Evening Games (OPEN) Thread

He's also coached Miami's secondary when they were good, he coached Arizona's defense when they got good, FSU's defense when they became ELITE, and now he's turned around UK.

He had a really good recruiting class with UK and now they look decent.

Alum can share more specific info, I'll look it up if I can find it.

http://mgoblog.com/diaries/coaching-candidate-mark-stoops-bloodlines-st…-

(1) DC/DB at Arizona

After Mike Stoops spun out of Oklahoma and into his own gig at Arizona he brought younger brother Mark over to run his defense.  The defense was bad when the Stoops arrived and Mark was able to incrementally improve it step by step over time.  Nothing came overnight  however.  Here is how the defenses of Mark Stoops compared to the prior year (2003).

(2) DC/DB at FSU

As Jimbo Fisher took over for Bobby Bowden, Mark Stoops was hired as DC.  Much like Lloyd Carr, Bowden probably wasn't going at 100% in his last year.  The once excellent Mickey Andrews defenses - chock full of NFL talent - disappeared in 2009.  It is a wonder to imagine that FSU could post a 100+ defense but that is what happened.   Here is how Stoops did in his 3 years versus the prior year in 2009.

(3) HC at Kentucky

I prefer to have much more data in terms of offensive / defensive statistics and major win/losses for a head coach candidate but there is not much to go on with Mark Stoops.  There is little we can analyze at Kentucky as 2013 was a horror show at 2-10 with the only wins versus 2 baby seals.  That was the same record as Joker Phillips had in his last year in 2012. Losses were constant, although a few were at least not blowouts.  That's about all the praise one can give.  Offensive and defensive rankings in 2013 were likewise horrid.

We do know what system he wants to run offensively and thats "Air Raid" with OC Neal Brown.  Brown is a baby at 34 years old who was OC at Texas Tech under Tommy Tuberville before returning to his home state to coach with Stoops.  If Stoops leaves they might just offer the HC job to Brown so who knows who the OC would be at Michigan - an important point for a defensive oriented HC.

2014 has started off better with a (5)-1 record, however 2 of those wins are baby seals.  Kentucky lost a heartbreaker to a mediocre Florida in OT, beat Vanderbilt 17-7, and beat 3-3 South Carolina 45-38.  Four of the five games have been at home.  The meat of the schedule awaits, although as written above for a SEC schedule it's not impossible.