Back in November, the powers that be the University of Kentucky turned heads when they announced the hiring of Mark Stoops as the head coach of the struggling football program. For the first time in a while, the talk in Lexington wasn't about the school's basketball team.For so many years, the Wildcats' football team had taken a backseat to the illustrious basketball team. To many outside the town, it seemed the school's fanbase had accepted the fact that this college was a basketball college, with football filling in the months until basketball season began. Stoops has already made it clear that he intends to change the image of the school as a single-sport program. If he has his way, the Wildcats will force themselves into conversations about conference championships and beyond.
After Kentucky went 2-10 last season and ranking just tenth in defense within the conference, the decision was made to part ways with coach Joker Phillips. The Wildcats never seemed to make it out of the cellar with Phillips at the helm, and as we all know, a coach that doesn't produce doesn't keep his job very long. Under Phillips, it seemed Kentucky never made any major waves on the recruiting trail, always playing it safe. In doing so, the team rarely even sniffed at mediocrity.
Now as the Stoops era begins, the recruiting trail going into Lexington has warmed up. Stoops immediately assembled a staff versed in the tricky art of recruiting. So far, they've assembled the 29th ranked recruiting class according to Rivals, something Phillips never accomplished in his time at Kentucky. Under Phillips, the Wildcats never had a recruiting class ranked better than 50th.
Stoops' attention so far has been mainly on building a defense, with his prize recruit so far being defensive end Jason Hatcher. The real surprise about Hatcher is that he played at Trinity High School. Anyone want to guess where Trinity is located? Yep, Louisville.
Trinity has been known for some time as a pipeline school to the Wildcats' in-state rival Louisville, although Hatcher had actually been a long-time commit to USC, until Stoops made a play and convinced him to change his commitment.
Thanks to Stoops' name and reputation for building defenses, the Wildcats now have the opportunity to go after high-caliber recruits, instead of settling on players other schools passed on. The question now will be once the shine of the new hiring wears off, can Stoops recruit consistently enough to put Kentucky in the thick of those serious discussions within the conference?
The answer to that, at least for the upcoming season and maybe the next, remains to be seen. Considering Stoops is starting with a virtual clean slate would indicate he will need a couple seasons to establish decent chemistry among his players.
Optimism within the program and among its fanbase is running high, maybe higher than the school has seen in many years; and considering the team's record in the past few seasons, they can only go one direction. Everyone knows once you've hit rock bottom, the only way out of the hole is up.
To give you an idea of my expectations of Stoops as he steps into the rather large shoes of a head coach in the SEC, it may be best to let him have the 2013 season as a period to acclimate, and possibly 2014 as well. But then, once he's settled in, the recruits should continue to show growing interest in Kentucky. If I really wanted to ruffle feathers, I could say his recruiting will rival a certain coach in the West Division who loves to show off his rings to the recruits he visits. The real fun will come if and when Stoops beats him on the recruiting trail, and then, ultimately, on the field. After all, this is the SEC, where anything can happen on any given Saturday.
- Kevin Hicks
@kevinhicks77
kevin.projectcfb@gmail.com
