The coaching search continues

[dan_bgblue]

Does the ship have a rudder, or is it afloat without a definite course?

[MickintheHam]

Thanks for your hard work, Larry. I know this coaching search has to be frustrating for those who earn their livelihood covering it. It appears our AD has as much contempt for the media as he does for the fans.

[ajp40505]

We need a new athletic director before we go looking for a new football coach.

[truecatsfan]

Larry, I was told thur, that there are three people they are looking at. He said two names have not even be menitoned by anybody. and the other was one name was already out there. He works for the team, so i took his word. So i guess Stoops is one wonder who the other one is.

[MickintheHam]

We need a new athletic director before we go looking for a new football coach.

+1

[catmanjack]

Feel better if the AD at a Ala, Fla, Ga was doing the hiring.
With Mitch I don't think he know what he is looking for. Oh he has to have a good person and wants the locker room to stay the same.

[Edward100]

Will Joker be the best we have to choose from?

[jazyd]

With Micks info on Jimbo possibly going to Auburn, Stoops may be ready for a HC job and this would be a good time for him. Take over a bad program that has been on decline for 3 years, won't take much to improve on a 2-10 record, get it to 6-6, and then go for a bigger job with the name recognition he has. Is he that good of a DC, or is it because of the conference they played in? His defense just got torched by a normally low scoring UF.

Let's get a daily dose of coaching rumors for Kentucky football.
— If Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com is right, Kentucky has interviewed Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops for its head coaching opening based on a source he has. That's the first time Stoops has been mentioned as a possible coach at UK and it is strange his name emerged the same day Florida and Florida State played on national TV.

Florida State's defense led the country with 236.3 yards allowed per game before falling to Florida Saturday. He is a finalist for the national defensive coordinator of the year. He has no head coaching experience,

Stoops has never been a head coach, but he has held many jobs throughout college football. He has coached defensive backs at South Florida, Miami and Wyoming and been defensive coordinator at Houston. He was defensive coordinator at Arizona from 2004-09 before moving to Florida State.

Last season his Seminoles only allowed 15.1 per game (4th nationally), in 2010 they allowed 19.6 (20th), and in 2009 they surrendered 30.0 (94th).

He certainly has a strong coaching bloodline. One brother, Bob, is the head coach at Oklahoma. Another brother, Mike, is the former head coach at Arizona. A third brother, Ron Jr., is an assistant coach at Youngstown State.

— Conference realignment could be UK's best friend in pursuing Cincinnati coach Butch Jones. He may or may not have said no to UK — Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart said Saturday that no one has been offered the job — but with the Big East continuing to lose teams it appears Jones may now have interest in UK if enough money is involved.

— Several media members at Tennessee Saturday indicated that they did still believe Phil Fulmer was on UK's radar. The former Tennessee coach has been out of coaching four years, but knows Barnhart well. I was also told that Fulmer and UK offensive coordinator Randy Sanders are still friends even though Fulmer fired Sanders at UT. Remember a few years ago Barnhart relied on Rich Brooks for guidance in a coaching search and ended up hiring him. Fulmer could well be a backup plan for Barnhart.

— Louisiana Tech Sonny Dykes seems to have dropped off the UK chart for some, but remember there has been contact with his agent. Don't write him off yet?

— Bobby Petrino? The rumors continue, but several UK folks told me again Saturday that this is a move Barnhart will not make.