In a Stoop-or

The inevitable came on November 4th when University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart released an open letter to fans announcing that after three seasons, Joker Phillips was going to be let go as head football coach.  I was one of the last Joker supporters left standing at that point and up until the announcement was made, I was hopeful that the passionate UK alum could get things turned around at his alma mater.  But even Ray Charles could see what was coming when less than 20,000 people rolled through the gates of Commonwealth Stadium to watch the Wildcats get completely obliterated by the Vanderbilt Commodores for the second consecutive season.  Even though I knew it was coming, I was still not thrilled with the prospects of watching my beloved Cats start a coaching search that I was not convinced would land someone that could truly excite the fan base (a fan base that at times is so misguided that they actually think UK is dream job for elite  coaches).

Well, twenty-three days after the process began, color me stunned and amazed.  The much (mostly unfairly) maligned Barnhart was able to pull off the coup.  By getting Mark Stoops to come to Kentucky, the UK AD was able to get one of the most sought after coaching commodities to commit to Big Blue Nation and the best part of the whole matter is that Stoops approached Barnhart about the job and presented a plan for why and how the Wildcats could win consistently in the brutal SEC.  Yes, the coordinator of the #2 defense in the nation wanted to come to the Bluegrass!  How amazing is that? 

As a lifelong fan of UK football, I could not be more excited about the hire.  While Stoops does not meet some of the criteria that I would have thought essential in the new coach (he has no head coaching or SEC experience),  he more than makes up for it with his resume.  Here are five reasons that I believe that Stoops has the potential to be the perfect fit for the UK football program.

1) He wants to be in Lexington.  As mentioned earlier, he approached Barnhart about the job and he did so with a PLAN.  If he holds true to his brothers' style (brother Bob is the head coach at Oklahoma and brother Mike was the former head coach at Arizona and now is Bob's D-Coordinator) he will be a defensive coach who brings in a talented offensive coordinator with an explosive offense.  The cupboard is not bare at UK like it was in 2002 when Rich Brooks came to town.  The Cats return three QBs with playing experience, a stable of four experienced running backs, and a bevy of nice young receivers.  The rumors that keep swirling is that UK alum and current OC at Texas Tech, Neal Brown, may possibly return to his roots and orchestrate Stoops's offense.

2) He is a defensive coach.  This was very high on my lists of musts (not that Mitch contacted me and asked for my opinion in the matter) but I think it is imperative for the Cats to improve their defense in order to have any kind of success in the treacherous SEC waters.  Stoops, like his brothers (and even his mother if you ask former UK signal caller, Dusty Bonner), has proven that he knows how to orchestrate a defense.  He improved a terrible defense at Arizona when he was brother Mike's DC and turned Florida State's atrocious defense from a laughing stock to the second best in the nation (on paper).  His defensive units are also known for forcing turnovers , which a team like Kentucky must have in order to compete with the elite in the conference. 

3) He has ties all over the country and may be able to tap into some new recruiting markets that have not been open to the Wildcats in the past.  Stoops was born in the football savvy city of Youngstown, Ohio and played his college ball in the Big 10 at Iowa.  He went on to have assistant coaching stints at South Florida, Wyoming, and Houston before landing on Larry Coker's staff at Miami in 2001.  In his three years at the U coaching defensive backs, Stoops was able to win a national championship in 2001 and play for another the following year.  From there, he moved on to Arizona when his brother, Mike, was hired and became a D-coordinator for the first time.  After the 2009 season, he moved on to Tallahassee where he has helped rebuild the Seminoles into a contender.  The point of all of this is that he has ties to certain hotbeds in the recruiting world.  He may be able to get players out of Florida, Ohio, Texas, and the west coast that otherwise never would have considered coming to Kentucky.  He has a reputation as a tireless recruiter which should pay dividends.

4)He has a championship ring.  As mentioned in the previous section, he was the DB coach when Miami won the National Championship in 2001.  He is used to the spotlight and having expectations.  While he has never coached a full season in the SEC, he has a winning record as a coordinator against the SEC (3-1) and his defenses have only allowed 17 points per game and 317 yards per game (two of those wins coming against Florida).  In other words, while he may not have head coaching experience like fellow candidates for the job Mike MacIntyre, Gary Andersen, or Butch Jones, he has coached at high profile universities in high profile games and that means something.

5) He's not Bobby Petrino.  Nuff said.

And for those who were dogging Mitch Barnhart for doing his job in a professional manner and not listening to the rabid fan base, he once again has proven his worth to the university.  While only time will tell if Stoops is a homerun, keep in mind that most rallies are started  not by hitting a long ball but by getting runners on base and getting them over.  So if he isn't a homerun (which can sometimes be a rally killer), maybe he will be a rally starter, which in the long run may prove to be even better.

Changing Focus

As many of you have noticed, I have been on hiatus.  Well, what better day to get back in the groove than Thanksgiving.  Nothing gets me excited like stuffing myself to the gills and wallowing in misery the rest of the day.  Of course, that was in years past.  The days of gorging myself and living in gluttony have come to a screeching halt.  As you will notice, the focus of my blog is going to shift slightly.  I am still going to comment on the goings on in the world of sports (I have missed so much in the last six weeks that has been worthy of discussion) but I will also be discussing recent developments in my life and with the holidays upon us I will have some holiday-themed items as well.

As for the days of gorging myself and wallowing in my own gut-busting misery, there is a reason they have ended and I wish it were just because I had finally decided to whip my tail into shape.  The real reason for this lifestyle change is a negative doctor report.  Suffice it to say I have never felt so miserable in my life as I did when I left the doctor's office on the days of October  10 and 18.  By the time it was all over, I had to deal with certain facts that I was not ready to deal with.  I have been diagnosed as a diabetic with high cholesterol and a messed up thyroid.  Not great news but better than the initial thought that I had heart problems according to an EKG that I failed with flying colors.  (Thankfully, after a stress test, we discovered that the ticker was just fine).  My newly discovered ailments left me feeling out of sorts and struggling to grapple with my own mortality.  I was glad that I was not as bad off as originally thought but I still had major issues to face and daunting obstacles ahead. 

It was at this moment that I decided to turn things over to a higher power and pray for my health to improve but more importantly to find the resolve to face the challenges that lay before me.  I have been guilty in the past of not putting God first in my life and only turning to him in times of desperate need.  Well, this was a time of desperation and my daily life was going to have to undergo a major overhaul so what better time to rededicate my spiritual life as well. 

On this day of thanks, I am very thankful for my health and that I was able to discover these problems before they became too serious.  I am proud to say that in the 43 days since I initially went to the doctor, I have now lost 30 pounds.  I hope to be able to lose another 20 before going back to the doctor in January.  I am also pleased to say that after eating my (paltry but satisfying meal, complete with pumpkin pie), my blood sugar checked in at a cool 98, well within the parameters that the diabetic specialist laid out for me.  Today was a great success in my book.

This ordeal, while difficult, has been a great life lesson for me.  I have played with fire for too long when it comes to my eating habits and now it is time to pay the piper.  I know where the responsibility lays for what has happened and I am well prepared to do whatever it takes to take care of myself so that I can be there for my wife and kids.  And when things get tough, I know that I have a Savior that can lighten my load; and for that I am truly thankful.

So, for those of you who look forward to my sports posts, I am not finished opining on the day-to-day of the ball and stick games, but I hope you will stick around to read about other happenings also.  I really enjoy writing and various topics and I appreciate each and everyone who take time out of your days to read about what I see through my four eyes.  God bless you all and take care of yourself at this most wonderful time of the year.