It wasn’t a season to remember for Kentucky.
For the first time since 2016, the Wildcats won’t be competing in the postseason, ending the program’s string of a school record of eight straight postseason appearances, all under coach Mark Stoops.
A 41-14 loss to Louisville Saturday ended a season of disappointment for the Wildcats. The 4-8 mark was the team’s first losing record since 2015 and the second-worst finish of the Stoops era.
Following the season-ending loss to the Cardinals, Stoops, the longest-tenured coach in the Southeastern Conference at a dozen years, was adamant about returning for a 13th season next year.
“Everyone wants to replace me right now, but I am not going anywhere,” he said. “… Anyone who wants me to be gone anywhere is wishful thinking.”
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart has the last word but knowing his history on coaching decisions, Barnhart has a long leash instead of a short one when firing coaches, especially when a large sum of money — in Stoops’ case $44 million — is involved.
Remember how the John Calipari saga unfolded last spring? Calipari left on his terms instead of staying around for another season, knowing he had lost most of the fan base during the end of his tenure.
Throughout his tenure, Stoops has never had the luxury of consistency at the offensive coordinator slot, but the turnover was often overshadowed by what became known as the “Big Blue Wall” along the offensive front. The offensive line was dominant and didn’t get pushed around. They set the tone for physical football – Stoops’ kind of game.
The lack of a solid offensive line has been the biggest weakness the past few seasons. Stoops knows it and you and I know it.
“We’ve got to go back to being who we are and be very tough and be very disciplined and very fundamental and we were not always that this year,” he said. “It wasn’t very good, I understand that and it’s very frustrating, I understand that and I accept the responsibility of that.”
The undisciplined play also was evident all season and proved to be costly at critical moments. Unsportsmanlike penalties popped up regularly in critical situations, sometimes stealing away precious moment.
“We failed in that area,” Stoops said. “We didn’t have the discipline that we needed. We didn’t play as good as we needed to. Every level needs to improve and accountability needs to happen.”
Recruiting and portal shopping has not provided Kentucky with the kind of players that fits the Stoops’ style of play either even though most have rated the past few teams the most talented he’s ever had.
There is a lot that needs changing but Stoops said he does have a plan moving forward and it starts this week. He didn’t rule out a roster makeover or changes within his staff.
“We have a good plan to move forward here and there will be a lot of moving pieces in the next two, three, four weeks and we will get it fixed,” he said.
In defense of stability at the top, not to mention his job, Stoops pointed out South Carolina’s rebound season with nine victories after finishing 5-7 last season under Shane Beamer.
“You have to make sure that you have the resources to move forward in this landscape to really make a big jump and I really feel like that’s in place,” he said. “We worked hard to get some things and pieces in place to build a very good football team.”
Stoops has proven he can win and has led the Wildcats to great heights in his 12 seasons at the helm, but does he have what it takes to rebuild for a second time?
“It’s not like we don’t know how to do it,” Stoops said. “We’ve got to have good players (and) we’ve got to have good coaches. We’ve got to all do our part.”
The team’s failures early in Stoops’ tenure could easily be traced to his predecessor, but if he cannot rebuild again, he has no one to blame but himself.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today, where this column first appeared.