Mark Stoops Inherited This; Please Don't Forget That

November 3, 2012
Vanderbilt 40, Kentucky 0

We had Jalen Witlow throwing to Demarco Robinson. But don’t worry, we had Morgan Newton as a backup. A total of 750 people approx. watched that game from Commonwealth Stadium. I strongly doubt Mark Stoops watched this game. I am not sure there has been a lower point in University of Kentucky football history. The firing of Joker Phillips would occur the following week. I think only four or five guys on that entire roster even sniffed an NFL roster after UK. The talent has never been so low.

Mark Stoops took that program and has won 10 games twice, consistently a thorn in the SEC opponents, and placed more talent into the NFL than any coach in school history. He’s done it all without making a complete fool of himself, ala Bobby Petrino. Avoided embarrassing off-the-field missteps (Pony Up Notwithstanding). He’s also likely elevated the program to a point where the next coach will have a pretty good foundation to build upon.

I am not here to say that Mark Stoops hasn’t had some disappointing results too. Pretty much every year fans have debated whether or not Stoops can truly elevate Kentucky to the more elite level that many fans want. But every time you question if Mark Stoops has done a magnificent job at Kentucky or not, bookmark that video above and watch it.

This year marks 12 years since that fateful day in Lexington. There hasn’t been a program with as much of a drastic change upward in those 12 years as Kentucky. It is always fair to criticize your coaches and strive for bigger and better things. I think it is just as equally important to remember where we were. Mark Stoops took the worst Power 5 program in the country and elevated it to a highly competitive team that nobody wants to play.