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Football season assessment
Posted on 12/3/13 at 3:52 pm
Posted on 12/3/13 at 3:52 pm
So, I give Stoops a C+ grade, not great, not bad.
It's obvious he didn't have much talent to work with (Thanks Joker), but the team played hard for 60 minutes and that is a testament to him.
The defense will need some playmakers next year, and good cover guys can't get here fast enough.
The offense has to find a QB that can move the ball. I hope Barker is a fast learner, cause I don't think Smith or Whitlow are leaders, and Towles doesn't seem to be making any progress. Phillips, just don't know enough about him.
Yes, it's the same record Joker had, but the team showed a lot of heart, and the recruiting class coming in is outstanding if it can hold together, hence the C+ grade. I thought they could have coached better, but it was Stoops first year as a HC, and the first year for the staff to work together.
I would have liked to have seen wins over WKU/MSU/UT as they were all winnable, even Vandy was winnable, but I will reserve judgement for a while longer. The effort was much better, I just think Stoops needs more quality players to get things working better. Next year might not be significantly different, but I'm hoping for 5-6 wins.
It's obvious he didn't have much talent to work with (Thanks Joker), but the team played hard for 60 minutes and that is a testament to him.
The defense will need some playmakers next year, and good cover guys can't get here fast enough.
The offense has to find a QB that can move the ball. I hope Barker is a fast learner, cause I don't think Smith or Whitlow are leaders, and Towles doesn't seem to be making any progress. Phillips, just don't know enough about him.
Yes, it's the same record Joker had, but the team showed a lot of heart, and the recruiting class coming in is outstanding if it can hold together, hence the C+ grade. I thought they could have coached better, but it was Stoops first year as a HC, and the first year for the staff to work together.
I would have liked to have seen wins over WKU/MSU/UT as they were all winnable, even Vandy was winnable, but I will reserve judgement for a while longer. The effort was much better, I just think Stoops needs more quality players to get things working better. Next year might not be significantly different, but I'm hoping for 5-6 wins.
3
Posted on 12/5/13 at 11:57 am to kywildcatfanone
I'd go slightly higher with a B. There is simply only so much a new coach can do walking in year one. I think the same is true of Bielema at Arkansas too. I think he did as much as he could with what he had. Add to that the absolutely outstanding class you have coming in, and I have a hard time knocking him.
Posted on 12/5/13 at 8:28 pm to kywildcatfanone
C
For a HC inherited one of the worst shitshows out of all the new HCs in the SEC this year, he did as good of a job as could be expected. The schedule was brutal, but the guys never quit despite their obvious limitations. Lost to some teams we shouldn't have like WKU, but competed with some teams we probably shouldn't have either like USCe. My only complaint would be that I think they waited too long to settle on a QB. I wasn't crazy about the constant rotation between Whitlow and Smith.
One of the things that stood out the most was how much better the handful of guys he brought in for this season was then some of the ones already on the roster.
His recruiting alone gives him a huge bump. Considering that we just had back to back 2 win seasons, he's done better good majority of the country. He's filling needs and doing it with some very good talent.
I don't see any reason by year 3 that we shouldn't be a bowl team again. I hate that we didn't remove Joker earlier because we certainly could've made a big push in a down year for the SEC East.
It was a season hard to watch because you hate to see guys put it out there like that struggle because of limitations, but makes me very hopeful for what he can with the talent when it shows up. I appreciate that he isn't afraid to play some young guys if they're ready and that he isn't afraid to suspended a popular Senior when they're not leading the time as they should off the field.
For a HC inherited one of the worst shitshows out of all the new HCs in the SEC this year, he did as good of a job as could be expected. The schedule was brutal, but the guys never quit despite their obvious limitations. Lost to some teams we shouldn't have like WKU, but competed with some teams we probably shouldn't have either like USCe. My only complaint would be that I think they waited too long to settle on a QB. I wasn't crazy about the constant rotation between Whitlow and Smith.
One of the things that stood out the most was how much better the handful of guys he brought in for this season was then some of the ones already on the roster.
His recruiting alone gives him a huge bump. Considering that we just had back to back 2 win seasons, he's done better good majority of the country. He's filling needs and doing it with some very good talent.
I don't see any reason by year 3 that we shouldn't be a bowl team again. I hate that we didn't remove Joker earlier because we certainly could've made a big push in a down year for the SEC East.
It was a season hard to watch because you hate to see guys put it out there like that struggle because of limitations, but makes me very hopeful for what he can with the talent when it shows up. I appreciate that he isn't afraid to play some young guys if they're ready and that he isn't afraid to suspended a popular Senior when they're not leading the time as they should off the field.
This post was edited on 12/5/13 at 8:29 pm
Posted on 12/6/13 at 11:56 am to BluegrassBelle
Not necessarily a grade but an observation of things not to be doing 6 games or more into a season
#1 dropping balls
#2 not intercepting balls
Really, no excuse for either after about the 3rd game of the season. If you have an entire off season and the early games and still have this problem, then the problem is deeper than is being discussed. There were games when it almost looked like they were dropping balls on purpose. This simply is not acceptable at the D1 college level, much less the SEC level.
How many interceptions did we have the entire season?
How many balls did we drop the entire season?
#1 dropping balls
#2 not intercepting balls
Really, no excuse for either after about the 3rd game of the season. If you have an entire off season and the early games and still have this problem, then the problem is deeper than is being discussed. There were games when it almost looked like they were dropping balls on purpose. This simply is not acceptable at the D1 college level, much less the SEC level.
How many interceptions did we have the entire season?
How many balls did we drop the entire season?
Posted on 12/6/13 at 3:34 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
#1 dropping balls #2 not intercepting balls
I have to disagree. Maybe if we had consistency at QB but we didn't. Neither one throws a great ball (when they throw it at all).
As far as interceptions, CB and S was our thinnest position on the field. Not intercepting the ball isn't that shocking BUT they did a much better job in coverage as the season progressed.
Posted on 12/6/13 at 6:59 pm to BluegrassBelle
I don't want to pin a letter grade on this season. I think we can all agree that our QB play is so bad, it's amazing that we didn't get blown out every game. Although our record was the same as last year, I think you can say we were an improved team. Stoops and Co. are doing a great job on the recruiting trail and I look for even more improvement next year.
Posted on 12/7/13 at 8:03 pm to kywildcatfanone
Ya'll on the right track. It won't happen overnight. 
Posted on 12/7/13 at 9:58 pm to Wild Thang
quote:
Ya'll on the right track. It won't happen overnight.
Make no mistake, I really like Stoops. Wish they had beat WKU and one or two of the other winnable SEC games.
If he can hold the recruiting class together, and possibly get Elam, he will have done an amazing job in year one on the job.
A couple of more good recruiting classes after that, and we become competitive in the east again.
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