2025-12-01- KSR - Hour 1

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Comedy Off Broadway and Lexington. Welcome Cincinnati native and club favorite Josh Sneed November fourteenth and fifteenth. Then catch the return of the GT finalist Preacher Laws in November twenty first through the twenty third, and November twenty eighth and twenty ninth. Don't miss the Queen of Comedy and Lexington's own Adell given sports tickets to all Comedy Off Broadway shows Call eight five nine two seven to one joke or visit Comedy Off Broadway dot.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: Com co off Broway.

00:00:30
Speaker 3: This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.

00:00:36
Speaker 4: Welcome everyone, Kentucky Sports Radio. Monday, December one, historic day in the University of Kentucky Athletics. You can give a shout at Clark's Puppy Shop phone line eight five nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is seven seven two seven seven four five two five four. This stition sponsored by the T. J. Smithlaw Office called TJ He'll make them pay After a memorable weekend including an embarrassing, embarrassing loss to Louisville on the Road. Mark Stoops is no longer the head coach at Kentucky. A result that would have seemed shocking even two weeks ago has now taken place where with Ryan Lemon Drew Franklin. So here's what I'm gonna do today. I think this is the way to go. I think we're gonna spend the first hour talking about sort of the end of the Mark Stoops era, Okay, what happened, how it took place, etc. And then the second hour going all right, what's next, because I think that's the way to go. Yep, I want to end this first hour given Mark Stoops kind of some flowers, but let's just talk a little bit of news here for a second. What happened? Kentucky gets destroyed forty one to nothing. Ryan, you and I were talking inside on our way walking in. Do you think he gets fired if that game's close.

00:01:56
Speaker 2: No, I think they could even lose that game. But if it's close, they chose some fight. He is our coach today.

00:02:01
Speaker 4: You agree with that plea degree?

00:02:03
Speaker 5: Maybe if it just shows fighting either one of the last two weeks, I think he's here.

00:02:06
Speaker 4: I agree. I think what is amazing is that this and I mean I can say this with some certainty. They went in to the Vandy game and everybody had just said, I think we're good.

00:02:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're five and five.

00:02:21
Speaker 4: You know, we were going to hit that purgatory of five and seven that I had talked about, but the thirty seven million dollars was probably gonna save you. Yep. And then they just couldn't have foreseen not just two blowouts, but to quit because the team quit. I mean, you know, the team quit, and then a series of events proceed took place that were somewhat shocking. I mean, even as they walked off the field, it started to think to me, I started thinking, I talked about this in the postgame show. I was walking around downtown going, I've got to say, they need to replace him, but I kind of don't think they're going to. And so I'm gonna have this situation where I've called for his job, and then I'm gonna have to see it like covering Yah. But I was like, I still have to do it. But then I started to hear that night a lot of people talking about there's folks who just think it's time. And I think one of the stories about Mark Going is this is the rise of kind of a new generation of decision making a UK that we haven't seen. Most decisions in the last ten or fifteen years have been mentioning Ei Capoluto right. Other people have chimed in, but they did what they wanted to do. And I think in this one, if it was just Mitching Capaluto, I think he might still be the coach. But there's kind of a new decision making body which includes this Board of seven, includes the Board of Trustees who's always existed. But I think some of those people kind of were like, all right, got to make a move, and Mitch and Capoluto were like, oh and stoops at that point. I'm not saying Mitch and Capoluto wanted to fight for him, but I think they were a little taken aback, and then the discussions happened, and next thing you know, we end up where we are. So Ryan. What's interesting is the people who I think were the biggest part of Kentucky Athletics decision making, Mitch Barnhard, you like Cappeluto, even to some extent donors, the crafts, et cetera. I think all of those people were not really what drove this. I think it was a different group of folks who kind of said we have to make a change, and.

00:04:37
Speaker 2: I guess to Mitch and Eli's the credit. They listened, you know, they listened, and I think it came to the point where, you know, we like Mark Stoops, he's the best coach of our lifetimes, but the program needed to change. A breath of fresh air. I think that's what it came down to. And I'm finally convinced Mitch and Eli, who's going to line up for season tickets next year? They ran his back? Who's going to line up to donate Innil money next year? If they ran his back, I think they finally convinced him to the better of the program, a change had to be made.

00:05:05
Speaker 4: It just had to happen. I think you got to the point that, like I said on the postgame show, it's just over. And I think there became a realization in the athletic department, you know what, it's just over.

00:05:18
Speaker 5: There were some people maybe even still on the fence the last two weeks, but when you lose like that in those two games, with so much on the line, you're playing for bo eligibility and Stoops's job really those last two weeks and to get shut out against Louisville and quit. And a lot of people try to downplay Auburn because in Florida, because their coaches were out, teams weren't good. I wouldn't listen to that. Auburn and Florida, those are big wins. Louisville truly had a JV roster out there that was kicking your tail. Not to take away from the kid from Ashland that won the award, but a true freshman walk on should not be running it down your throat and you're thirteen as a head coach, as an SEC school.

00:05:53
Speaker 4: And that was probably part of it too. It wasn't Louisville the way Louisville was when they beat Miami, right right. This was a Louisville team that was playing a guy who last year was running against high schools. They were supposed to be the team to quit. Yeah, they and I and and maybe there's a world where they would have, But we did it first, you know, So then the process get started. And Sunday, I think UK basically was meeting all day. You knew, you said, you knew something was up when he didn't. When Mitch didn't show up to the volleyball.

00:06:25
Speaker 2: When I saw your tweet they said Mitch was not at the volleyball selection show. That told me, right there, something's going down. That's a too important event because me are.

00:06:33
Speaker 4: Invited to that. Yeah, right right, so media invited to that, and he didn't want to be there, you know, he didn't want somebody to go, what's I mean, I was gonna have to call Phoenix Stevens and go, Phoenix, go up to I mean like, I mean, we were gonna have and like. So he didn't want to be there, So that was a that was a sign. But they they started meeting, uh, eli Cappeluto. I think calls went on all day and then Elik Putcapoluto and Mitch started meeting. I think late afternoon. It went into I don't think it ended until a few minutes before that story broke last night. So you're talking about a five hour meeting. First was trying to convince whether or not they were going to do it, and I think they went into that meeting not sure, but slowly it became Okay, we're going to do this. But then it was how do we get the money. I think it had been made clear that the donors weren't paying for this one, right, that's the problem. The donors are not paying for this one. So then it became okay, how do you raise this money in a very short turnaround. The university is allowed to loan money to the athletics department, but you can't just do that overnight. There has to be as a process, It has to be approved. They also knew a Board of trustees meeting was today, so I think there was a long talk about how how do we get this money if we're going to do it, and they talked to mitche ex me, to Mark's agent, to all these people, and then, in what I think needs to be celebrated, genuinely, Stoops agreed to take the money. Over a period of years now, we have not heard that he agreed to take more money. I kind of think he probably I don't know if he did or not, but he still agreed to do that, and Drew he didn't have to do that. Brian Kelly didn't do that at LSU, and he did, and to me, I think that's a big step in him preserving his legacy here. I agree.

00:08:30
Speaker 5: And even before he did it, I wrote on our website and I've said on the show many times, I wouldn't have done it. You sat down at the table with me, we signed the same sheet of paper. I'm not budgeting because you didn't like the deal you gave me on down the road. So I think it took a lot for Stoops to be able to do that, because he had every right to sit there and say, no, this was our agreement, this is how it's going to play out. And I think a lot of people listening would have been the same way.

00:08:52
Speaker 4: Do you agree that I wrote on social media? This could allow Mark to have a Tubby Askue future with the fan base where when he gets over you know it took Tubby a few years to get it did, when he gets over it, he can come back and be beloved here. He could even live here if he wanted. I'm not saying he'd want to, but that kind of thing and for.

00:09:13
Speaker 2: Me, also completely changed my attitude about Mark Stoops. The fact that he decided to spread that out over a number of years shows that he's doing us and Olive Branch and we're gonna maybe walk off in sunset holding hands a little bit, and.

00:09:25
Speaker 4: That different or extended. You don't throw the Olive brand. I think he threw it.

00:09:32
Speaker 2: It was so important he picked it up and threw it all right.

00:09:36
Speaker 5: I think he saw we all saw it. I don't remember the exact game, but this season they had the homecoming, one of the last home games whatever. Rich Brooks was getting the whole treatment. I mean, he was being paraded around all week. Former players are there. He's getting hugs at every turn. I wonder if Stoop saw a little bit bit of that and thought, hey, I kind of want that one.

00:09:53
Speaker 4: It's my turn. Do you think Mark gets that.

00:09:55
Speaker 2: I think he does now. Like you said, it may take a couple of years, but I think he's the best coach of our lifetimes.

00:10:01
Speaker 4: Yes, you know. Well, And I want to talk about that in a little bit because I do think that's worth noting because but do you think Mitch wanted to do it?

00:10:12
Speaker 2: I think going into that Louisville game, Mitch did not want to fire him. I think was after the Louisville game, it became just evidently clear he had to fire. I don't know if he wanted to, but he had to.

00:10:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think he wanted to. But I also think I will say I think he knew again he's in an isolated bubble. Only a few people get to him, and I think what changed is some of these people that were in his bubble actually got to him.

00:10:35
Speaker 6: You know.

00:10:36
Speaker 4: It's one of those things. When I did that postgame show, I knew, Okay, this UK will hear this and then, but they can always just write off us is like haters exactly, ok as are but that's then one step of fans yelling at the Louisville game. Okay, I think there were a couple of important people at the louis game that said something to Mitch there and then it kind of snowballed and all of a sudden he was like, WHOA, you know I didn't and then I think he rose he had to do it.

00:11:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, And there's been Cali Perry comparisons the last couple of years, which I get, but I've always said it will never be the same because of how the sports are lined up. Cal had a if there's a tournament format where you can lose in the first round, football just doesn't present that. So it's gonna be harder to make a call because you have your SEC games and your cupcakes and a bowl game. You gotta make a decision of what was good and what wasn't With a small sample sign yes, and that just the nature of the sports doesn't give you That moment that we had with cal was obvious. But then Luvis in forty one to Louisville, that was Oakland, It really was, It wasn't. That was Oakland, Saint Peter's everyone there, Everyone at home looked drownds like, we cannot run this back.

00:11:44
Speaker 4: Yeah, But then I was thinking about how after the Oakland game you could just tell everybody knew we can't do this. But then they brought him back. He ended up getting we ended up getting bailed out, but they were going to bring him back. So I was wondering, are we just gonna have this? They sit there on on BBN tonight and and and smile because unlike cow they didn't hate each other. Stoops and Barnart like each other.

00:12:08
Speaker 2: Remember that show we had after they had they did that TV show We're all thinking about fans were not gonna get behind this. We were almost had that same conversation today.

00:12:17
Speaker 4: Oh, this would have been the same com Saturday was terrible. Yeah, so they do it.

00:12:24
Speaker 2: It's kind of sad really to me?

00:12:27
Speaker 4: Is it sad?

00:12:27
Speaker 2: It is a little bit the fact that he was you know, he was my coach, and they had the best coach I've ever seen been around. Good guy. You were about the same age. He had great success here. It kind of sad to see it.

00:12:39
Speaker 4: By the way, I think people need to know. If they didn't listen to the end of the postgame show, mister I'm keeping him no matter what. You at the end of the postgame show called in and said, you flipped based on Saturday. I mean literally, it might be people like you flipping. That was the difference.

00:12:55
Speaker 2: I told the story that, you know, my dad was a coach and he got fired one time. So I fully admit my lease is probably longer than most people's leashes. I'm willing to give the coach a little extra benefit of the doubt. But at the end of the Loville game, it was just plain obvious for the betterment of the program, you had to make a change. So I did flip.

00:13:13
Speaker 4: I had a conversation with somebody last night, drew somebody who was, let's say, on the fence towards leaning towards wanting him to stay that is involved in some of this stuff, And I said to him and they were like, this just doesn't feel right. And they said in a nice way, but they were like, you have always he's liked you, and you like him. And I said, you know, I do like him, and he has been good to me, But the ultimate thing is not about me, and it's not about if he's nice to like. Ultimately, you hold a responsibility to an institution and it's not about it's almost not about personal relationships. It's about can you succeed? And we didn't think going forward he could succeed. Right.

00:14:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, the records too damning. I mean, my mother could be the coach UK football if she lost eleven straight home games. I'll be like, Mom's time to get home. We did a great job. I still love you, but wo, Kentucky football needs to win games. Voting'll be like three and fifteen against Power four teams in the last couple of years. I mean, no one, even people that wanted to keep him, cannot make a case for a reason have optimism. Optimism with I can't talk today moving forward. So yes, I like Stoops too. I wish him the best. I'm not really sad like ron Is and he didn't die. I mean he's he's gonna be all right. It's a good run. I'm not taking joy that it's over, but Kentucky's gotta win football games, and he wasn't getting it done.

00:14:45
Speaker 7: Yeah.

00:14:45
Speaker 4: I don't really think sad's not the word to me. I actually am kind of relieved because I think it needed to happen, and it happened. It's like it's like a couple got divorced at the perfect time where they can still spin their kids birthdays together without hating each other, right, Like they can still go to graduation and your child doesn't have to go to two different parts. I think they broke up. We broke up at the exact right time.

00:15:12
Speaker 2: Do you feel the way you feel is because Stoops gave him that extension on the back.

00:15:17
Speaker 4: I think I would have felt that way either way, would you? But I feel more like that because he did that, Because I think if Stoops hadn't done that, then I think it says he's walking away bitter angry. He clearly has to have walked away with some goodwill to have done this. Huh, Right, So I think that's good.

00:15:33
Speaker 8: Eight.

00:15:33
Speaker 4: I'm nine two eight twenty two eighty seve. We're gonna open up phones a little bit. I want to talk about kind of Stoop's time here, and again second hour we'll talk about who's next. This is KSR. Welcome back Kentucky Sports Radio. All right, so let's talk just second about Stoops's Stoops's time here. I think it's important to say I think he's the best coach. He's certainly the best coach in my lifetime. I think he's probably the best coach Kentucky's ever had. He took Kentucky at his lowest point when they were two and ten, and he up through about two years ago had an amazing run of six Yes, he did really ten win seasons. I never thought i'd see that, being able to recruit top talent. I'd never thought i'd see that. He put more people in the NFL in his ten years than the thirty five years prior, combined, combined, combined. There were times he put I think if you look at the most players drafted in the NFL draft from Kentucky in a seven round format, because I think they used to have like a thirty round format, but if it was a seven round format, players drafted he has like four of the top five most times Kentucky players have gotten drafted, okay, I mean it's just crazy. And these are not just dudes in the NFL. These are dudes that really play and are good, okay, including Josh Allen, one of the best players in the league. So and we have amazing wins, right, we have New Year's Day Bowls back when that meant something. And he also, you know, Daniel Hager put out the video of the best Stoops moments and I was sitting there's just a lot of great moments. I mean, there's just a lot of great times where it was fun to be a Kentucky football fan. I don't like how it ended at all, but he leaves this program is a lot more attractive as a job now than it was when he got here. This was one of the worst jobs in the country when he got here, and I don't think that's true now. And it's been frustrating the last couple of years. But he's also I think a good guy, a flawed person, but a good person who I'm very happy Drew was the football coach for this amount of time.

00:17:46
Speaker 5: Definitely, the last few years were disappointing and that's how it got to this point. But That's not how I would remember Mark Stoops for ten years now, five years from now. Heck, maybe next month when you're asking me about Sooops time here, I'm gonna be talking about punching the ceiling out at Missouri. Yep, I'm gonna be talking about the Louisville game when Lamar fumbled, not just the Lamar fumble that pregame locker room video. I watched it again last night. It's one of my favorite Stoops things. Ever. He gets on the chair to talk and the whole team is like wrapping meek Mill and he just gets off the chair and walks out silently, and they follow him and they go and beat Loulvill's twenty six and a half point hundred ducks. That's all the stuff I'll think about with Mark Soops. I'll forget that they lost forty one to nothing. I will think finally of his time, even though that time needed to end.

00:18:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, we don't think about Tubby's last two or three years where they lost in the second round, the Connecticut and Kansas. We think about the good moments, right. We think about ninety eight, We think about ninety nine, We think about the three team that was so good. We don't think about the end. I think that'll be like that with this too.

00:18:39
Speaker 2: I think he totally changed the culture of UK football. Like you said, during the Joker years, we were laughingstock. He brought it back to a tough when you play Kentucky you were hurting the next day, Tough guys that hit you, not afraid to bring it, compete in the SEC, win SEC games. He just did a lot of things I think most fans didn't think could be done here did it on a continuous, continually based some new.

00:19:02
Speaker 5: Dad is biggest I meant to work this in. I thought I was gonna die in eighty year old man. Never see his beat Florida. Total Not only did he beat Florida, we kind of had their number the last five six years.

00:19:11
Speaker 4: And that's kind of we have. That's his biggest win, that win in the swamp YEP where we ended it with the you know, the Johnson catch and the game that that was it. Stephen Johnson played or Terry Wilson. I can't remember who was the quarterback then. But let's let's just talk about some of the really good stoops moments for a minute. You mentioned the Lamar fumble that Louisville game I think is way up here.

00:19:33
Speaker 5: That was honestly one of my favorite UK moments. I know, we're all basketball Final four is National Championships. That game is right up there with any I think the Tennessee win with John Schlarman in the locker room is one.

00:19:44
Speaker 4: Yes, it was is one. I definitely think about the Austin McGinnis kick against Mississippi State that ensures our first bowling forever, right, I mean that's the loudest maybe Commonwealth Stadium has ever been. The Bud Dupree interception against uh again, South Carolina. I mean that that may be the loudest that stadium has ever gotten ever. You talk about the Lynn Boden years, Yes, creating an offense out of a dude that doesn't even play quarterback and guys and that he just can't be stopped. Right, Benny Snell followed by Chris Rodriguez followed by Ray Davis will never have a better seven years of running backs than that.

00:20:25
Speaker 6: Right.

00:20:25
Speaker 4: The Penn State Bowl Game where we go and win, including a Lynn Bowden punk return. I mean that that Penn State Bowl game is kind of the best of a Mark Stoops team. You have a Josh Allen superstar, you have a crazy good athlete. You have you break the rushing record in that game. You break the rushing record in that game. And then you have a quarterback and Terry Wilson, who kind of embodies Stoops is like, what's he doing out there? And it's working in an offensive line that dominates.

00:20:53
Speaker 5: And in that game, I'll for remember this when he walked out and yelled, bring it on to James Franklin five minutes into the Game's I knew it.

00:21:00
Speaker 4: Wait a minute. We are an actual trashed to Franklin. Even last year winning that old miss a game that no one thought we had any business winning, and we won like those and we you know, Louisville beat us Saturday. It's first time they beat us there since twenty fourteen. Yeah, which kind of is an amazing thing.

00:21:21
Speaker 2: When he beat him at our place and everybody stormed the field. We beat Florida Final for the first time at home, went an sec home win.

00:21:26
Speaker 4: Trevin Wallace running back that block kick against Florida that time, right when we beat LSU the year at home, which was a mad house of a win. Yep, with I think basically got Orderer on fire. Think about how many coaches he's gotten fired over the years. It's a big graveyard, including two of them.

00:21:42
Speaker 2: Mission you know, he beat Louisville five times in a row until the last two years.

00:21:48
Speaker 5: Yes, and think about God just where they'd fire their coach after they played Katucky.

00:21:52
Speaker 4: I mean, think about how many dudes he's gotten fired over the years he made I mean, I'm sure there are others, but those all kind of come to my mind. Oh, first time they won a road game at South Carolina, Remember when they stopped the two point conversion and ran it back Denzel where? I think, did that? The Chris Westy game? The Chris what exactly? They're just a lot that Joe Joe camp against South Carolina, just running it over and over and over and over at the Wildcat and they can't stop them.

00:22:18
Speaker 2: I'm glad we're giving him these flowers and last.

00:22:20
Speaker 4: Time here Will Levis, who had an awesome two years.

00:22:25
Speaker 2: He deserves the moment to get his flowers. I'm glad we're giving him this moment here, even though we were saying goodbye today. He is he he is a guy that it's gonna be tough to replace. What he did here on personal note too. When he would come on this show, he was a different person. He was fun like I looked forward to those interviews because you know, when we get him in a press conference, back to work, back to work. But it was always fun talking to him on here. He'd let loose.

00:22:45
Speaker 4: Yep, all right, we'll open up the phones. What do you think about the stoops air? And we'll talk about the rest of it after and the decision to fire him A five nine, two eighty seven channel. Open it up right for this. TJ Smith, personal injury attorney called TJ. He'll make them.

00:23:00
Speaker 3: Hey, now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage.

00:23:04
Speaker 4: Here's Matt Jones. Welcome back, Tukey Sports Radio. Text machine seven seven two seven seven four five two five four. Before I go to it, Chin, you haven't gotten to say anything. What were your thoughts on this?

00:23:13
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, the good thing is losing a combined eighty six to seventeen in your last two games of the year makes it obvious what you need to do. I think the worst case scenario would have been going five and seven and then being competitive in those two games and really not knowing what to do in dividing the fan base. So if you're looking for a silver lining, getting beat forty one to nothing at Lovell made it clear there had to be a change.

00:23:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, we might have to thank Louisville for that. Yeah, I mean I didn't want it to happen, but since it did, You're right, I think it made it easier. One person says, Matt, do you think Mark Soups knew it was coming?

00:23:43
Speaker 6: No?

00:23:44
Speaker 4: I mean I think he knew yesterday. But when he got up in the press conference said there's a zero point zero percent chance I'm leaving, I don't think he thought it. And then I wonder what happened between that and when he talked to Tom. Did you notice the difference in the language. Absolutely, he said I have bosses. He said, well, there's chance I'm leaving, but I do have bosses. And it was like, I don't know if somebody said something or on his walk from the from the press conference to talking to Tom, he was like, well, wait a minute, I guess it's not my only choice.

00:24:21
Speaker 5: It makes you wondering how some people to just give you a little cold shoulder, you know, like wait a minute, comes and talks to me after the game and he's not here.

00:24:31
Speaker 2: Stoops also backed off the cutter bully comments. He screwed that up, Yeah he did.

00:24:36
Speaker 3: He screwed up the uncomfortable laugh too. When he was asked about it in the press conference, you know, he.

00:24:42
Speaker 2: Was like, zero percent chance, I'll leave it.

00:24:44
Speaker 4: I'm getting all that money. Yeah, it wasn't just the zero percent for me either.

00:24:51
Speaker 5: He had a moment to kind of explain the loss and give him a chance to inject some incitement moving forward.

00:24:55
Speaker 4: And he was like, well, you know me, we're going back to work. And I was like, well that's your problem. His keep saying going back to work. Everybody said, do you have a message, and his message was just like, well keep working.

00:25:07
Speaker 5: Like he's like he kind of had a chance there to maybe win a few people over here.

00:25:11
Speaker 4: It's like you're like standing there on the final battle field before you're taking on the enemy, and you've lost the last battle and you're like, all right, guys, let's battle and you're like, no, we want to be we want to be pumped up.

00:25:24
Speaker 2: And his solution was he's gonna go get ju junior college players, which which is not gonna be a good idea. I don't think that's a good idea, so uh yeah, it.

00:25:32
Speaker 4: Ended up actually kind of working out. By the way, UK just put out a graphic that was very nice saying, we think thank you for all you've done, Mark Stude, like they're clearly trying to make this a positive transition.

00:25:44
Speaker 2: I think you're right. After a couple of years, you can bring him back, introduce him at the stadium. We'll give him a great round of applause. And that's not gonna happen next year, but maybe in a couple of years down the road.

00:25:52
Speaker 4: I think we will. All right, let's go through here real quick. Let's doing good, gentlemen.

00:25:58
Speaker 6: I'm doing good with sure it's doing better, but uh I called in right before the Auburny of the Florida game and I was a all right, doing good.

00:26:09
Speaker 4: We gotta you gotta be more into it, and you gotta get like we can't just be sad.

00:26:14
Speaker 6: Go sorry, I'm a bit sick today. Anyway. I love having Mark Soups as the coach. He's been my favorite coach of my lifetime. And I go back to Kersey that I can remember in place. But I love the University of Kentucky Moore after that lost to Louisville, I think it was obvious we needed to go a different direction. I was not looking forward to next year. You guys touched on it, but I think he did probably the classiest move that I don't think I would have done in that situation was letting us do a buy out over a certain amount of time that did not cripple the university going forward. So I hope as we look back on this time that we are very grateful.

00:26:55
Speaker 4: So, yeah, I appreciate the call he did. You know, think about how Lane Kiffin left. Blane Kiffin left with people standing at the airport flipping him off. Yeah, that was wild. Not a couple of people. I mean, let's just say that the Lane kiffaninie was wild.

00:27:14
Speaker 2: Should we expect anything less from that guy?

00:27:16
Speaker 4: I mean, well, they just did a documentary about what a good duty was changed.

00:27:21
Speaker 5: Oxford had changed his lof his daughter made a PowerPoint to convince him to stay.

00:27:24
Speaker 4: Remember, I mean that was crazy.

00:27:28
Speaker 3: Putting his clothes out in the streets the.

00:27:33
Speaker 2: Kind of applaud that I like it.

00:27:35
Speaker 4: You know, you can get out of here.

00:27:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's over. They put his clothes in the street, should put a yard cell sign next to it.

00:27:43
Speaker 4: Sounded like the players didn't like it either.

00:27:46
Speaker 5: You know, Lsu plays in Oxford next years, Like everyone has to wow, I mean that will be Remember when he went back to Tennessee, they threw mustard at him and that was like five years late.

00:27:58
Speaker 4: Uh huh. I'm good.

00:28:01
Speaker 5: He didn't help his cause when he tried to poach the entire staff and like get on this plane, or.

00:28:06
Speaker 4: You don't have a job. I mean, so much happened in that Sunday, the whole like if you don't come with me now, you don't have a job before we have a bowl game. And one guy went Charlie weis junior, and pretty much everybody else stayed.

00:28:19
Speaker 2: May have a game that's a playoff game. It's a huge game.

00:28:23
Speaker 4: It's crazy. David, go ahead, David that hey, go ahead, Yes, go ahead, David.

00:28:31
Speaker 9: First of all, I want to thank coach Stoops for his thirteen years at Kentucky in and I want to thank him for being Florida the past five years. I remember the first game and gets Florida when we started that fumble and I hug my dad and I was at the I was at the blockfield goal game in twenty twenty one, and that was an epic.

00:28:57
Speaker 4: We did kind of own Florida. Not only the games we won, we should have won two more. There was the one where the play clock went out and the holding Callum Bunchie stallings like we probably should have won, probably should have won like nine of eleven or something against him. But we still, I mean, we had a winning record against Florida and most which is kind of crazy. But what anything else.

00:29:18
Speaker 9: Yes, I hope the next coach is Will Steine and that that's my pick.

00:29:23
Speaker 4: We're going to do that in the second hour though. I appreciate it, David, but Lucas go ahead, and Lucas.

00:29:33
Speaker 8: Hi there, Hey, Yeah, I really just appreciate, you know, kind of what Stoops has done with the program. And I remember back in your South Carolina in the Stoops troops there, and I'm hoping that, you know, moving forward with a new head coach, that's something that we can kind of attend as a fan base since it wasn't such a tough breakup, and I'm looking forward to that.

00:29:55
Speaker 4: I think it's been interesting. I appreciate the call about the former players because former players have weighed in most of them and said how much they love Stoops, but they also haven't like taken shots, you know what I mean, Like I think the former players, a lot of them kind of thought, you know, I get it right, even though they loved him. And I do think the former players love him. I think a lot of them Drew kind of got it that, Okay, probably need to do something else. Yeah.

00:30:25
Speaker 5: I follow a lot of them on social media, like a lot of our listeners do, and kind of to your what you're saying, they love Stoops, but you could just tell their tone of how things change. I mean, even like Cash and guys we've had on the show mentioned that the locker room isn't what it was in their time just because the sports changed so much, and kind of wondered if that's the right you know, this is the right time to have Stoops. But there's no question they all love him. I mean, we have a recap of players reactions and there's so many it's hard to track them all down.

00:30:51
Speaker 4: What do you think, if you're looking back, was the check? What do you think was the change? Like? Why did it end beyond just you lost?

00:31:01
Speaker 2: You know, the smart Stoops that came on this show and said, we're just getting started.

00:31:05
Speaker 7: Bro.

00:31:06
Speaker 4: That that's a blue collar I forget that one. That was awesome. We're just getting started, bro.

00:31:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, that blue collar attitude is what made him who he was. And I feel like he just lost his fastball a little bit the past couple of seasons. Maybe got it back up a little bit this year, but like the twenty two to twenty three, twenty four seasons, I feel like he lost his fastball a little bit. And I don't know why. I don't know if he just got the rest of these laurels a little bit. You know, I've taken this program as far as I can take it, and I'm a superstar here.

00:31:33
Speaker 10: There it is.

00:31:34
Speaker 4: Yes, I mean John cal Perry said about the basketball job, it was a ten year job. Maybe all these jobs are ten year jobs because we start to see we started to see cows fall at ten years, and I think we kind of started to see marks at ten years. Yeah. True, Maybe these guys have like ten years of fire in them. And then that's kind of it, because really it started then and it was it was not just winning and losing. It was the locker room. It was him. He wasn't the same person. Whereas col became kind of prickly and ornery, Stoop's just kind of seemed down for the last three years. He just wasn't his self, I think in a lot of ways, and when you were around him, it wasn't the same energy. If you talk to people that love him, including people like Vince and Cash and all these former players, they'd all go, yeah, it's just not what it was. And maybe this thrugh is just a ten year job and you do it and then you gotta hand it to somebody else.

00:32:38
Speaker 5: I agree that it's ten years is about right. You just need new juice with everything. But also don't think it's a coincidence both of them fell off around the same time when Nil got here, both for different formulas. They were both great with what they brought. Like when Stoop said in his first interview, I'm sitting on g and need an oh he had a plan. He's gonna go to Ohio recruit develop. I mean, you think of Josh Allen, a two star that he turned into something, Letting Bowden kind of a player. He took a gamble on We know what he became when the era changed and we fell way behind on Nil everything. The Stoop's formula didn't work anymore. The sport evolved all around him, and what he was doing just didn't stick with you.

00:33:15
Speaker 4: Take you're exactly right, recruit, develop, bring guys in that are and build them up. That maybe isn't the way, And then I think some of this goes on the athletic department. Mitch took too long for Nil, put him in a two year behind. He became bitter about that. It led him to do things like pony up and next thing you know, it kind of slipped away. I think he lost that connection for a variety of reasons. Is pain, stiffness, or a numbing sensation preventing you from enjoying watching your physical or your favorite teams compete. Go to Court Physical Therapy. Over thirty years, Kentucky's Go to Physical Therapy helps athletes, fans, and average joes get rid of as pains and get back to what they love they now have through the end of the year. If you've met your insurance deductibles, you can go for free visit court dot com. That's ko rt dot com. We'll take a break. One more segment on stoops and then we look to the future. Who's going to be the next guy that's here on Execkuy Sports Radio. I don't think that's exactly what he said. I think he would like to have staid no, no.

00:34:14
Speaker 3: Johnny Paycheck said that, Mark, Yeah.

00:34:15
Speaker 4: I understand that. I just didn't know if that was uh opropos of here a couple of people talking about kind of the way it fell apart, and it is worth noting. I think you would be if you're really trying, you'd be reminiscent. Not to say, he had a lot of changes in his personal life too during that period. Yes, and I think that matters. I think it would be incorrect to say that that it doesn't. But I do think there's a bigger thing of you want to leave anything, George Costanzas said on Steinfeld, leave them want more, right, like get one good joke and get out. And I think I don't think he left people wanted more. But I think he left before it started to really get stale. And it's a good lesson for life, like don't stayed on the last minute. Make people go, man, I wish they'd come back rather than will you just go away?

00:35:09
Speaker 3: Like the people at the party that just stay.

00:35:11
Speaker 4: All night yeah, a little bit too.

00:35:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, you gotta leave the party, leave earlier than you will.

00:35:18
Speaker 4: You think I felt that one, that one at home.

00:35:22
Speaker 2: How many times did we hear him in the last couple of years, you know, somebody would be he'd hear some criticism and say, well, yeah.

00:35:28
Speaker 4: But he's a big yeah, but guy, uh huh, I mean and he The other thing is he felt people's criticism. Yeah, he felt it. And by the end he was almost expecting your criticism before he talked. Remember his last interview when he came in the studio and before everything, he'd be like, no, I don't want to you know, I know everybody's gonna say and I just wanted to be like, just say, you don't have to be on rebutdal to start just sad talk. And he just never felt comfortable in those last couple of years kind of in his own skin like he did the years before.

00:36:00
Speaker 5: Heard every word he has said for several years, including the last two, and there was a lot of well I don't want to make a headline. Well I don't want this getting out there. Well I don't want to. You know, it's like that's your point, Just say it and we'll do it out. Well, I don't want to answer that.

00:36:12
Speaker 4: It'll be a headline. Yeah, Dustin, go ahead, Dustin. I want to get these folks on here, so let's go quick. Just make your point and go Dustin, go ahead, all right, out of the game quick. He was right, That's true. He was quick. Did you hear the guy in the post game show, Carl who called? He did like five seconds with stumbling over his words, and he just went, ah, yeah, I gave Carl cranted.

00:36:41
Speaker 2: He was like, ah, somebody so mad and frustrated. You couldn't even get his words out.

00:36:44
Speaker 4: Go ahead, just justin, Hey.

00:36:48
Speaker 8: Man, what's up guys? Hey?

00:36:49
Speaker 4: Real quick.

00:36:50
Speaker 9: I don't know if anbody's asked this question or touck on this.

00:36:53
Speaker 10: Where do you think?

00:36:54
Speaker 8: Where do you think he lands? So?

00:36:56
Speaker 9: Does he take some time.

00:36:57
Speaker 5: Off from coaching?

00:36:57
Speaker 10: Does he maybe go back to a coordinator position?

00:37:01
Speaker 8: Does he try to go coach? Maybe a head coach at a lesser school. I think maybe as a head coach.

00:37:06
Speaker 9: Probably when you coach that long as a head coach, you probably want to be a head coach.

00:37:09
Speaker 8: Right the next stop. I don't think he's done coaching, so just curious where maybe you.

00:37:13
Speaker 4: Think that's same time. I think most likely, yeah, appreciate the call time off followed by coach at a G five. That's my I think the most likely scenario. I could see him being a coordinator, but he likes to be in charge now, and I think that's hard. I don't think he's one of these people that's desperate to coach that like is like, I gotta have a job next year. But I think I think he goes and he'll end up getting like a G five. Who knows, maybe he gets one this year. A lot of these jobs, like in the American Conference have all come open South Florida, so h but I do think that's probably his likely future.

00:37:49
Speaker 2: I think, you know, maybe end up someplace like Youngstown or Toledo or.

00:37:52
Speaker 4: He ain't not going down. I ain't not going that low. No, I don't even think he needs to go to Toledo. I think he can get a job two lane or sound. I don't know if he will, but I think he can, don't you definitely yeah his first towns division two? Yeah, No, he should not do that.

00:38:10
Speaker 5: If I were setting nods, one would be going enjoy life for a little bit. I mean, he probably he'll take Tom off since he was in take a year off. Yeah, he got money. You know, we've talked about family. You know he's got his boys getting about college. A's they've been away from him. I would say the favorite would be taking a little tome off. Second, I would watch the the Kirby Smart Rehab analyst thing, kind of what people do with Sabing. Yeah, I'll come give you a job for a year till you figured out. Mark and Kirby are very close. So I could see, like the analyst at Georgia Defensive Analysts for a year, as many people did under saving at Alabama.

00:38:43
Speaker 4: He will get a job. He'll get a job. He succeeded here, He'll get a job. He might even get a job at a school like Kentucky at another conference. You know you can see, Ah, I don't know, a Minnesota or something like that. Hire Jerry, go ahead, Jerry, Hey, Matt.

00:39:05
Speaker 10: First off, even though you know I felt a need for a change for a while, I want to thank Mark suscret he did here because he did do a lot of good things here and wishing the best new feature going forward. This kind of down how the phrase was going to happen is that Barney was going to wring his hands about kind of gun not going forward.

00:39:23
Speaker 4: J Jerry, We're not going forward. That's out too, all right, I'm gonna go to James. I was very clear, appreciate the call. It was very clear that we were doing this. Uh, we were doing Stoops. James, go ahead, James.

00:39:36
Speaker 7: Yes, sir, the first time in a long time. My question is, oh, you said yourself that Stoops pulled a lot of good investors into the into the program.

00:39:47
Speaker 10: Correct.

00:39:47
Speaker 7: What happens to all these what happens to all these guys once he leaves? Are they still on board or the coach?

00:39:53
Speaker 4: It's a great question. It's a great question. It's gonna be up to the new coach. The new coach is gonna have to get him. I told this story on on you Tube last night, but I watched Drew Franklin and I set twelve years ago, thirteen years ago at a table at Dudley's. At a table at Dudley's, it was me, Drew, Joe Craft, and Mark Stoops and one other person who I want forced to be on the air. And I watched Mark Stoops sell Joe Craft on investing in UK football. I don't know why Drew and I were there, but we were still tell that story and it was a lot of fun. And we closed the restaurant down and Mark Stoops sold one. Joe Craft over that he became the leading change in the renovations of Croger Field. Oh yes, and and even have a football team if it was I mean, we wouldn't even been able to get on the field these last few years. And we watched it happen and that was the moment I went, Okay, maybe this guy and he didn't just do it with Joe, that's the one we saw. He did it with a lot of people sure that weren't maybe as big a donors, but that were successful. And the new coach now has got to go do that. Would you agree? It was one of their most important jobs, to be honest with you, get the.

00:41:33
Speaker 2: Steps was so good at getting the guys that would just invest in basketball to also invest in football.

00:41:38
Speaker 4: And he said a line which I'll never be able to say, but which has become legendary amongst me and my friends. And it was the line he looked at he looked at Joe and said, and then Drew and I were like, Okay, maybe this is the dude. I think I joked on my food when he said what he say, Well, so did Joe. No one saw it coming and I was like, oh, maybe Mark Stoops is gonna get this done. So I give a salute to it. Amen, I really do. He made football a sport that matters at this school, and now somebody else takes that mantle to the next level. And that's what we'll do. In the second hour. Who's Next On Kentucky Sports Radio.