UK Football 2013

[WMR]

Question: "Why is UK so young this year?"
Answer: "I don't know. It just happened."

Guess who said this.

[5TimeWSChamps]

Originally Posted by WMR

Question: "Why is UK so young this year?"
Answer: "I don't know. It just happened."

Guess who said this.

[George Foster]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

I tip my cap to them if they can put together a winning prgram with 118 and 119 rated recruiting classes. No way an SEC team should lose to that sort of talent. A Big Ten team losing to Ball St isn't quite as much of a stretch as they are the 4th best football conference in America

In 2010 Kentucky scored 63 against Western

In 2011 Kentucky squeaked out a win against Western

In 2012 We lose to Western

That is all you need to know about the direction of this program and Joker.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

I don't really follow recruiting outside of checking what OSU gets but how much talent is there in KY and where does that talent go? I know there are several top programs in Louisville but for the past 5 years of so neither UK or UL have been any good. I know Highlands in NKY has some top level players from time to time but occasionally you hear of them going to ND or UC but thats about it.

Kentucky is usually pretty bare in terms of talent. Occasionally there will be a five-star player come out, namely Tim Couch, Micah Johnson, and Brian Brohm, but for the most part, Kentucky usually has to fight off other SEC schools for that talent. The most recent top prospect to come out of the state, Lamar Dawson, went to USC to play for Lane Kiffin. Kentucky has built pipelines in surrounding states, namely Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. It's mostly SEC schools as Kentucky is usually left settling for players who were likely spurned by their home state school and this gives them a chance to play twice a year in front of friends and family.

By contrast, look at WVU. West Virginia has the same in-state talent problem that Kentucky has. Occasional five star recruit (Josh Jenkins the most recent), but WVU has done a much better job recruiting in surrounding states (Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania) or building pipelines previously in Florida (Doc Holliday) and Texas (Dana Holgorsen).

The difference though is that WVU's primary focus is football. They are successful enough in basketball to keep the fans happy, but football is the cash cow. In Kentucky, football is secondary to basketball, but to an extent. As long as we aren't getting embarrassed on a weekly basis and make it to bowl game, fans are happy. If WVU finished 6-6 this season, fans would be calling for Holgorsen's head.

I only mention WVU because I live here and I've found myself following the Mountaineers more the past two seasons with Kentucky falling into a probation-like team. It is possible for Kentucky to win in football, but it starts with putting fans in the seats and that starts with bringing in a whole new regime. It may take five years or so, but I believe it could happen.

[5TimeWSChamps]

Back to back 3 and outs by the defense? Uhhhh

[5TimeWSChamps]

Unfortunately Morgan Newton is starting at QB, and he still can't throw a simple screen

[5TimeWSChamps]

Embarrassing

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by 5TimeWSChamps

Unfortunately Morgan Newton is starting at QB, and he still can't throw a simple screen

This is why I fault Joker Phillips. Newton and Mossakowski were both 4-5 star QB's, depending on which scouting service you use. Mossakowski is now gone and Newton has been benched in his senior year. He hasn't even progressed since his freshman year.

I'd like to see UK hire somebody who will implement the Air Raid offense. If anything, it would be exciting, and UK has the players to run it, especially with Max Smith and Patrick Towles. A pro-offense doesn't work when you are recruiting against the rest of the SEC in a talent-poor state and settling for everybody else's sloppy seconds.

[Revering4Blue]

Originally Posted by WVRed

This is why I fault Joker Phillips. Newton and Mossakowski were both 4-5 star QB's, depending on which scouting service you use. Mossakowski is now gone and Newton has been benched in his senior year. He hasn't even progressed since his freshman year.

I'd like to see UK hire somebody who will implement the Air Raid offense. If anything, it would be exciting, and UK has the players to run it, especially with Max Smith and Patrick Towles. A pro-offense doesn't work when you are recruiting against the rest of the SEC in a talent-poor state and settling for everybody else's sloppy seconds.

I agree with this. How about Louisiana Tech's Sonny Dykes?

[WMR]

Good job Vandy!!!

Too bad we can't fire that ass Barnhardt too. In his pre-game comments he thanked the "true fans" for showing up. WHAT AN ASS!! WOW!

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by WMR

Good job Vandy!!!

Too bad we can't fire that ass Barnhardt too. In his pre-game comments he thanked the "true fans" for showing up. WHAT AN ASS!! WOW!

I agree. Joker and Barnhart should both be fired. Now! That's a big statement from me. I have generally supported Barnhart but his statements about the fans are just sheer stupidity. It shows that he is totally out of touch with the people out in the state and beyond.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

I agree. Joker and Barnhart should both be fired. Now! That's a big statement from me. I have generally supported Barnhart but his statements about the fans are just sheer stupidity. It shows that he is totally out of touch with the people out in the state and beyond.

I'll have more in the WVU thread, but until Joker and Barnhart are fired, I am done with Kentucky in football. I still bleed blue in basketball, but I can't force myself to pull for a laughingstock anymore while nothing gets done about it. I was at the WVU game and there is such a difference in the two programs its not even funny (even with the loss today).

I don't ask for much. Six wins a year and a bowl game will keep me happy, an occasional upset as well in the SEC. The other comment from Barnhardt pissed me off even more that fans who don't like Joker have an "agenda". Closet term for "racist"?

[WVRed]

I just read this post on WCN and thought I would share it. This sums up how I feel about Barnhardt:

How well has he done really?

He hired a guy from the west coast and out of retirement, and basically lucked out when he turned out to build a decent foundation.

He made the worst hire in UK history - an alcoholic sociopath - without doing any due dilligence.

I don't care what anybody tells me - he was basically forced to hire Cal. If he wanted him so badly, he would've at least considered him the first time, which he didn't. He hired him the second time to save his own skin. Then, when Cal does get here, it's obvious that the two dislike each other. Cal won't even let him have anything to do with the day-to-day operation of the basketball program. He should be thanking his lucky stars and kissing Cal's rump every day.

Then he does the idiotic "head-coach-in-waiting" thing, which turns out to be the nuclear dumpster fire that we find ourselves in now.

He sucks at raising donations and mingling with the boosters and higher-ups in social settings. Mix in the lame stalling attempts in regards to building new facilities, the almost non-stop potshots and arrogantly backhanded comments towards the boosters and fan base as a whole, and the raising of ticket prices and parking passes for all revenue-generating sports in a recession (while seeing no benefits from it), then you've got what equals to be a turd.

Let's put it this way: if the CEO of a Fortune 500 company made the "little" parts of the business succeed while completely failing and running the main revenue generator run into the ground, he'd be fired instantaneously. There's no difference here. Whatsoever. Anybody who disagrees is what's wrong with this football program. Call me nearsighted if you will, but Mitch Barnhart needs to hit the road.

[Scrap Irony]

Originally Posted by WVRed

I just read this post on WCN and thought I would share it. This sums up how I feel about Barnhardt:

Much of that post is flat-out wrong. Much more is opinion.

Barnhart has arguably hired the most successful coaches in UK history in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, tennis, baseball, and a bunch of other sports.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Much of that post is flat-out wrong. Much more is opinion.

Barnhart has arguably hired the most successful coaches in UK history in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, tennis, baseball, and a bunch of other sports.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw9oX-kZ_9k

I'm not denying the rest, but it's like the analogy made. Barnhart has made the "little" parts of the business succeed while running the main revenue generator into the ground. Womens basketball and baseball are the "little parts", football is one of the main revenue generators, and the other has been taken away from him.

What sent me over the edge was the comments yesterday during the postgame show. The fans are staying home for a reason, and I really don't know if this team has hit "rock bottom" yet. I do hope Mitch clarifies his statement about "personal agendas", because reading between the lines, that's the race card.