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The Kentucky Wildcats enter an offseason of uncertainty after dropping their final six games of the season and just missing out on a bowl bid with a 5-7 record.
UK was at 5-1 after their first six games and looked to begin the turnaround Mark Stoops has talked about since arriving in Lexington. Stoops was even given an extension and raise following the hot start, can he possibly be on the hot seat a few months removed from an extension?
Given the state of the program before his arrival, Stoops should be given much more time to build up the roster before any judgments are made about his coaching ability.
That being said, if the Wildcats fail to make a bowl game three years into the Stoops era, recruiting momentum could grind to a halt.
The Wildcats' coach recently talked to Vaught's Views to discuss the important offseason for his team and where they stand heading into the summer. “I felt like we got a lot of good work in and improved. Excited about moving forward and having a great summer and getting bigger and stronger and getting in shape leading into fall camp,” said Stoops.
On the team's health status marching towards fall camp: “I actually think we should be at full strength. Nothing major happened throughout spring or late in spring. I feel like we'll be in good shape,” he said. “Had a few surgeries. (Freshman tight end) C.J. Conrad had some surgery and should be good to go when fall camp starts. So I think we're in pretty good shape."
On lessons learned and the experience gained following the terrible finish to 2014: “Look at the good things that you did and the things you need to improve on. Certainly we got off to a fast start. I think was good to look at our model that we used throughout the summer and that we used through the camp, the fall camp, the beginning of camp and two-a-day schedule. I think we had a good plan,” Stoops said.
His thoughts on the defense moving forward: "Coach (D.J.) Eliot has done a great job with really settling in on exactly who we want to be defensively and what we want to do and kind of building from that with the personnel we have on our team and overall, I just feel like we're a deeper unit. We're more experienced. I think we're getting better in the secondary."
“I still think we need to improve at the corner position, outside within our defense. Through the middle of our defense, that linebacking corps, I feel like we're getting better. I feel like we're getting much better and much deeper at safety, nickels and dimes and our sub packages. An area we need to continue to improve is outside at corner and again replacing a guy like Bud (Dupree)."
If the defensive improvement doesn't come, Stoops might eventually be the one that pays the price.
(h/t Vaught's Views)
