Move on

[Get_over_it]

Why so many post tearing down Stoops to build up Stein?

I think some Kentucky fans need a little reminder about where this program was when Mark Stoops took over.
It’s pretty amazing watching some of the same people who spent years begging for Kentucky football to become relevant now act like Stoops was some kind of disaster.

Apparently, we’ve reached the point where two 10-win seasons at Kentucky aren't impressive anymore. Must be nice to have such short memories.
When Stoops took over, Kentucky football wasn't exactly a sleeping giant waiting for the right coach to wake it up. It was a historically struggling program that had spent years getting beat up in the SEC and struggling to find any kind of sustained success.

Stoops took over that program and went to work.
He recruited. He developed players. He changed expectations. He made Kentucky competitive in a conference where Kentucky had routinely been an afterthought.
And he did something Kentucky fans had been waiting 31 years to see — he finally beat Florida.
That win wasn't just another game. It ended one of the most embarrassing streaks in Kentucky football history and gave an entire generation of Kentucky fans a memory they never thought they would get to experience.

Then he did it again.
And again.
Suddenly, Kentucky wasn't just showing up against Florida hoping to keep the score respectable. We were walking into those games believing we could actually win.
That's what changed under Stoops.
He gave us ranked wins, bowl victories, NFL players and two 10-win seasons. He took a program that had spent years near the bottom of the SEC and built it into one that could legitimately compete.

Was everything perfect? Absolutely not.
Did Stoops make mistakes? Of course.
Were there frustrating losses, disappointing seasons and decisions that drove every Kentucky fan crazy? You bet.
But apparently we're now supposed to pretend none of the good stuff happened because the ending wasn't exactly how everyone wanted it.
That's some impressive revisionist history.
You don't get to move the goalposts after the fact and then pretend the guy who moved them in the first place accomplished nothing.
For years, Kentucky fans wanted a coach who could make this program relevant. Stoops did that.
He took a historically struggling program and gave us some of the best football seasons many Kentucky fans had ever experienced.

Two 10-win seasons.

Multiple bowl wins.

Ending the Florida streak.

Making Kentucky football matter.

Those things actually happened.
You don't have to love Mark Stoops. You don't have to defend every decision he made. You don't have to believe he should have stayed forever.
But you can at least have enough perspective to acknowledge what he accomplished.
Because watching Kentucky fans now talk about him like he was some complete failure is honestly pretty damn funny when you remember what this program looked like before he got here.

He wasn't perfect.
But he sure as hell wasn't awful.
And before we rewrite history because we're unhappy with how things ended, maybe take a minute to remember how things started.
Thanks, Coach Stoops.
Some of us haven't forgotten.

And now, it's time to move on.
If you’re ready for a new chapter, that's completely fair. Support the new staff, support the players, and look forward to what's next. But constantly making posts just to trash Stoops doesn't change what he accomplished, and it certainly doesn't make Kentucky football better.
The man is gone. The next chapter has started.
Let him go, enjoy the memories, and move forward.
You don't have to tear down the guy who helped build it just because you're ready for someone else to take it from here.

Go Big Blue.

 

[Chadrock]

I’d guess most here have moved on…I have. Excited for Stein and company!

 

[Get_over_it]

I am excited for Stein also, but we have a lot of fans that just can't help but bring up Stoops and act like he was so awful.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Stoops, like John Calipari his last five years, basically took advantage of dopey Mitch Barnhardt's ludicrous contracts to rip off the university and the fan base, and let UK sink into mediocrity.

I doubt the multi-millionaire Mark Stoops is overly concerned about what the Kentucky fan base thinks, but I don't have any problem with people calling his performance what it was -- a lazy, uninspired, and cynical cash grab that set back Kentucky football for a few years at least. 38-68. That's his lifetime record in SEC games in 13 seasons. They don't name stadiums after guys who average fewer than 3 conference wins a year over their careers -- and that's Stoops.

By the way, your "list of accomplishments" is not accurate. One of those 10 win seasons was actually a 0 win season after all ten wins were vacated for cheating. Did Stoops know the cheating was happening and looked the other way? I don't know. But it isn't a ten win season anymore than Louisville is the 2013 NCAA basketball champions.

 

[Beatle Bum]

The Stoops got paid argument to lazy stupid posts about him is … lazy. Stoops does not come to UK but for Brooks. Stein does not come to UK but for Stoops. Stoops is gone. The uncomfortable NIL era of his coaching tenure is over. He should be seen in a positive way by fans.

 

[jeffky]

I am so glad stoops has exit the building . His teams were so disorganized from the staff down . The product we had to watch was pathetic too . Go cats go stein

 

[NineIsOnTheWay]

I like Stoops and wish him the best. I think the Texas a&m ordeal causes him to catch a little more slack than needed.

 

[Cattorney]

He built it up to average and then let it fall back to awful.

Some of you act like Stoops made us a contender for anything more than a meaningless bowl game and we should kiss his *** for that.

We were literally 1 season removed from a bowl game when we fired Joker and hired Stoops. It then took Stoops several years and being on the hot seat with Stevie Johnson saving the day thanks to the Barker kid getting hurt and forced to sit to get back to a bowl. No need to re-write history more favorable to Stoops than what reality dictates.

He had a nice stretch and then went downhill fast.

 

[Get_over_it]

I am so glad stoops has exit the building . His teams were so disorganized from the staff down . The product we had to watch was pathetic too . Go cats go stein

I agree watching UK win 10 games was pathetic. We were much better off barely getting to 6 wins and playing in the "who gives a ****" bowl.

 

[Get_over_it]

He built it up to average and then let it fall back to awful.

Some of you act like Stoops made us a contender for anything more than a meaningless bowl game and we should kiss his *** for that.

We were literally 1 season removed from a bowl game when we fired Joker and hired Stoops. It then took Stoops several years and being on the hot seat with Stevie Johnson saving the day thanks to the Barker kid getting hurt and forced to sit to get back to a bowl. No need to re-write history more favorable to Stoops than what reality dictates.

He had a nice stretch and then went downhill fast.

Nobody said we should kiss is azz, but to talk about the guy like he didn't accomplish anything while here is just ignorant, I assume you must be just a kid and never had to suffer through the years before Stoops.

 

[Cattorney]

Nobody said we should kiss is azz, but to talk about the guy like he didn't accomplish anything while here is just ignorant, I assume you must be just a kid and never had to suffer through the years before Stoops.

The years before Stoop? Like when Rich Brooks had us beating the #1 team in the country, or beating a highly ranked UL team, and also going to meaningless bowl games. Which he did with far less resources.

No one acts like Stoops accomplished nothing. Hell, he was here longer than any other, so he should have accomplished some things. But that doesn't absolve us of also pointing out his flaws. If that's a problem for you, maybe message boards aren't your environment.

 

[RunninRichie]

Bizarre account and post, wow. Is this a Stoops relative?

 

[UK4Life#9]

Stoops was mediocre.

 

[DudahUK]

No

Why so many post tearing down Stoops to build up Stein?

I think some Kentucky fans need a little reminder about where this program was when Mark Stoops took over.
It’s pretty amazing watching some of the same people who spent years begging for Kentucky football to become relevant now act like Stoops was some kind of disaster.

Apparently, we’ve reached the point where two 10-win seasons at Kentucky aren't impressive anymore. Must be nice to have such short memories.
When Stoops took over, Kentucky football wasn't exactly a sleeping giant waiting for the right coach to wake it up. It was a historically struggling program that had spent years getting beat up in the SEC and struggling to find any kind of sustained success.

Stoops took over that program and went to work.
He recruited. He developed players. He changed expectations. He made Kentucky competitive in a conference where Kentucky had routinely been an afterthought.
And he did something Kentucky fans had been waiting 31 years to see — he finally beat Florida.
That win wasn't just another game. It ended one of the most embarrassing streaks in Kentucky football history and gave an entire generation of Kentucky fans a memory they never thought they would get to experience.

Then he did it again.
And again.
Suddenly, Kentucky wasn't just showing up against Florida hoping to keep the score respectable. We were walking into those games believing we could actually win.
That's what changed under Stoops.
He gave us ranked wins, bowl victories, NFL players and two 10-win seasons. He took a program that had spent years near the bottom of the SEC and built it into one that could legitimately compete.

Was everything perfect? Absolutely not.
Did Stoops make mistakes? Of course.
Were there frustrating losses, disappointing seasons and decisions that drove every Kentucky fan crazy? You bet.
But apparently we're now supposed to pretend none of the good stuff happened because the ending wasn't exactly how everyone wanted it.
That's some impressive revisionist history.
You don't get to move the goalposts after the fact and then pretend the guy who moved them in the first place accomplished nothing.
For years, Kentucky fans wanted a coach who could make this program relevant. Stoops did that.
He took a historically struggling program and gave us some of the best football seasons many Kentucky fans had ever experienced.

Two 10-win seasons.

Multiple bowl wins.

Ending the Florida streak.

Making Kentucky football matter.

Those things actually happened.
You don't have to love Mark Stoops. You don't have to defend every decision he made. You don't have to believe he should have stayed forever.
But you can at least have enough perspective to acknowledge what he accomplished.
Because watching Kentucky fans now talk about him like he was some complete failure is honestly pretty damn funny when you remember what this program looked like before he got here.

He wasn't perfect.
But he sure as hell wasn't awful.
And before we rewrite history because we're unhappy with how things ended, maybe take a minute to remember how things started.
Thanks, Coach Stoops.
Some of us haven't forgotten.

And now, it's time to move on.
If you’re ready for a new chapter, that's completely fair. Support the new staff, support the players, and look forward to what's next. But constantly making posts just to trash Stoops doesn't change what he accomplished, and it certainly doesn't make Kentucky football better.
The man is gone. The next chapter has started.
Let him go, enjoy the memories, and move forward.
You don't have to tear down the guy who helped build it just because you're ready for someone else to take it from here.

Go Big Blue.

Nobody read all that. Quit telling other people how to fan and maybe worry about yourself?

 

[Johnnie Africa]

How much is UK paying stoops this year anyway?

 

[CGBlue1.0]

Stoops was mediocre.

 

[TheGyeroMan]

 

[theBlues]

I've never brought up his name since Stein got here but that doesn't mean I liked him or his offense or his defense.

 

[ZakkW]

Thanks for posting, Mark

 

[Im The Village Idiot]

OP, you’re catching a lot of flak but I agree. Anyone who truly has been through the ups and downs of Kentucky football knows Stoops is worthy of respect, even if the performance dropped at the end. Always will defend Brooks. Always will defend Stoops. I lived through bad football and I respect the game. Hate is just easier — I ain’t gonna get biblical, but I think the proclivity towards deep-seated animosity for many people does not come from a good place, even if there were justifiable frustrations from the fanbase at the end.

But now, I think most of us are ecstatic at the possibility that Stein has taken the baton forward and running full speed.

 

[KYAnywhereEverywhere]

I have some really mixed feelings about this. Before Stoops I was not only not a UK Football fan, I was not a football fan at all. During Stoops time I became a UK football fan and college football fan in general. That wouldn't have happened if UK had remained as bad as they had been most of my lifetime. Stoops teams allowed me the excitement of seeing UK win, sometimes even pretty big games.

That said, he was way overpaid for his performance. He couldn't beat an SEC west team to save his life. He could usually only beat SEC east teams during their down years. Stoops was paid like a coach that should compete with Georgia, and he couldn't. His inability to compete at the top of the conference caught up to him over time and was starting to make him unable to compete with the middle of the conference too.

 

[TheKentuckyKid]

Maybe I've just missed them but I haven't noticed many. I appreciate what Stoops did, getting the facilities, getting boosters interested in football, taking us to another level. We are far removed from the Joker era and that is Stoops and Stein. Now he got paid very nice for it, but you can't blame him for that.

 

[Snarks]

As far as I know Stoops is still collecting a check from UK. As long as he’s getting $9mil/year from the school, it seems like fair game.

 

[Snarks]

I have some really mixed feelings about this. Before Stoops I was not only not a UK Football fan, I was not a football fan at all. During Stoops time I became a UK football fan and college football fan in general. That wouldn't have happened if UK had remained as bad as they had been most of my lifetime. Stoops team's allowed me the excitement of seeing UK win, sometimes even pretty big games.

That said, he was way overpaid for his performance. He couldn't beat an SEC west team to save his life. He could usually only beat SEC east teams during their down years. Stoops was paid like a coach that should compete with Georgia, and he couldn't. His inability to compete at the top of the conference caught up to him over time and was starting to make him unable to compete with the middle of the conference too.

This 100%

 

[kyhankypanky]

Stoops, like John Calipari his last five years, basically took advantage of dopey Mitch Barnhardt's ludicrous contracts to rip off the university and the fan base, and let UK sink into mediocrity.

I doubt the multi-millionaire Mark Stoops is overly concerned about what the Kentucky fan base thinks, but I don't have any problem with people calling his performance what it was -- a lazy, uninspired, and cynical cash grab that set back Kentucky football for a few years at least. 38-68. That's his lifetime record in SEC games in 13 seasons. They don't name stadiums after guys who average fewer than 3 conference wins a year over their careers -- and that's Stoops.

By the way, your "list of accomplishments" is not accurate. One of those 10 win seasons was actually a 0 win season after all ten wins were vacated for cheating. Did Stoops know the cheating was happening and looked the other way? I don't know. But it isn't a ten win season anymore than Louisville is the 2013 NCAA basketball champions.

Stoops was an embarrassment his last few years and I’d punch him in the face if I saw him. If he stayed another 5 years, we would have lost to Louisville 41-7, 52-10, 45-6, 38-0, and 49-14. Not even arguable.

I would ask the OP to please MOVE ON.

Let’s never bring up the deadbeat Stoops for the next 5 yrs as far as I’m concerned.

Be excited about the present and future. Don’t compel me to dwell on the past.

 

[Ukdaddy98]

I appreciate the way Stoops elevated the program so very much. However, I think when the TAMU thing fell through, he needed to move on. UK felt jilted and Stoops kind of let go of the rope at that point.

It just happens sometimes when you stay somewhere a long time. It’s not like he was Cal and mailed it in the last 4 seasons.

 

[Zoellersystem]

We need to slow our roll. I understand the idea that the program has turned the corner. We beat A&M at their house on Saturday. It was a huge win. But I’m saying it’s an all hat,no ranch program. What have they won exactly? The schedule sets up a promising finish. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Dennis Green once said “let’s not crown their A$$”. Too much is left to be played.

 

[Chadrock]

I like Stoops and wish him the best. I think the Texas a&m ordeal causes him to catch a little more slack than needed.

Wow, this just hit me - I completely forgot about the Stoops/TAM thing. Interesting how that situation (negative at the time) was reciprocated last week with elation of beating their asses on their home field.

 

[JASUN74]

No

Nobody read all that. Quit telling other people how to fan and maybe worry about yourself?

Man you beat me to it. Why anyone thinks they can tell others what to do on a message board is beyond me. It takes all kinds I guess.

 

[NineIsOnTheWay]

Stoops and Cal could have walked away five years ago and been ambassadors for both Programs. That would have been great if they just kind of stuck around. I'm not one of those people to say never come around again.

Both Stayed a little longer than they should've.

 

[wildcat111]

Why so many post tearing down Stoops to build up Stein?

I think some Kentucky fans need a little reminder about where this program was when Mark Stoops took over.
It’s pretty amazing watching some of the same people who spent years begging for Kentucky football to become relevant now act like Stoops was some kind of disaster.

Apparently, we’ve reached the point where two 10-win seasons at Kentucky aren't impressive anymore. Must be nice to have such short memories.
When Stoops took over, Kentucky football wasn't exactly a sleeping giant waiting for the right coach to wake it up. It was a historically struggling program that had spent years getting beat up in the SEC and struggling to find any kind of sustained success.

Stoops took over that program and went to work.
He recruited. He developed players. He changed expectations. He made Kentucky competitive in a conference where Kentucky had routinely been an afterthought.
And he did something Kentucky fans had been waiting 31 years to see — he finally beat Florida.
That win wasn't just another game. It ended one of the most embarrassing streaks in Kentucky football history and gave an entire generation of Kentucky fans a memory they never thought they would get to experience.

Then he did it again.
And again.
Suddenly, Kentucky wasn't just showing up against Florida hoping to keep the score respectable. We were walking into those games believing we could actually win.
That's what changed under Stoops.
He gave us ranked wins, bowl victories, NFL players and two 10-win seasons. He took a program that had spent years near the bottom of the SEC and built it into one that could legitimately compete.

Was everything perfect? Absolutely not.
Did Stoops make mistakes? Of course.
Were there frustrating losses, disappointing seasons and decisions that drove every Kentucky fan crazy? You bet.
But apparently we're now supposed to pretend none of the good stuff happened because the ending wasn't exactly how everyone wanted it.
That's some impressive revisionist history.
You don't get to move the goalposts after the fact and then pretend the guy who moved them in the first place accomplished nothing.
For years, Kentucky fans wanted a coach who could make this program relevant. Stoops did that.
He took a historically struggling program and gave us some of the best football seasons many Kentucky fans had ever experienced.

Two 10-win seasons.

Multiple bowl wins.

Ending the Florida streak.

Making Kentucky football matter.

Those things actually happened.
You don't have to love Mark Stoops. You don't have to defend every decision he made. You don't have to believe he should have stayed forever.
But you can at least have enough perspective to acknowledge what he accomplished.
Because watching Kentucky fans now talk about him like he was some complete failure is honestly pretty damn funny when you remember what this program looked like before he got here.

He wasn't perfect.
But he sure as hell wasn't awful.
And before we rewrite history because we're unhappy with how things ended, maybe take a minute to remember how things started.
Thanks, Coach Stoops.
Some of us haven't forgotten.

And now, it's time to move on.
If you’re ready for a new chapter, that's completely fair. Support the new staff, support the players, and look forward to what's next. But constantly making posts just to trash Stoops doesn't change what he accomplished, and it certainly doesn't make Kentucky football better.
The man is gone. The next chapter has started.
Let him go, enjoy the memories, and move forward.
You don't have to tear down the guy who helped build it just because you're ready for someone else to take it from here.

Go Big Blue.

You can't put enough lipstick on a pig to make it a beauty queen.

 

[Beatle Bum]

Thanks for posting, Mark

Oh my, this stupid schtick was old on message boards 10 years ago. The lack of creativity, regardless of the topic, is pathetic. Did you touch yourself after you posted?

 

[Supafuzz75]

Why so many post tearing down Stoops to build up Stein?

I think some Kentucky fans need a little reminder about where this program was when Mark Stoops took over.
It’s pretty amazing watching some of the same people who spent years begging for Kentucky football to become relevant now act like Stoops was some kind of disaster.

Apparently, we’ve reached the point where two 10-win seasons at Kentucky aren't impressive anymore. Must be nice to have such short memories.
When Stoops took over, Kentucky football wasn't exactly a sleeping giant waiting for the right coach to wake it up. It was a historically struggling program that had spent years getting beat up in the SEC and struggling to find any kind of sustained success.

Stoops took over that program and went to work.
He recruited. He developed players. He changed expectations. He made Kentucky competitive in a conference where Kentucky had routinely been an afterthought.
And he did something Kentucky fans had been waiting 31 years to see — he finally beat Florida.
That win wasn't just another game. It ended one of the most embarrassing streaks in Kentucky football history and gave an entire generation of Kentucky fans a memory they never thought they would get to experience.

Then he did it again.
And again.
Suddenly, Kentucky wasn't just showing up against Florida hoping to keep the score respectable. We were walking into those games believing we could actually win.
That's what changed under Stoops.
He gave us ranked wins, bowl victories, NFL players and two 10-win seasons. He took a program that had spent years near the bottom of the SEC and built it into one that could legitimately compete.

Was everything perfect? Absolutely not.
Did Stoops make mistakes? Of course.
Were there frustrating losses, disappointing seasons and decisions that drove every Kentucky fan crazy? You bet.
But apparently we're now supposed to pretend none of the good stuff happened because the ending wasn't exactly how everyone wanted it.
That's some impressive revisionist history.
You don't get to move the goalposts after the fact and then pretend the guy who moved them in the first place accomplished nothing.
For years, Kentucky fans wanted a coach who could make this program relevant. Stoops did that.
He took a historically struggling program and gave us some of the best football seasons many Kentucky fans had ever experienced.

Two 10-win seasons.

Multiple bowl wins.

Ending the Florida streak.

Making Kentucky football matter.

Those things actually happened.
You don't have to love Mark Stoops. You don't have to defend every decision he made. You don't have to believe he should have stayed forever.
But you can at least have enough perspective to acknowledge what he accomplished.
Because watching Kentucky fans now talk about him like he was some complete failure is honestly pretty damn funny when you remember what this program looked like before he got here.

He wasn't perfect.
But he sure as hell wasn't awful.
And before we rewrite history because we're unhappy with how things ended, maybe take a minute to remember how things started.
Thanks, Coach Stoops.
Some of us haven't forgotten.

And now, it's time to move on.
If you’re ready for a new chapter, that's completely fair. Support the new staff, support the players, and look forward to what's next. But constantly making posts just to trash Stoops doesn't change what he accomplished, and it certainly doesn't make Kentucky football better.
The man is gone. The next chapter has started.
Let him go, enjoy the memories, and move forward.
You don't have to tear down the guy who helped build it just because you're ready for someone else to take it from here.

Go Big Blue.

Bum poster just like Stoopids was

 

[TheGyeroMan]

Oh my, this stupid schtick was old on message boards 10 years ago. The lack of creativity, regardless of the topic, is pathetic. Did you touch yourself after you posted?

 

[NociHTTP]

100% AI
100% Simp
0% Originality

 

[Cats_2010]

I said it in another thread but will repeat it here. Stoops had some success here, was appreciated for it but gets the grief he does as he left so much on the table due to his conservative coaching style (coaching like a slang name for a cat). His teams were not well coached, nor disciplined and he was the worst at clock management I have ever seen. How does one not improve over that long of a time period but he was as bad in year 13 as he was year 1. 2 solid seasons out of 13. The rest were pretty Meh!!!!!

 

[Cleatortoises]

Man you beat me to it. Why anyone thinks they can tell others what to do on a message board is beyond me. It takes all kinds I guess.

I didnt read all the op's manifesto because it was too long.
But I didnt know he was telling me how to fan, because I didn't read it all.

 

[jeffky]

I agree watching UK win 10 games was pathetic. We were much better off barely getting to 6 wins and playing in the "who gives a ****" bowl.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Some folks, including the OP, need to do a comparison of how other fans handle coaching changes. Hanging onto the PTSD of former mid to terrible coaches is part of the DNA of any social organization, be it a church, team, or company. Stories will be told. Comparisons will be made.

Learn to deal with what comes with being a fan.

We won't let go of the past, and that's part of the beauty of it all.

The fact that some of you don't get that is very telling.

 

[Beatle Bum]

Oh, “GYERO” means “Triggered.” Learn something new every day.

That meme, did you create it? No one has ever seen that before. Probably why you are so successful. Keep up the good work!!