As we head into the Will Stein era with excitement, I want to make three points about the Mark Stoops era:
Now, let’s go!!
- Will Stein is not at UK if not for Rich Brooks and Mark Stoops. Brooks changed a long tradition of low expectations that started after Fran Curci left. The Air Raid years made people hopeful, but when you look at what they delivered in wins and loses it was a bit of fools gold. I appreciate Hal Mumme, but realize that he really was not responsible for raising the bar too much. Rich made us think we could be a football school, rather than a football gimmick. Mark Stoops does not come to UK if Rich had not shown that real football could be played in the Bluegrass. Stoops then elevated what Brooks began. He was a blue collar put-in-the-work kind of guy and UK football elevated for a couple of years to heights it had not seen since the 70s. By demonstrating that UK can in the modern era reach New Year’s Day bowl games, Stoops laid the ground work for the Will Stein era. If Stein can add to what Brooks and Stoops started, UK fans will be very happy in a few years. Granted, Stoops did not adjust well to the NIL era and made a gaff by trying to go to A&M that set him and us back a bit, but the foundation for Stein was set by Stoops following Brooks.
- Josh Allen as good and influential a defender as I have ever witnessed and should have been at the Heisman ceremony. It was criminal for the Heisman voters not to recognize that UK does not do what it did that year but for Allen’s dominance. He was not only the best defender in the country, but probably deserved the Heisman.
- Lynn Bowden would have won the Heisman had Stoops and Gran set out in the fall to play him at QB. Gran and that offensive line were super creative and just abused a lot of defensive minds once they got that thing going, and Lynn would have had so many freaking yards that he certainly would have been in NYC. I think he would have broken records and would have won the Heisman.
Now, let’s go!!
