Hats off to Rich Brooks, football coach at the University of Kentucky. Last night's 40-34 win over no. 9 Louisville is yet more evidence that Brooks has done things the right way. Coming into a program that was on probation, Brooks has made gradual progress. Brooks hasn't been getting the 5 star recruits, but he's found 2 and 3 star guys who can make plays. Brooks has caught a couple of breaks. High School football has gotten a lot better in Kentucky since spring practice was instituted several years ago. As a result, UK has a better pool of players to draw from. Brooks was also lucky to have UK alum Joker Phillips on his initial staff. Now offensive coordinator, Phillips is a great recruiter who has a terrific knack for designing plays that work for his kind of players.
But it's Rich Brooks who defines success at UK. Willing to settle for measured progress instead of going for the home run, Brooks was patient with the program, realistic about the short-term prospects, and willing to make adjustments as he went along.
In other words, Brooks did things the right way.
As a result, UK football has gone from being a perennial sad sack to strong wannabe. Kentucky's still well behind top powerhouses like Florida, but they're on a level with Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia and deserve to be ranked in the top 20.
That makes Rich Brooks the King of Kentucky.
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4 comments:
Brooks has certainly improved things, and that was a great win for the program. But, Louisville was over-rated, as evidenced by the mountains of points they gave up the week prior, and then again to UK.
On part with Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia? Get back to me after they play them. Non-conference games are generally a very unrealistic indicator of how much a team has improved.
Louisville was over-rated but not tremendously so. The Cards will probably end up in the top 20 at the end of the year. Louisville still has a very strong offense. Actually, UK beat Georgia last year and outplayed Tennessee before losing. Both Georgia and Tennessee seem to be on the downswing. The toughest competition out of the three schools I mentioned will be Arkansas. South Carolina will be tough as well.
Additionally, rivalry games are poor predictors of future performance, as it is a highly emotional game, targeted by both teams.
As I said, Brooks has done a remarkable job, but UK is a far stretch removed from the level of Georgia, UT, and Arkansas.
For UK to beat the number nine team is nothing short of a miracle.
Hats off to Coach Brooks.
Sports has a habit of bringing people together. JD, I think this is the first time I've agreed with both you and Ric. You said, "Brooks has certainly improved things, and that was a great win for the program." You're right. You also said, "Non-conference games are generally a very unrealistic indicator of how much a team has improved." Also true.
Ric, you said, "The toughest competition out of the three schools I mentioned will be Arkansas. South Carolina will be tough as well." Agreed.
It's pleasent not to disagree sometimes.
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