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Bring Back Brooks
October 26, 2005
Guy Morriss saw the writing on the wall, you know. And he didn’t have to
think twice about bolting for greener pastures and more greenbacks.
But it was the former, not the latter, that most hastened his departure to
Baylor. Morriss knew that the probation UK was saddled with thanks to
the Hal Mumme/Claude Bassett era would cripple the program. And so
it has.
Do you really think the hot coaching prospects were lined up around the
corner to move into Morriss’ old office and undertake the project waiting
for them in Lexington? Yeah, me neither. Because the Kentucky job
under normal circumstances isn’t exactly a stepping stone to building a
legendary coaching career. Think I’m wrong? Whatever happened to
Charlie Bradshaw? John Ray? Fran Curci? Jerry Claiborne retired. Bill
Curry went into broadcasting. Hal Mumme…never mind. And Guy
Morriss got the hell out of town. Fast. Not since a fellow named Paul
Bryant left Lexington for Tuscaloosa has a Kentucky coach gone on to
bigger and better things. So I have to ask…Has Kentucky hired the
wrong guy every time for the past 50 years? Or is it more likely that trying
to win in the SEC is a tough job, especially at a basketball school in a
football conference. Because not one coach…not one…has left
Kentucky with a winning record in the last forty-four years. The last to do
it? The man who followed Bryant, Blanton Collier. Taking the Kentucky
football job, as it turns out, is a good way to end a career. And everybody
in college football knows it. So for those of you hoping to catch the next
rising star in college football, think again. Most of those guys would like
to have a happy ending to their career.
Given that atmosphere, Mitch Barnhart had to feel extremely fortunate to
snag a terrific veteran coach to fill the vacancy left by Morriss following
the 2002 season. In Rich Brooks Barnhart was getting a man who had
been in the business for four decades, working successfully at both the
collegiate and professional levels of football. I won’t bother you with the
Brooks bio (you can read The Case for Rich Brooks for that), but I can
tell you that Barnhart was getting a man who had been to the Rose Bowl
and the Super Bowl. And there aren’t a lot of those guys running loose
for the hiring. And I can’t tell you what Barnhart’s exact thinking was, but
I would guess the thing he was most impressed with when evaluating
Brooks was his willingness to stay with the job of building a program
until it was finished.
Because that is exactly what Brooks had done at Oregon. He built the
program. From nothing. And that is the very job description he had
when signing on at Kentucky. And boy do I know that will offend the hell
out of some Kentucky fans. Tough. You can tell me about a renovated
Commonwealth Stadium and the Nutter Center and all the support the
Kentucky football team has. And I will tell you that none of those things
seem to impress Florida, Georgia, or Tennessee very much. There was
no semblance of a successful Southeastern Conference football
program in place at UK when Rich Brooks took the job. Period. The
word rebuilding gets thrown around all the time. You can’t rebuild
something that isn’t there. This was a building job staring Rich Brooks
in the face. Which is why he is, as he has always been, the perfect guy
for the job. Eighteen years he stayed at Oregon. It took him twelve years
just to get them to a bowl. And by that 18th and final season, the Ducks
were the champions of the Pac-10 and playing in Pasadena. Perhaps
more importantly, his successor, Mike Bellotti has taken Brooks’
foundation and continued to build Oregon into a bowl team every year.
The Ducks are currently on pace to make their ninth bowl appearance in
the last ten years.
And I hear the grumbling. Wait twelve years to get to a bowl? Are you
crazy? Maybe. And I am not saying it will take Brooks twelve years to get
the Wildcats to a bowl (I suspect that even he might be ready for some
easy living in another nine years…unless he pulls a Paterno and
coaches forever). But wouldn’t you rather see the program built piece-
by-piece, the right way, into a situation where Kentucky was a both a
SEC contender and a bowl team every year, as opposed to being the
program that occasionally makes a Music City Bowl appearance? Rich
Brooks knows how to get that done.
Rich Brooks also has a talented offensive assistant, much like Bellotti at
Oregon, by his side at Kentucky. You know him as Joker Phillips,
offensive coordinator and former UK wide receiver. Phillips is highly
regarded for his rapport with his players and is known to be an
outstanding recruiter. I can’t think of a better scenario than seeing
Coach Brooks getting a multi-year extension to get things going in the
right direction, and then when he is ready, handing the reigns over to
Coach Phillips. That would provide the sort of seamless continuity that
is required for a program to be a force on the recruiting trail and on the
football field.
When I began preparing research for this column, I was all prepared to
talk about the ridiculous number of injuries Kentucky has dealt with this
season. And it is nearly unbelievable. Wire reports out this week noted
that Kentucky players had undergone 18 surgeries since fall practice. A
total of 13 starters and key reserves have missed a total of 43 games
already this season. That list includes impact players like wide
receivers Keenan Burton (who returned for limited practice yesterday)
and Tommy Cook, defensive tackle Lamar Mills, defensive end Travis
Day, and safety Marcus McClinton. And that list does not include
linebackers Jon Sumrall and Dennis Johnson, cornerback Warren
Wilson, or offensive tackle Aaron Miller…each of whom would have
figured into the Wildcats 2005 plans but have not been with the team
due to injury or for personal reasons.
But I won’t dwell on that issue. Critics of Brooks will simply point to that
as excuse-making. It isn’t of course, because even a team as great as
the New England Patriots can see their performance hampered by a
slew of key injuries. And the ‘Cats weren’t exactly the Patriots to start
with. I could tell you that this team is way too lacking in talent to expect
much more from them. I could tell you that if they had a few more
playmakers on defense that they might be able to get off the field on
third down (opponents are converting a whopping 56% on third down
and hold nearly a ten-minute per game time of possession advantage).
I could tell you that a few more playmakers on defense might allow them
to get to the opposing quarterback more often (only 7 sacks thus far)
and force more turnovers (only 7 of those, too). I could suggest to you
that it is the players dropping the ball, literally (17 fumbles, 12
lost…leading to -9 in the turnover column), and not the coaches. But I
am not going to do any of that. Because that would be a slap in the face
to the kids busting their butts every day trying to do better. They don’t
deserve that from me…or from you, for that matter.
There will be many who suggest that I am just a Big Blue face-painter or
a UK propaganda pusher, but neither could be further from the truth. It
is true that I grew up a die-hard UK fan, but once I was old enough to
compete on the same field with the ‘Cats (in baseball), it was time to put
that hero-worship away. And the last time I had a seat in
Commonwealth Stadium, I had the opportunity to listen to many of the
Wildcat “faithful” boo my long-time friend, Pookie Jones while he was
under center for UK. I have never forgotten that, obviously, so pardon
me if I simply chuckle when I hear some of those same faithful calling
for the head of Rich Brooks. You have no idea what you are talking
about.
And don’t think for a minute that I am painting all Kentucky fans with the
same brush. I have heard from enough of you on the original Brooks
column to know that there are many Kentucky fans squarely behind the
coaching staff. And I do respect the opinion and viewpoint of the
informed fans who seek a new direction. But for those of you who jump
ship every single time things don’t go well…why don’t you just put on
some orange and say, “Go Vols!”?
That’s what Guy Morriss did when things looked bleak. He jumped
ship. Not that I blame him. He seems like a good man and he is
certainly a good football coach. He just didn’t want any part of what was
waiting on him at UK. But Rich Brooks did. He stepped into the breach.
He has done so with passion. I respect what he did at Oregon. I
respect the fact that he put his reputation as a good football coach on
the line to take a very difficult job. And he is still a very good football
coach, you know? He hasn’t forgotten how to coach since he was
recognized as the national coach of the year in 1994. The national
coach of the year. Can you believe Kentucky has one of those on its
sideline? Me neither. So start giving the man the respect he deserves.
Rich Brooks was there for Mitch Barnhart in his time of need. Now it is
time for Mitch to return the favor. Mr. Barnhart, I am suggesting to you
that you should not turn your back on a man who has refused to turn his
on your football program. Do not let boosters run your athletic
department. Don’t force your football coach to defend himself at press
conferences. Don’t allow your student-athletes to worry about who they
will be playing for in 2006. Don’t allow potential recruits to be lost to the
unsettled coaching situation. Give Rich Brooks what he deserves. A
multi-year contract extension. Now.
Guy Morriss saw the writing on the wall, you know. And he didn’t have to
think twice about bolting for greener pastures and more greenbacks.
But it was the former, not the latter, that most hastened his departure to
Baylor. Morriss knew that the probation UK was saddled with thanks to
the Hal Mumme/Claude Bassett era would cripple the program. And so
it has.
Do you really think the hot coaching prospects were lined up around the
corner to move into Morriss’ old office and undertake the project waiting
for them in Lexington? Yeah, me neither. Because the Kentucky job
under normal circumstances isn’t exactly a stepping stone to building a
legendary coaching career. Think I’m wrong? Whatever happened to
Charlie Bradshaw? John Ray? Fran Curci? Jerry Claiborne retired. Bill
Curry went into broadcasting. Hal Mumme…never mind. And Guy
Morriss got the hell out of town. Fast. Not since a fellow named Paul
Bryant left Lexington for Tuscaloosa has a Kentucky coach gone on to
bigger and better things. So I have to ask…Has Kentucky hired the
wrong guy every time for the past 50 years? Or is it more likely that trying
to win in the SEC is a tough job, especially at a basketball school in a
football conference. Because not one coach…not one…has left
Kentucky with a winning record in the last forty-four years. The last to do
it? The man who followed Bryant, Blanton Collier. Taking the Kentucky
football job, as it turns out, is a good way to end a career. And everybody
in college football knows it. So for those of you hoping to catch the next
rising star in college football, think again. Most of those guys would like
to have a happy ending to their career.
Given that atmosphere, Mitch Barnhart had to feel extremely fortunate to
snag a terrific veteran coach to fill the vacancy left by Morriss following
the 2002 season. In Rich Brooks Barnhart was getting a man who had
been in the business for four decades, working successfully at both the
collegiate and professional levels of football. I won’t bother you with the
Brooks bio (you can read The Case for Rich Brooks for that), but I can
tell you that Barnhart was getting a man who had been to the Rose Bowl
and the Super Bowl. And there aren’t a lot of those guys running loose
for the hiring. And I can’t tell you what Barnhart’s exact thinking was, but
I would guess the thing he was most impressed with when evaluating
Brooks was his willingness to stay with the job of building a program
until it was finished.
Because that is exactly what Brooks had done at Oregon. He built the
program. From nothing. And that is the very job description he had
when signing on at Kentucky. And boy do I know that will offend the hell
out of some Kentucky fans. Tough. You can tell me about a renovated
Commonwealth Stadium and the Nutter Center and all the support the
Kentucky football team has. And I will tell you that none of those things
seem to impress Florida, Georgia, or Tennessee very much. There was
no semblance of a successful Southeastern Conference football
program in place at UK when Rich Brooks took the job. Period. The
word rebuilding gets thrown around all the time. You can’t rebuild
something that isn’t there. This was a building job staring Rich Brooks
in the face. Which is why he is, as he has always been, the perfect guy
for the job. Eighteen years he stayed at Oregon. It took him twelve years
just to get them to a bowl. And by that 18th and final season, the Ducks
were the champions of the Pac-10 and playing in Pasadena. Perhaps
more importantly, his successor, Mike Bellotti has taken Brooks’
foundation and continued to build Oregon into a bowl team every year.
The Ducks are currently on pace to make their ninth bowl appearance in
the last ten years.
And I hear the grumbling. Wait twelve years to get to a bowl? Are you
crazy? Maybe. And I am not saying it will take Brooks twelve years to get
the Wildcats to a bowl (I suspect that even he might be ready for some
easy living in another nine years…unless he pulls a Paterno and
coaches forever). But wouldn’t you rather see the program built piece-
by-piece, the right way, into a situation where Kentucky was a both a
SEC contender and a bowl team every year, as opposed to being the
program that occasionally makes a Music City Bowl appearance? Rich
Brooks knows how to get that done.
Rich Brooks also has a talented offensive assistant, much like Bellotti at
Oregon, by his side at Kentucky. You know him as Joker Phillips,
offensive coordinator and former UK wide receiver. Phillips is highly
regarded for his rapport with his players and is known to be an
outstanding recruiter. I can’t think of a better scenario than seeing
Coach Brooks getting a multi-year extension to get things going in the
right direction, and then when he is ready, handing the reigns over to
Coach Phillips. That would provide the sort of seamless continuity that
is required for a program to be a force on the recruiting trail and on the
football field.
When I began preparing research for this column, I was all prepared to
talk about the ridiculous number of injuries Kentucky has dealt with this
season. And it is nearly unbelievable. Wire reports out this week noted
that Kentucky players had undergone 18 surgeries since fall practice. A
total of 13 starters and key reserves have missed a total of 43 games
already this season. That list includes impact players like wide
receivers Keenan Burton (who returned for limited practice yesterday)
and Tommy Cook, defensive tackle Lamar Mills, defensive end Travis
Day, and safety Marcus McClinton. And that list does not include
linebackers Jon Sumrall and Dennis Johnson, cornerback Warren
Wilson, or offensive tackle Aaron Miller…each of whom would have
figured into the Wildcats 2005 plans but have not been with the team
due to injury or for personal reasons.
But I won’t dwell on that issue. Critics of Brooks will simply point to that
as excuse-making. It isn’t of course, because even a team as great as
the New England Patriots can see their performance hampered by a
slew of key injuries. And the ‘Cats weren’t exactly the Patriots to start
with. I could tell you that this team is way too lacking in talent to expect
much more from them. I could tell you that if they had a few more
playmakers on defense that they might be able to get off the field on
third down (opponents are converting a whopping 56% on third down
and hold nearly a ten-minute per game time of possession advantage).
I could tell you that a few more playmakers on defense might allow them
to get to the opposing quarterback more often (only 7 sacks thus far)
and force more turnovers (only 7 of those, too). I could suggest to you
that it is the players dropping the ball, literally (17 fumbles, 12
lost…leading to -9 in the turnover column), and not the coaches. But I
am not going to do any of that. Because that would be a slap in the face
to the kids busting their butts every day trying to do better. They don’t
deserve that from me…or from you, for that matter.
There will be many who suggest that I am just a Big Blue face-painter or
a UK propaganda pusher, but neither could be further from the truth. It
is true that I grew up a die-hard UK fan, but once I was old enough to
compete on the same field with the ‘Cats (in baseball), it was time to put
that hero-worship away. And the last time I had a seat in
Commonwealth Stadium, I had the opportunity to listen to many of the
Wildcat “faithful” boo my long-time friend, Pookie Jones while he was
under center for UK. I have never forgotten that, obviously, so pardon
me if I simply chuckle when I hear some of those same faithful calling
for the head of Rich Brooks. You have no idea what you are talking
about.
And don’t think for a minute that I am painting all Kentucky fans with the
same brush. I have heard from enough of you on the original Brooks
column to know that there are many Kentucky fans squarely behind the
coaching staff. And I do respect the opinion and viewpoint of the
informed fans who seek a new direction. But for those of you who jump
ship every single time things don’t go well…why don’t you just put on
some orange and say, “Go Vols!”?
That’s what Guy Morriss did when things looked bleak. He jumped
ship. Not that I blame him. He seems like a good man and he is
certainly a good football coach. He just didn’t want any part of what was
waiting on him at UK. But Rich Brooks did. He stepped into the breach.
He has done so with passion. I respect what he did at Oregon. I
respect the fact that he put his reputation as a good football coach on
the line to take a very difficult job. And he is still a very good football
coach, you know? He hasn’t forgotten how to coach since he was
recognized as the national coach of the year in 1994. The national
coach of the year. Can you believe Kentucky has one of those on its
sideline? Me neither. So start giving the man the respect he deserves.
Rich Brooks was there for Mitch Barnhart in his time of need. Now it is
time for Mitch to return the favor. Mr. Barnhart, I am suggesting to you
that you should not turn your back on a man who has refused to turn his
on your football program. Do not let boosters run your athletic
department. Don’t force your football coach to defend himself at press
conferences. Don’t allow your student-athletes to worry about who they
will be playing for in 2006. Don’t allow potential recruits to be lost to the
unsettled coaching situation. Give Rich Brooks what he deserves. A
multi-year contract extension. Now.