CC: Mark Stoops

Submitted by DavidP814 on

The man is winning at Kentucky.  The man is recruiting well at Kentucky.  The man is currently quite possibly leading for one Damien Harris--RB 2015--again at Kentucky.  Why is no one talking about him as a possible coach?  Risky--maybe.  Less risky than Bob Stitt?  Yes.

Big_H

October 9th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

So, I know some of have a fasination about looking at other coaches, but damn are we literally going to go through every damn coach!?!

 

I don't really mind these threads all that much, but it has been kinda getting out of hand.

Soulfire21

October 9th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^

I'd guess because he went 2-10 last year, and this year is only his second as HC.  And while Kentucky at 4-1 (2-1) is commendable, his wins come over Tennessee-Martin, Ohio University, Vanderbuilt, and South Carolina.

While South Carolina looks like a good win (indeed it is his best in at Kentucky) this does not appear to be a good South Carolina team, as they sit at 3-3.

Soulfire21

October 9th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

Right, I don't disagree with any of that, but my point is that Mark Stoops is certainly not a proven commodity in my opinion and should be filed under the "risky hires" label.  I would personally prefer a coach with proven HC success instead of one with a combined 6-11 record as HC of Kentucky.

That said, realistically I'd take about anything other than our current staff barring some magical 6 game win-spree to end the season.  Even then it's still dicey.

PurpleStuff

October 9th, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^

I told everyone we'd win 10+ games in 2011 no matter who the coach was.  People said I was nuts.

We won 11 games and everybody said it was because Hoke instills toughness and Mattison is a genius.  I disagreed and people said I was nuts.

I said when he got hired that Hoke would be our Charlie Weis.  He'd unite the fanbase because of his prior school connection and immediate success, only to be exposed as a sub-par program builder as time went on.  People again said I was nuts (and perhaps a hater or butthurt about my boyfriend DickRod).

I said Rich Rodriguez would make Arizona stronger than they have ever been as a football program.  People said he still played pussyball and would never compete with teams like USC and Oregon.  Then he beat Oregon two years in a row and people are still acting like it was some kind of miracle or completely inapplicable to the situation at Michigan.

Please, continue to side with the people who are wrong every single fucking time and see where that gets you.  Oh yeah, a team that is 2-4 and an athletic department in shambles.

Are you sure you don't owe me a buck, by the way? 

Bergs

October 9th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^

I'm familiar with your schtick and think you're insufferable. You're great defeating straw men, but that's about it. You consistently pop up in threads to leave snarky, negative, "I told you so," comments while adding nothing to the discussion. If you're so infatuated with Rich Rodriguez why not join an Arizona blog?

What are you looking for? Do you want people to admit you were right about Hoke being a bad decision? I wasn't a member of this blog during the period of your great prognostication but I will give you the benefit of the doubt and take you at your word. Okay, you were right about Hoke being a bad decision! You still gloss over every glaring flaw that popped up during the Rodriguez era (historically bad defenses, inability to be competitive with MSU or OSU, worse W/L record than Hoke over a 3 year period) while spewing revisionist history about his tenure here.

I think Hoke should be gone, just as I thought Rodriguez needed to leave. Rodriguez left four years ago when things clearly weren't working out. His defenses sucked just as Hoke's offenses suck. Get over it. He certainly worked out at WVU and it appears he will work out at Arizona but it wasn't working out here. I'm willing to admit that Michigan owns a lot responsibility for what happened with him but dwelling on the past is pointless.

As I said before, I wasn't here during your gambling man period so, no, I don't owe you a buck. But, here's my two cents: find a new blog.

PurpleStuff

October 9th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^

11-2.  You could have waited one offseason and things would have been fine.  Instead you gloss over the shitshow program our former coach inherited because you were bummed your favorite team sucked at football.  You were wrong.  So was Dave Brandon.  So was the overwhelming majority of our fanbase, simply because they couldn't handle the fact that Michigan wasn't good for the first time in their lives.  Wanting MIchigan to have the best football team possible does not make me an Arizona alum/fan. 

This thread is about hiring a guy with a 6-11 career record as the head coach at Michigan.  And the response seems mostly to be positive about the idea.  That is batshit crazy considering who we fired.  Just like hiring a guy with a losing record was four years ago.  Do you seriously think the guy who just beat Oregon for a second straight season, built WVU into a BCS bowl winning power, and left behind a Sugar Bowl champion team here isn't a better candidate than a guy who has won 6 games ever as a head coach?  Or who has won a single playoff game as a Division II coach (the darling candidate on the front page)? 

Sorry I haven't gotten over the dumbest decision an athletic director could possibly make, especially when idiotic members of our fanbase continue to defend it despite the shittiest set of results imaginable since then.  You were wrong about everything, so excuse me if I don't give two shits about your opinion now.

Goblueinva

October 9th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^

 Rich Rod is wiining at Arizona because he is getting the support he needs to win, something he didn't get in Ann Arbor. He gets the support and the players. He got the players to Michigan but again no support. Hoke took over Rodriguez's team and won 11, then the graduations started and less wins the next two years. This is the first year with all of his recruits (minus Gardner) and "Hoke's" team. We see how that's going....

MI Expat NY

October 9th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^

Just out of curiousity, what does he have to do the rest of the way to get you on board, or is he a no-go after 2 years, no matter what?

Their schedule the rest of the way is Louisiana-Monroe, @LSU, Miss. St., @ Missouri, Georgia, @ Tennessee, @ Louisville.  Going 3-3 the rest of the way would be impressive.  Going 4-2 would have me willing to hire him on the spot.  

WolvinLA2

October 9th, 2014 at 3:05 PM ^

Has it been?  They gave up 38 points to South Carolina, and although Florida only scored 17 in regulation, they scored 2 TDs and a FG in three OT periods which is why they lost.  The other teams they played were just bad so it's hard to take anything from those.  

We'll see if the D is any good starting in a couple weeks.

MGoBrewMom

October 9th, 2014 at 12:26 PM ^

If we get all knee jerky and go grab the next hot thing, and it's the wrong thing, this will absolutely be worse than where we are. We are at a place, that even if we don't win another game, it is still not ok. This can never be "ok" and if we shift from bad fit to bad fit every 3-4 years, that is worse than having two coaches not work out.

Our next coach, should we have one, really needs to work out.

johnthesavage

October 9th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^

But you could have said all of this four years ago, after Rodriguez was fired. If the next coach bombs, honestly, in 3-4 years we'll look just as we do now. We might have less talent on the shelf, or we might not. We'd be a crappy team, that expects a lot from coaches, with nice facilities, and a lot of old tradition. No different than today, and we would just try again.

The right fit here mostly just means winning a lot of games. We will eventually find somebody who can do that.

MGoBrewMom

October 10th, 2014 at 12:40 AM ^

4 years ago.... And pretty much the entire time RR was here. It was a slow moving train wreck, and I never (at that time) understood why the fan base was so unsupportive when he was the guy we picked. Making such a huge change would have required patience, and IMO, people seemed to want him to fail instead of backing him.

Generic MGoBlogger

October 9th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

I know Brady did the same, but Stoops has also reinvigorated a lackadaisical Kentucky football fanbase... They filled up their stadium (first time in forever) against South Carolina and even blacked out the place.  In addition, they've adopted the phrase "Why Not" to make a statement that 'yes, we can play football, too.'  

The major difference between he and Brady is that he is a motivator.  He has his players on board, and they have completely bought into what he is about.  If I remember correctly, before 2012, UK had a 26 game losing streak to Tennessee, so what Stoops is doing there is absolutely incredible.  I understand he wasn't with the program when they ended the losing streak, but I think the losing streak itself speaks worlds about how bad of a state UK football was in.  

That being said, we need not only a motivator but also a developer.  We still have not seen how well Stoops can develop his players. We will see in about another year to three years just how good of a state UK football is in and how well the players have thrived and developed under his lead.  I don't believe now is the time for a gamble in the coaching search.  Plus, I want to see this guy at Kentucky for years to come. I love an underdog story.

beedub93

October 9th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^

I'm not sold on him. They beat a lousy Vandy team at home by ten, South Carolina is a hot mess and while they will be 5-1 after this weekend, they'll get worked by Miss St, Georgia, LSU and they will lose to Tennessee. Then they have Louisville at the end of the season, so it's likely that they finish 6-6 or 5-7.

I'd rather have Butch Jones. He's more established and he inherited a mess left behind by Kiffin and Dooley.

WolvinLA2

October 9th, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^

No reason to guess how he'll finish out his season.  We aren't hiring him now, we would (hypothetically) hire him after those games, so we can just wait and see what happens then judge him based on the actual results.  

I agree with you - they have 6 tough games to finish out the season and only 2 are at home.  So that's the test.  If he goes 3-3 or better over that span, he's now a coach really worth looking at.  But even going 2-4 through that looks pretty good if you're a UK fan because it means you either had a huge home upset (UGA or Miss St) or you won two games on the road against solid or better teams (the worst of those being Mizzou, Tennessee or Louisville).  Let's see how he does, but he's certainly worth following, in my opinion.