The predicament that Mark Stoops faces as Kentucky struggles this season is likely familiar.
While Kentucky basketball operates in a different sphere than Kentucky football, Stoops could take a lesson from his frenemy, John Calipari. The key takeaway is this: if a coach remains in one place for too long, the fan base will eventually grow tired of them.
Calipari learned this in his 15th year. He initially joined Kentucky with plans to stay for a decade, and in hindsight, he might have been better off sticking to that timeline and moving on. The last few years of his tenure in Lexington became increasingly uncomfortable before he accepted the Arkansas job last April.
Like Calipari, Stoops has been at Kentucky longer than expected. He earns $ 9 million a year and ranks among the top 10 highest-paid coaches in the nation, largely due to his decision to turn down multiple offers to leave. It’s understandable to remain for such a lucrative contract, particularly when the expectation for Kentucky football is not to pursue a national championship.
However, after 12 years, has the situation become stale? Should Stoops have considered leaving before Kentucky fans turn against him as they did with Calipari?
This is a relevant question, especially after Kentucky’s disappointing 3-5 record following a 24-10 home loss to Auburn, who was previously winless in the SEC. If the Wildcats cannot secure a significant upset moving forward, they will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2015.
Kentucky administrators may argue that even if Stoops never nears an SEC title, he’s still worth the investment because they recall the dismal state of the football program prior to his arrival.
That’s a valid point, but it likely won’t resonate with fans. Yes, you could contend that the coach succeeding Stoops might perform worse, but after years stuck in that 7-6 range, is it so difficult to envision someone else achieving better results?
Stoops has significantly raised the floor for Kentucky football and has been generously compensated for it, which fans should certainly applaud. However, convincing them that paying Stoops ** $ 9 million** annually is the only way to maintain a competitive program is a tough sell—comparable to how fans eventually concluded that Calipari wasn’t the only one capable of winning championships.
This may or may not be true, but staying in one position for too long often leads to such discussions.
Fans can overlook a subpar season, which this one has clearly turned into. Nonetheless, after twelve years, sustaining enthusiasm for merely scraping by to make minor bowl games and suffering losses to South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and a struggling Auburn team becomes challenging.
In the end, Stoops and Calipari hardly saw eye to eye. The tension from the power struggle between an allegedly underachieving basketball program and an overachieving football program sometimes made its way into the public eye.
Now, Stoops seems to be following a similar trajectory to Calipari, albeit on a smaller scale, learning a comparable lesson about passion and loyalty in the Bluegrass State.
This scenario contributes to Kentucky being ranked No. 1 in the Misery Index, a weekly gauge of which fan bases are experiencing the most angst.
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