an obituary where a person mentioned UK football you can count on one hand.

[yoshukai]

I want to see both Football and Basketball do well. With that said I think Stoops has taken us as far as he can. I also think we are obviously known for a great basketball program and do not want to see that decline. I hope the University makes sure we put the resources needed to ensure we stay number 1 in Basketball. In Pope I trust. This year will tell alot. There are another 10 teams with as much talent as us on paper.

I agree that CMP has taken us as far as he can . And unfortunately because of the added SEC GAMES , I’m pretty sure we’ve seen our last 10 win season. No matter who we bring in to coach.

[yoshukai]

I see the point about stoops, but for whatever reason, he's hanging it up or so it appears. The issue to me is the contracts. It takes a special person to reel in that kind of money and stay hungry. Saban could do it, there are some others. Calipari couldn't hande it, I dont think Stoops can either. I also don't think he was ever worth that kind of money but that's a topic for another day.

The obvious choice is Sumrall but without good guarantees I'm not sure he'd take it at this point. Kentucky is going to have to get really creative and get some very wealthy men in Kentucky with ties or willing to create the relationship it would take. But with that, I don't see barnhart at his age as being the guy to lead that charge. I don't have the faith in the current administration to figure this out and it's going to start there.

Good seeing you Morgousky ! Hadn’t seen you in awhile over on RR . We’re you posting under another name or were you banned for speaking the truth about Calipari?