Expectations for the upcoming football season
- Thread starter KYAnywhereEverywhere
- Start date
There’s no reason we can’t get a playoff spot. 10-2 should get us in.
I doubt it could be accomplished that quickly unless they go to 24.
He's built a roster that will make a bowl game.
7-5 to 6-6.
8-4 would be a miracle with the schedule.
If He's an excellent play caller you might be able to get it.
The Offensive line will be in the top half of the SEC.
On paper I think they beat last year's team unless they can't stop the run.
SETH was a pretty good running back.
7-5 to 6-6.
8-4 would be a miracle with the schedule.
If He's an excellent play caller you might be able to get it.
The Offensive line will be in the top half of the SEC.
On paper I think they beat last year's team unless they can't stop the run.
SETH was a pretty good running back.
Looking forward to a team that doesn’t lay down and quit like Stoops team did last season.
Next season, I just want to see the future under Stein. I’m hoping for 6 wins - that would inject an enormous amount of energy into the program.
Next season, I just want to see the future under Stein. I’m hoping for 6 wins - that would inject an enormous amount of energy into the program.
Schedule is absolutely brutal. New coach, new system, but I'm a Stein believer. I think 5+ wins is a huge success year one.
You can really get your point across in just a few sentences. Nobody is going to ready that incoherent gibberish.
I think Stein is going to make football at UK fun to watch again. The schedule is BRUTAL. Getting to a bowl game in year one would be success and something to build on for the first year HC. But I think he is going to kill it here, once he starts getting his recruits. Look what he did in the portal in literally no time since he became HC. I actually cant wait for football season to get rolling. Our OL looks pretty scary good on paper. Time to lace them up and see if they play as well as they project.
We actually have a legit QB with a legit QB coach.
I’ll be happy with 6 wins but the losses, I’d like to see us in them at the end. I can accept losses in year one if you can see fundamentals getting fine tuned and basic parts of the game are being executed.
If it can be done at Indiana in 2 years it can be done at Kentucky as well. You have to think big to accomplish big, a limited mindset is a false cap on potential. It can be done, Indiana proved that.
I'm very optimistic. I think we upgraded at almost every position on offense. Including OC.
I like the WR room better.
QB room is looking much better.
I see improvement along the oline. Depth is still a ?
RB is the place where I'm not sure. Whenever you have your best guy coming off a injury it's always a concern.
Defensively we have a lot of good pieces. But stoops had a sound defense for the most part.
Overall I think we win a few more then expected!
Not buying the tough schedule excuse. The experts here last season said 2/3 wins tops. UK had a top 10 most difficult schedule last season. With all the hype, hype, hype I have been reading for this season with our new coach I expect nothing less than 8 wins. Hope he wins more than Stoops did, but I doubt he will.
Nothing less than a natty will do for me. . . every year. We're Kentucky by damn!!
4 wins... I really want to be excited about football. But year 1, new staff, new system, brutal schedule. I won't set myself up for disappointment. Set my expectations low and hope the boys exceed them. Obviously will raise them year 2 if they show fight and growth.
Don’t forget money from Big 10 (more than SEC) and Mark Cuban. Let’s see if that can continue. They absolutely hit a home run, hell it was a grand slam in bottom of ninth in game seven. To think that we can duplicate that is a sure path to being disappointed. One has to be realistic about the difficulty of our schedule and the depth of this league. Winning breeds confidence but is difficult in this league. Two years ago when Cignetti arrived IU had a great season but the Big 10 was so top heavy that winning was much easier. Don’t get me wrong - Cignetti was a great hire but I wonder if he can duplicate it.
The schedule us crazy. To get 6 wins, we'll have to beat a few really good teams.
My main measuring stick is I want to see a better operation in all phases. Stoops won some huge games, but left some big wins on the table due to operational issues such as clock management, lining up correctly, special teams gaffes etc.
Dont beat yourself, look competent, win at least 5 games and I will consider it a success.
Probably flirting with 6 or 7 wins but less snoozy in going about and continuing to build from there in the future rather than stuck and slipping from such a spot.
Building the SEC caliber depth is where the challenge remains but now we have the advantage of someone quarterbacks want to play for who knows how to use them.
Building the SEC caliber depth is where the challenge remains but now we have the advantage of someone quarterbacks want to play for who knows how to use them.
A better offense, specifically passing game.
-Talent evaluation and acquisition
-development
-game planning
-game day Xs Os
It’s pretty much that simple.
If the Stein regime can consistently move and score the ball through the air, 7 wins isn’t an unreasonable expectation.
I mean CMS’ floor was about 5-6 and he or at least his various offensive staffs for whatever reason couldn’t figure out modern passing game.
It cost us about 2 dubs a year.
So if Stein holds steady and does what CMS did on D, ST, and ground game but is able to find 3000 yds and 25-30 tuds through the air…sh$t could get wild.
-Talent evaluation and acquisition
-development
-game planning
-game day Xs Os
It’s pretty much that simple.
If the Stein regime can consistently move and score the ball through the air, 7 wins isn’t an unreasonable expectation.
I mean CMS’ floor was about 5-6 and he or at least his various offensive staffs for whatever reason couldn’t figure out modern passing game.
It cost us about 2 dubs a year.
So if Stein holds steady and does what CMS did on D, ST, and ground game but is able to find 3000 yds and 25-30 tuds through the air…sh$t could get wild.
Schedule is always going to be somewhat brutal. O-line looks strong on paper, Rodriguez is a stud at TE; guess the offense is going to rely on the skill guys stepping up and hopefully Minchey being the real deal. Not sure about the defense but Bateman is a much better DC than White and won’t have CMS in his ear. Hoping for five wins with an outside shot at six.
Youngstown State - W
Alabama - L
at Texas A&M - L
South Alabama - W
at South Carolina - L
LSU - L
at Oklahoma - L
Vanderbilt - W
at Tennessee - L
Florida - L
at Missouri - L
Louisville - W
4-8, brutal schedule
I chose Louisville as a win, but I think it's more accurate to say we steal one of SCAR, LSU, FLA, MIZ, UL --- I picked UL but I think we win one of those.
Alabama - L
at Texas A&M - L
South Alabama - W
at South Carolina - L
LSU - L
at Oklahoma - L
Vanderbilt - W
at Tennessee - L
Florida - L
at Missouri - L
Louisville - W
4-8, brutal schedule
I chose Louisville as a win, but I think it's more accurate to say we steal one of SCAR, LSU, FLA, MIZ, UL --- I picked UL but I think we win one of those.
Bateman had his play calling duties revoked at a&m. Maybe he will be better, but that jury is still out. Just a guy feeling stein is looking for high risk/high reward defense that will get the ball back (either on downs or giving up a TD) ala UT.
Starting OL is very good but we're one injury away from being in trouble there and other positions too for that matter.
8-4 if they beat Florida, 7-5 if they don't. Losses to Bama, a&m, ou, and lsu. 6-6 as the floor.
RPM Watch: Kentucky is Trending for Multiple 4-Star Prospects
Will Stein's Kentucky football program has recruiting momentum, and can add to that on Saturday afternoon.
It’s crazy how different people feel about football vs Basketball. Everyone says Stein is killing recruiting so we can’t have a NIL problem. Then pick us to win 5 games.
Stein isn’t killing recruiting. He will finish in the bottom of the SEC.
Basketball had one bad season , after a sweet 16 and our fans are ready to run Pope out of town because he can’t recruit. He is still recruiting circles around the football team. We won’t finish 12th in the SEC in basketball.
Both teams are not recruiting at a satisfactory level. It isn’t the coaches. Our NIL system sucks and you can thank Barnhart for that.
Stein isn’t killing recruiting. He will finish in the bottom of the SEC.
Basketball had one bad season , after a sweet 16 and our fans are ready to run Pope out of town because he can’t recruit. He is still recruiting circles around the football team. We won’t finish 12th in the SEC in basketball.
Both teams are not recruiting at a satisfactory level. It isn’t the coaches. Our NIL system sucks and you can thank Barnhart for that.
I’ve been a UK football fan for nearly 50 years. It’s basically been a Charlie Brown/Lucy situation the entire time.
In elementary school I watched us go 10-1 in ‘77. Curci then has 4 straight losing seasons and is fired.
Claiborne turns it around rather quickly, finishes 9-3 and in Top 20 in ‘84. We’ve finally turned the corner, right? Wrong…Claiborne never makes another bowl game in last 5 seasons.
Bill Curry takes over in ‘90. Went to hear him speak not long after he got the job, and was thoroughly impressed. This guy is gonna get it done, I thought. Wrong again…1 bowl game in 7 years.
Mumme comes in with an exciting, seemingly unstoppable offense. Puts 68 on Louisville in ‘98 opener. I’m thinking again, we’ve turned the corner. Well, no…recruiting violations…bye-bye Mumme.
Brooks, fighting probation roster limitations, slowly builds a really competitive team. The win over #1 LSU in ‘07 (probably the best win in our modern history) had me thinking—again—now we have finally arrived. We can play with the big boys. Well…not exactly. Finished that season by petering out, and then two more 7-6 seasons.
Finally, Stoops has two 10-win seasons in 4 years, begins ‘22 season 4-0, and we’re ranked in the top ten. Then Levis gets hurt at Ole Miss, and so begins an incredible slide—Stoops goes 19-27 to finish out his career.
Now, Will Stein. He seems to be saying and doing all the right things. Seems to be recruiting well. But I just can’t get excited anymore, fellas. He may be the one who finally turns the corner…but until it actually happens, I’m not going to expect too much. I’ll still go to games, still watch every game, but I’m just not gonna trick myself again—and just be pleasantly surprised if it happens.
In elementary school I watched us go 10-1 in ‘77. Curci then has 4 straight losing seasons and is fired.
Claiborne turns it around rather quickly, finishes 9-3 and in Top 20 in ‘84. We’ve finally turned the corner, right? Wrong…Claiborne never makes another bowl game in last 5 seasons.
Bill Curry takes over in ‘90. Went to hear him speak not long after he got the job, and was thoroughly impressed. This guy is gonna get it done, I thought. Wrong again…1 bowl game in 7 years.
Mumme comes in with an exciting, seemingly unstoppable offense. Puts 68 on Louisville in ‘98 opener. I’m thinking again, we’ve turned the corner. Well, no…recruiting violations…bye-bye Mumme.
Brooks, fighting probation roster limitations, slowly builds a really competitive team. The win over #1 LSU in ‘07 (probably the best win in our modern history) had me thinking—again—now we have finally arrived. We can play with the big boys. Well…not exactly. Finished that season by petering out, and then two more 7-6 seasons.
Finally, Stoops has two 10-win seasons in 4 years, begins ‘22 season 4-0, and we’re ranked in the top ten. Then Levis gets hurt at Ole Miss, and so begins an incredible slide—Stoops goes 19-27 to finish out his career.
Now, Will Stein. He seems to be saying and doing all the right things. Seems to be recruiting well. But I just can’t get excited anymore, fellas. He may be the one who finally turns the corner…but until it actually happens, I’m not going to expect too much. I’ll still go to games, still watch every game, but I’m just not gonna trick myself again—and just be pleasantly surprised if it happens.
Probably 3-4 wins, building toward a 8-9 win team next year. I hope I'm wrong about the former but our schedule is ridiculous.
The wins are are already showing, although not in the traditional sense. Stein had a great transfer portal come in to balance out that not so great incoming 2026 recruits from previous staff, and was able to add a few good recruits last minute. 2027 class is hovering close to top 10 right now but will probably be more close to top 20 by the end of it.
He's got players excited to come here, and the Energy in the place is just different. I think he will have a better team then the 2025 team, however the schedule is not doing him any favors. 4 wins would be status quo, 5 wins would be good, and 6 wins would be great. I think the more realistic outcome is 5 Wins. If Kentucky is competitive in these tougher games I will be happy. Next years SEC schedule looks to be a little bit more forgiving, and if he can produce another top 10 transfer class Kentucky should be setup to move to 7 or more wins in his 2nd season.
I'm really curious what kind of NIL budget the football team is getting. They don't seem to be struggling getting talent unlike the basketball team.
He's got players excited to come here, and the Energy in the place is just different. I think he will have a better team then the 2025 team, however the schedule is not doing him any favors. 4 wins would be status quo, 5 wins would be good, and 6 wins would be great. I think the more realistic outcome is 5 Wins. If Kentucky is competitive in these tougher games I will be happy. Next years SEC schedule looks to be a little bit more forgiving, and if he can produce another top 10 transfer class Kentucky should be setup to move to 7 or more wins in his 2nd season.
I'm really curious what kind of NIL budget the football team is getting. They don't seem to be struggling getting talent unlike the basketball team.
Your take on football recruiting is just wrong.
Kentucky's incoming Transfer ranking from 247 sports is 4th best among SEC schools and and 11th nationally. The current in progress 2027 rankings Kentucky is currently 4th among SEC Schools and 11th nationally. Rivals has them currently 7th Among SEC schools
We’re expected to win 4.5 games from Vegas and all the sports bookies. A few more would be 7 to 8 games. Honestly, 6 wins to make a bowl game would be successful and prove Kentucky is heading in the right direction, it’s going to be very tough with our schedule, but it’s definitely attainable.
We have some unanswered concerns with depth, our running backs and really just seeing how the new players gel together. I think our defense will be better and the offense has a chance to put up great numbers! If we can win week two vs Bama at home, or just play great and keep it close, that’ll go a long ways in the confidence department. I say we get six but hope it’s more.
1. If Mincey stays healthy
2. Feels like we don’t have a legry WR1 to take fully advantage of Stein offense Feels like passing game will work thru TE as much as WR
3. RB is scary as heck in a bad way. We moved a safety to RB. Baxter may be made of glass as his pedigree and didn’t do much in spring
4. I think Oline will be very solid unit with some depth
5. Dline …looks like a solid unit and deep
6. LB….very young and raw…could take lumps early
7. Sound like we got some players in secondary
All in all….i see a team that will grab some upsets in year 1 but has major depth issues in version spots that could derail season if the wrong injury happens.
I say 5 - 7 wins
2. Feels like we don’t have a legry WR1 to take fully advantage of Stein offense Feels like passing game will work thru TE as much as WR
3. RB is scary as heck in a bad way. We moved a safety to RB. Baxter may be made of glass as his pedigree and didn’t do much in spring
4. I think Oline will be very solid unit with some depth
5. Dline …looks like a solid unit and deep
6. LB….very young and raw…could take lumps early
7. Sound like we got some players in secondary
All in all….i see a team that will grab some upsets in year 1 but has major depth issues in version spots that could derail season if the wrong injury happens.
I say 5 - 7 wins
This is where I’m at for the upcoming season. Let’s see something other than the Predictable Stoops offense.
5 or less wins = failure
6 wins = meh lets see what year 2 brings
7 wins = successful season heading into the right direction but nothing spectacular
8+ wins = a true turn around and bright future ahead
6 wins = meh lets see what year 2 brings
7 wins = successful season heading into the right direction but nothing spectacular
8+ wins = a true turn around and bright future ahead
5 or less wins being a failure is a wild take with this schedule. The most likely outcomes, frankly, are a 4 or a 5 win season. I hope the unreal expectations don’t do more damage than good to Stein before things even get started.
People are really underestimating just how brutal this year’s schedule is.