According to Ray Glier of The AJC, Rich Brooks is on the hot seat in Lexington. Heck, even Brooks admits it:
“They put some ‘Ditch Rich’ bumper stickers on their cars. They say I’m too old and I gotta go, that they need a better coach. They’re howling. We lost to #1 Florida, #3 Alabama and South Carolina, then Mississippi State. Some of them want me out of here.”
Ah, but should they?
Traditionally, Kentucky is a program that nearly matches Vanderbilt in SEC futility.
Consider:
* UK has a 24-game losing streak to Tennessee
* The Cats have lost 23 in a row to Florida
* Georgia has beaten Kentucky 21 of the last 24 times they’ve played
* The Wildcats are 0-for-Spurrier all-time and have lost 10 in a row to South Carolina
* This year UK beat Auburn for the first time in 12 tries dating back to 1966
* Kentucky’s holds just a two-game advantage over Vandy in their head-to-head history (40-38-4).
Brooks has overcome that history. UK is now bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season. The anti-Brooks faction doesn’t seem to care. Those folks would most likely point to two “yeah, buts.”
Yeah, but it’s not as hard to reach a bowl game today as it was 20 years ago, which is true.
And…
Yeah, but Brooks has feasted on weak non-conference opponents, not SEC foes. True again.
Looking at the bowl seasons of 2006, 2007, 2008 as well as the now bowl-eligible season of 2009, you’ll see that the list of Cat victories isn’t exactly stellar.
In those four seasons, UK has recorded wins over:
Texas State, Ole Miss, Central Michigan, Mississippi State (2), Georgia, Vanderbilt (3), Louisiana-Monroe (2), Clemson, Eastern Kentucky (2), Kent State, Louisville (3), Arkansas (2), Florida Atlantic, LSU, Florida State, Norfolk State, MTSU, Western Kentucky, East Carolina, Miami (Ohio), and Auburn.
I can see why some Kentucky fans are grumbling. I can see it, but I don’t agree with it.
Brooks has made UK football better. No, he hasn’t turned the program into a contender in the SEC East, but he has improved the situation in Lexington considerably.
There was a time when Kentucky couldn’t sniff a bowl game… much less be invited to one every year for four years.
There was a time when UK couldn’t beat a Florida State or a Clemson even in a down year for those schools.
There are few victories in the school’s history that rank alongside the Cats’ 2007 win over #1 LSU.
Brooks has also taken control of in-state rivalry with Louisville.
And on those rare occasions when Kentucky has had success in their history, NCAA investigators have often showed up quickly to shut down the party. Brooks hasn’t landed the school on probation as Fran Curci and Hal Mumme did.
Brooks deserves to go out on his own terms. And according to what one source very close to the UK football program tells me, that’s what’s likely to happen.
Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart understands what Brooks has accomplished and he won’t be pulling any plugs at the end of this season even if the Cats finish 6-6 with losses to Georgia and Tennessee.
Also, while the talkshow and bumper sticker crowd is upset, the main UK boosters (who wouldn’t dare put bumper stickers on their Audis) aren’t complaining too loudly.
So would Brooks walk away on his own if his team stumbles down the stretch?
I’m told no. In fact, in my source’s opinion, Brooks would be more likely to step aside if UK ends on a high note.
Joker Phillips is the Big Blue’s coach-in-waiting. It is believed Brooks wants to hand him the reins after a good season, not after a disappointing one.
Therefore it’s likely that Brooks will be back on the Commonwealth Stadium sidelines next year at the age of 69.
And any Kentucky fan with a sense of the school’s football history should be just fine with that.
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