Yesterday, the University of Louisville crushed the University of Kentucky in a football game by the score of 41 to 0. A few hours later, Matt Jones of
Kentucky Sports Radio called for the replacement of UK football coach Mark Stoops. Jones also called for UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart to resign at the end of the school year. As I've said before, to the folks in Lexington, losing to U of L is just on a different level than losing to anyone else.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt beat Tennessee 45-24 to finish with a record of 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference. 2025 is the first season in which Vanderbilt won ten football games, and it's also the first season in which Vandy won six SEC games. Vandy won't make the playoff, but Coach Clark Lea and quarterback Diego Pavia should win every possible award.
I really disagree with Lane Kiffin's decision to abandon Ole Miss on the verge of the playoffs to take the job at LSU. I don't think this action will work out for LSU in the way that they hope.
ReplyDeleteHere is my prediction: I don't think UK will beat U of L in either football or men's basketball so long as both schools keep the current coaching staffs.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, UK is the Number-2 Overall Seed in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
ReplyDeleteDon't look now, but Indiana is 7-0 and up to Number 19 on Ken Pom. The Hoosiers will be in Lexington to play UK on December 13.
ReplyDeletePete Thamel reports: "Kentucky is expected fire coach Mark Stoops, with the process set to formally play out tomorrow."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "I honestly don't think Mark Stoops would have been fired if the Vandy and Louisville games had not been routs. But they were and now Kentucky will look for a new coach."
ReplyDeleteSo far, four teams that Vandy beat this season have fired their coaches: Virginia Tech, LSU, Auburn, and Kentucky.
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "I think Stoops was completely taken off guard by this decision, as seen by his comments in the Postgame Press conference yesterday."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Kentucky has to do a quick search now. I think the initial favorite for the job will be Oregon OC Will Stein but there will be other candidates."
ReplyDeleteStoops finishes with a record of 72-80 overall, and 30-68 in SEC play. He won the 2018 Citrus Bowl, the 2019 Belk Bowl, the 2020 Gator Bowl, and the 2021 Citrus Bowl.
ReplyDeleteI considered myself a member of the Stoops Troops, and I now wish him--and Will Stein--all of the best.
DeleteIn 13 seasons, he had two teams that finished in the AP top 20. In 2018, UK went 10-3 and finished at Number 12. In 2021, UK went 10-3 and finished at Number 18.
ReplyDeleteHe was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2018, the only Kentucky coach to win that award since Jerry Claiborne in 1983.
ReplyDeleteStoops's 72 wins is the most of any UK coach in history. (Bear Bryant went 60-23-5 at UK.)
ReplyDeleteStoops's winning percentage of .474 is the highest since Fran Curci, who went 47-51-2 (.480) between 1973 and 1981.
ReplyDeleteThe last UK coach to leave Lexington with a winning record was Blanton Collier, who went 41-36-3 between 1954 and 1961. But Collier never led the team to a bowl game, and was fired in January 1962. Almost three years later, he coached the Cleveland Browns to the NFL Championship.
ReplyDeleteStoops went 6-6 against U of L. He went 2-11 against Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteUK and U of L did not play in the 2020 season.
DeleteBlanton Collier went 5-2-1 against Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteBear Bryant went 1-5-2 with the Cats against Tennessee. The only time Kentucky beat UT with Bryant as coach was on November 21, 1953, when the Cats won 27-21.
ReplyDeleteThat was Tennessee's first season under Harvey Robinson, who had replaced General Bob Neyland, who never lost to Bear Bryant. Neyland went 5-0-2 against Bryant.
ReplyDeleteNeyland was an unbelievably great coach. His record at Tennessee was 173-31-12.
DeleteNeyland only coached 12 seasons in which there was an AP Poll. Tennessee finished in the Top 10 in seven of those seasons.
DeleteNeyland had to miss the 1935 season because he was doing military duty in Panama. He missed the 1941 through 1945 seasons because of World War II.
DeleteIn the last three seasons before World War II (1938-40), Neyland's teams went 31-2. Their only losses were in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl.
DeleteAfter World War II, it took him a few years to rebuild. But in 1950 and 1951, he went 21-2. He coached one more year in 1952 (8-2-1), and then retired.
DeleteHe never stopped using the single wing, even after almost everyone else had switched to the T-formation.
DeleteAnyway, that UK victory on November 21, 1953 was Bryant's last game in charge of the Wildcats. He went to Texas A & M, and Collier took over at UK.
ReplyDeleteStoops went 8-5 against Vanderbilt.
ReplyDelete