Time for a Change, WKU 32 UK 31
- Rating: No Rating
32-31 in OT, that is the score from tonight’s loss to Western Kentucky. Yes, you did read that right Western Kentucky University. We have now lost 2 games to in-state schools. Even worse, we lost to a Sun Belt Conference school on our home field. Think about that for a minute. I love Kentucky football and I think this team has a lot of talent and potential. Winning does not seem likely with the current leadership in place. I will support this team AND it’s coaches for the remainder of the season because I feel that is the right thing to do. So, I will write about this only once here on the blog until something is done and some changes are made.
I was not a great fan of the Coach Phillips hiring but was not totally against it either. I just thought we should not have gone the “coach in waiting route” and went with a national search when Brooks retired. I have never been against Coach Phillips but at this point we need to go in a different direction. What are we looking for in a head coach? Well, that is a very good question with only one answer. Very simple we want a winner. I am so tired of hearing UK is a basketball school, Kentucky has very little high school football talent to recruit, our facilities are not as good as other SEC schools. Just a bunch of excuses. Yes, we are a “basketball school” so what? Does that mean we should not have a baseball or football team because they can’t win since we are a basketball school? Maybe Kentucky is not a hotbed of football recruiting and maybe it never will be. How are teams like Louisville and Western Kentucky getting good players? They are not only beating us but were successful last year on the field also. So you can get good players to come to play in Kentucky. As far as football facilities go, I am sure we are nowhere near the top in the SEC. Thing is we just got beat by Louisville and Western Kentucky, neither are in the SEC.
While I do not want someone like Bobby Petrino taking over, there are plenty of other good young coaches to keep in mind. My favorite is Mark Hudspeth at the University of Louisiana. Besides being going 66-21 as Head Coach at the University of North Alabama (NCAA Division II school), he also served as the passing game coordinator at Mississippi State for two seasons (2009-10) and now in his 2nd season as Head Coach at UL is 10-5 including a bowl win over San Diego State at the 2011 New Orleans Bowl. The man has 76-25 career record in eight seasons as head coach. His teams have won 10 or more games five times. Hudspeth is very similar to Hugh Freeze who coached at Arkansas State last year and took over at Ole Miss this season. The 11 seasons prior to Hudspeth’s arrival in Lafayette the Cajuns were 47-92. Oh yeah, he is from the same hometown as current UK women’s basketball Head Coach Matthew Mitchell (Louisville, MS). Hudspeth will coach in the SEC one day, not sure where but he will and will be successful.
Well, it’s been more than a minute. Are you still thinking about the fact we lost to a Sun Belt Conference school on our home field. An in-state school that just a few years ago was 1-AA. Not sure when it should happen or who it should be but one thing I am sure of is we need a change. At this point the only thing that would change my mind is going 4-4 in conference play. Right now, I see no way that happens. No matter what I still Believe In Blue, #WeAreUK
Comment
-
Comment by MrBBN on September 18, 2012 at 6:16pm -
Good points ukfan, I have no problem with Strong or Taggert either one. Not sure either are the best fit here but sure worth talking to. I just do not want to see a retread like Fulmer, Petrino or Tuberville. Also not a fan of the idea of a OC or DC like Smart from Alabama. We need to fresh blood that has been a head coach and been successful.
-
Comment by ukfan on September 17, 2012 at 7:50pm -
A well written article and one I agree with for the most part. I would like to add a few points to it if I may. I have not been a fan of Joker since his play calling days as offensive coordinator. I never believed he was the right man for the job. I have yet to see a players coach ever to be successful, I am sure there are some but I don't know of any. I used to write blogs on this site all the time under another name and was pretty much run off. No one agreed and told me I didn't know what I was talking about. People argue that it should be no surprise that UK lost to WKU considering all things considered. Not only did they beat UK, they beat an SEC team. I know we have always been a door mat in the SEC, but outside the SEC I thought we could always hold our own. Not so anymore, I blame on many things, Coaching for one, strength of schedule was another. Coach Brooks was a true politician, he knew what it took to please the fan base, but in my opinion he set the precedent for our demise. He knew you needed six wins to become bowl eligible, so he scheduled cupcakes non conference games. I still don't see an advantage for doing that. Problem is, poor coaching and the easy cupcake games are no longer gimmies. To add insult to injury, UK paid WKU a million dollars I believe to have this game at Commonwealth, ouch..... I also don't buy our facilities suck, we don't have the players to compete bullshit. We play in the best conference in the nation right now, we are on prime time or tv almost every week, that in itself should be strong selling point. Teams like Vandy, U of L nd even IU are recruiting better classes that us, what is up with that? Finally, we shoud not settle for 2nd fiddle when it comes to coaches. I don't understand the hate for Barnhart. That man has done more for UK Athelitics than anyone I can think of. I am not a fan of Leach or Petrino. Why not go after Strong, say what you will. I like him as a coach and he has a ton of experience in the SEC. Why not the Coach from Boise State? Jim Tressel? There are some solid proven coachs who I believe are at least worth approaching.
-
Comment by MrBBN on September 16, 2012 at 7:15pm
-
Hudspeth is not a Division II coach, he coached in Division II but is currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette which is what used to be called 1-A (the school was never 1-AA) and is in the Sun Belt Conference. Just a few other teams in the Sun Belt include Arkansas State (Gus Malzon) Western Kentucky (Willie Taggart), and Louisiana-Monroe (beat Arkansas last week). It was rumored but never confirmed he interviewed for the Ole Miss job that Hugh Freeze (from Arkansas State) eventually got. Also rumored that he did not get it because of his ties to Mississippi State.
As far a Petrino, I do not care what the man does in his personal life but he is leaves programs worse than they were before. Yes, you win while he is there (however short that time may be) but the price is not worth it.
-
Comment by krautdog on September 16, 2012 at 2:15pm
-
The LAST thing we need is to hire another Division II coach. We need to go out and hire a PROVEN Division I coach and recruiter. To do that, we have to pay him accordingly, as in CALIPARI! With all this "windfall" that we are receiving for being the "proud" foundation of the SEC, we should be fully capable of that. And by the way, what's wrong with Petrino? He would certainly add some "spice" to the state rivalry."JUST DO IT" and hire someone to follow him around with a fire extinguisher!
© 2013 Created by KSN.
You need to be a member of Kentucky Sports Network to add comments!
Join Kentucky Sports Network