UK BREAKDOWN--STATE OF TEAM FOR ’10 SEASON
As the calendar is flipped, the ’09 football season gently fades into the memories of all but the die hard fan. There will be much dead time between now and the beginning of the ’10 season, but there will also be points of discussion for even those who proclaim themselves indifferent to offseason activities.
The first item up for debate is the “Official State of the Team Discussion”. The Wildcats have travelled far in recent years, and as we examine various aspects of the team, it is hard to remember from whence this team has arrived. Gone are the days of 3-4 wins per season, gone are the days of probation and its nasty after affects, and gone are the days of desperately playing for a bowl only to miss out; in fact, the Wildcat faithful have gotten down right testy in these last 2 or so years with a sense of entitlement to a New Year’s Day game. My, how times have changed in the Commonwealth!
We begin our annual evaluation by looking towards the administration. When Mitch Barnhart was hired for the AD position at UK, the boo birds came out in full force declaring that he was a football guy and that basketball would suffer at the expense of football. Mitch’s first order of business was to hire Rich Brooks as the Head Football Coach at UK. This decision brought about more criticism due to Rich’s perceived lack of success at Oregon and the belief that CAT football would never amount to anything unless a “Big Name Coach” was hired. How wrong, some were!
It is during the tenure of these two men (Barnhart and Brooks) that UK has begun a long trek to football respectability. During this time, Kentucky has gone from the “Are we going to a bowl this year status” to “Which bowl are we going to this year status”.
History and the facts have spoken and determined that Barnhart did indeed make the right decision in hiring Rich; in fact, UK Football has soared to previously unknown heights during Brooks’ reign over the program. The last thing that the Big Blue Nation needed was for the program to have another flash in the pan 9 win season, and then again slip back into oblivion which had often happened in the past. Mitch and Rich understood that football program needed a foundation and not someone who would come in with eyes towards another job, or that would sink the program back into probation again. No, integrity, stability, great teachers of the game, and honor would be the way for the future. This ideology has led the CATS to 4 consecutive Bowl appearances, and 3 consecutive wins which are unprecedented in UK history; in fact, 3 consecutive bowl wins are very rare in College football for any program.
The single solidifying personality on the team is Brooks himself. He did not choose young upstart coaches with great personalities for his staff. No, he chose men who were great teachers with proven track records to come in and teach lower rated players the fine points of the game. Stressing technique and hard work the staff has continually gotten more production from lesser talent throughout Brooks’ tenure with the payoff being a team that stays out of trouble, and is now beginning to win its share of games.
If there is a problem with this staff, it is due to the fact that it seems to have become stale due to its longevity. This unit has been together for a very long stretch by any imagination and in fact probably needs to turn over 2-3 coaches just to get the juices flowing again and bring about new challenges and new ways of thinking. Face it, we all need to be challenged and motivated by new circumstances, this staff is no different.
The probation did much to destroy an almost nonexistent football program. When Brooks and company got here, Kentucky had no real football history, the foundation was on shifting sand, and there was no real future in sight. Brooks and his recruits up to this point are the foundation of UK football. It is upon the backs of Myron Pryor, Wesley Woodyard, Cory Peters, and Andre Woodson that the foundation of Wildcat success will be laid. These men sacrificed what would have been more successful careers in playing for other more prestigious programs but chose to play at Kentucky enduring the hardship of losing and oblivion rather than the joy of winning and success. To these men, and others like them, the Big Blue Nation owes a great amount of debt; they will indeed go down as the men that made Wildcat football relevant, not relevant again, but relevant for the first time in the history of the football program.
This staff is totally responsible for setting the future of this program. Gone are the days when other teams look at their schedules and put an automatic “W” beside the Kentucky date. Opponents now know that if they do not play well, the CATS can win! Gone are some of those silly losing streaks which went back into the 1960s. Annual wins over ranked teams are now a norm and not the exception. In fact, 15 more points this season would have meant an additional 3 wins for a total of 10 for the year (the only other time the team has won 10 games was in 1977).
As far as recruiting goes, the CATS have never consistently recruited better! This program is now getting some of the top talent coming to Lexington from all over the nation. The talent arriving is more suited to play Big Time College Football and is arriving more heralded and with more accolades than recruits in the past.
The main drawback that the staff faces is in terms of financial resources for recruiting. Kentucky is at the bottom of the SEC in terms of spending ($350 K) vs. Tennessee (over $1. M). Mitch and Rich should work to close this gap and fast in order to ensure the future success of this program. The Wildcats successfully generate money for the university and the university needs to reciprocate the football program. This is something that the UK faithful should hold Mitch responsible.
The UK Football fan base has gotten mighty uppity within the last 2 years. In fact, we have come to have a sense of entitlement for a program that basically ranked somewhere in oblivion until the Mitch/Rich connection. Cries have gone out from the faithful declaring that they can not take us to “the next level”. Hogwash! This staff has done more for this program than the last 5 combined (possibly even all of the past staffs combined). It is the previous staffs which did not elevate this program, NOT the current one! The CATS are now getting recruits away from other programs IE Georgia, Maryland, and Ohio State. Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program and it is THIS STAFF that has shown the ability to go out and get adequate talent to compete in the SEC. It is THIS STAFF that has shown the ability to take lesser talent in the past and make it SEC competitive not the previous ones! The Blue Nation needs to remember where it was and where it is now on this issue.
This brings us down to the infamous “Recruiting Room” Brooks wants for the program. I do not know, do not understand, nor even really care about the “Recruiting Room”. Seriously, I do not understand its significance, but this much I do know, if Rich Brooks says or thinks that we need it, then we need it. Surely, after all he has done for this program we can trust him on this one thing.
While I’m at it, “Mitch, Can we please get C. M. Newton’s name removed from anything related to football? You know what I mean! Rich Brooks name is much more deserving to be there anyways!” GO BIG BLUE!!
HAPPY NEW YEARS TO THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS ON EARTH!!
As the calendar is flipped, the ’09 football season gently fades into the memories of all but the die hard fan. There will be much dead time between now and the beginning of the ’10 season, but there will also be points of discussion for even those who proclaim themselves indifferent to offseason activities.
The first item up for debate is the “Official State of the Team Discussion”. The Wildcats have travelled far in recent years, and as we examine various aspects of the team, it is hard to remember from whence this team has arrived. Gone are the days of 3-4 wins per season, gone are the days of probation and its nasty after affects, and gone are the days of desperately playing for a bowl only to miss out; in fact, the Wildcat faithful have gotten down right testy in these last 2 or so years with a sense of entitlement to a New Year’s Day game. My, how times have changed in the Commonwealth!
We begin our annual evaluation by looking towards the administration. When Mitch Barnhart was hired for the AD position at UK, the boo birds came out in full force declaring that he was a football guy and that basketball would suffer at the expense of football. Mitch’s first order of business was to hire Rich Brooks as the Head Football Coach at UK. This decision brought about more criticism due to Rich’s perceived lack of success at Oregon and the belief that CAT football would never amount to anything unless a “Big Name Coach” was hired. How wrong, some were!
It is during the tenure of these two men (Barnhart and Brooks) that UK has begun a long trek to football respectability. During this time, Kentucky has gone from the “Are we going to a bowl this year status” to “Which bowl are we going to this year status”.
History and the facts have spoken and determined that Barnhart did indeed make the right decision in hiring Rich; in fact, UK Football has soared to previously unknown heights during Brooks’ reign over the program. The last thing that the Big Blue Nation needed was for the program to have another flash in the pan 9 win season, and then again slip back into oblivion which had often happened in the past. Mitch and Rich understood that football program needed a foundation and not someone who would come in with eyes towards another job, or that would sink the program back into probation again. No, integrity, stability, great teachers of the game, and honor would be the way for the future. This ideology has led the CATS to 4 consecutive Bowl appearances, and 3 consecutive wins which are unprecedented in UK history; in fact, 3 consecutive bowl wins are very rare in College football for any program.
The single solidifying personality on the team is Brooks himself. He did not choose young upstart coaches with great personalities for his staff. No, he chose men who were great teachers with proven track records to come in and teach lower rated players the fine points of the game. Stressing technique and hard work the staff has continually gotten more production from lesser talent throughout Brooks’ tenure with the payoff being a team that stays out of trouble, and is now beginning to win its share of games.
If there is a problem with this staff, it is due to the fact that it seems to have become stale due to its longevity. This unit has been together for a very long stretch by any imagination and in fact probably needs to turn over 2-3 coaches just to get the juices flowing again and bring about new challenges and new ways of thinking. Face it, we all need to be challenged and motivated by new circumstances, this staff is no different.
The probation did much to destroy an almost nonexistent football program. When Brooks and company got here, Kentucky had no real football history, the foundation was on shifting sand, and there was no real future in sight. Brooks and his recruits up to this point are the foundation of UK football. It is upon the backs of Myron Pryor, Wesley Woodyard, Cory Peters, and Andre Woodson that the foundation of Wildcat success will be laid. These men sacrificed what would have been more successful careers in playing for other more prestigious programs but chose to play at Kentucky enduring the hardship of losing and oblivion rather than the joy of winning and success. To these men, and others like them, the Big Blue Nation owes a great amount of debt; they will indeed go down as the men that made Wildcat football relevant, not relevant again, but relevant for the first time in the history of the football program.
This staff is totally responsible for setting the future of this program. Gone are the days when other teams look at their schedules and put an automatic “W” beside the Kentucky date. Opponents now know that if they do not play well, the CATS can win! Gone are some of those silly losing streaks which went back into the 1960s. Annual wins over ranked teams are now a norm and not the exception. In fact, 15 more points this season would have meant an additional 3 wins for a total of 10 for the year (the only other time the team has won 10 games was in 1977).
As far as recruiting goes, the CATS have never consistently recruited better! This program is now getting some of the top talent coming to Lexington from all over the nation. The talent arriving is more suited to play Big Time College Football and is arriving more heralded and with more accolades than recruits in the past.
The main drawback that the staff faces is in terms of financial resources for recruiting. Kentucky is at the bottom of the SEC in terms of spending ($350 K) vs. Tennessee (over $1. M). Mitch and Rich should work to close this gap and fast in order to ensure the future success of this program. The Wildcats successfully generate money for the university and the university needs to reciprocate the football program. This is something that the UK faithful should hold Mitch responsible.
The UK Football fan base has gotten mighty uppity within the last 2 years. In fact, we have come to have a sense of entitlement for a program that basically ranked somewhere in oblivion until the Mitch/Rich connection. Cries have gone out from the faithful declaring that they can not take us to “the next level”. Hogwash! This staff has done more for this program than the last 5 combined (possibly even all of the past staffs combined). It is the previous staffs which did not elevate this program, NOT the current one! The CATS are now getting recruits away from other programs IE Georgia, Maryland, and Ohio State. Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program and it is THIS STAFF that has shown the ability to go out and get adequate talent to compete in the SEC. It is THIS STAFF that has shown the ability to take lesser talent in the past and make it SEC competitive not the previous ones! The Blue Nation needs to remember where it was and where it is now on this issue.
This brings us down to the infamous “Recruiting Room” Brooks wants for the program. I do not know, do not understand, nor even really care about the “Recruiting Room”. Seriously, I do not understand its significance, but this much I do know, if Rich Brooks says or thinks that we need it, then we need it. Surely, after all he has done for this program we can trust him on this one thing.
While I’m at it, “Mitch, Can we please get C. M. Newton’s name removed from anything related to football? You know what I mean! Rich Brooks name is much more deserving to be there anyways!” GO BIG BLUE!!
HAPPY NEW YEARS TO THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS ON EARTH!!
the problem I have with this staff, there are a couple of coachs who are very poor recuriters. If this program is to make it we MUST have good recuriters. Strong has up the stakes in recuriting.
ReplyDeleteIt sickens me to see C. M. Newton's name in the football stadium. It really reflects poorly on the character of UK's football fans.
ReplyDelete