The Past is the Past and Time to Move on

Published on 06-12-2013 10:58 PM

4 Comments

Mark Stoops (courtesy photo - Mark Corneilson)

We find several dyed-in-the-wool long time fans that are still rooted in the Joker Phillips era. There come a time when you have to pull up stakes and move on are suffer over-run of urban development and rural expansion. It’s time to get on the bus or get left at the station. For the rooted fan's satisfaction let’s play a little what if? Had UK have beaten U of L and avoided a forty-point loss to Vandy he might still be, God forbid! And what if the Cards had gone 5-7? Doing what they did in winning a BCS Bowl UK was forced to keep up in its dedication to the sport of football.

My Take on His Well Being

We’ve said many times that we don’t have any great concern with the well being of Phillips but wish him well and he will be alright. His coaching abilities are well respected around the country. We’ve picked up on the fact that he is still recruiting in the state of Kentucky and some fans are irritated about that. The answer to that is given his Kentucky roots his boss would not be pleased if they found he wasn’t recruiting the state of Kentucky. I supposed with use of twitter it makes it hard to forget Joker Phillips.

Coaching Transition

Observing what’s occurring in Stoops transition one can see the coach-in-waiting at Kentucky was more than an effort for Phillips. He went from being just Joker to Head Coach Joker. This meant he had to go from being the good cop Joker to the bad cop Joker. And when you looked at the number of suspensions Joker doled out there was a level of resistance and push-back from some of the players. I actually witnessed a pocket of players mocking Phillips. Granted, most of these were players that weren’t playing led by Mark Crawford who was in the dog house at the time. Rich Brooks had a similar situation with Dusty Williams and Chad Anderson. Players are the best recruiters for the program and if the present players aren’t buying in the recruiting suffers.

It Just Didn’t Work

In short the Joker Phillips experiment just didn’t work and continuous sniping at Joker I find to be unnecessary. He’s moved on and likewise we need to do the same thing. Let’s enjoy the amazing exploits of Mark Stoops and his wonderful staff.

Categories:
Football

42 Comments

dan_bgblue - 06-13-2013, 09:08 PM
- Reply
But note that I follow lockstep in line with those who say Joker is not to blame. I do not see this as a lack of effort; I see it as a lack of ability. A person cannot be blamed for his lack of ability; but another person can be blamed for failing to assess that ability as being competent to perform a task. I'm not holding a grudge against that person, but I question whether I want them making the next major hiring or firing decision at Kentucky. No, I don't question it, I know the answer.

I hope you do not mind me snipping that part of your post to respond to, but I will do so in context.

I do not hold Phillips responsible either. You may remember a couple of private conversations that took place where I stated my view that he was not the right man to follow Coach Brooks and stated the reasons why I felt that way. You might also remember that I offered the opinion that it was not Coach Brooks that came up with and supported the idea of the CIW situation. That idea was offered to him and he accepted with grace. When it became obvious to him that he was being maneuvered out to allow the CIW to move forward, he accepted and moved on with as much grace as could be mustered as well.

Phillips was put in a position that he was not equipped to handle by a man that is ill equipped to handle the position he currently occupies.

ukblue - 06-13-2013, 10:18 PM
- Reply
Dan you are right about Barnhart. But his time at UK is numbered already.

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