There is no sugarcoating this. Kentucky’s loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday is debilitating for a program trying to reach the next level and compete for a championship in the SEC. No disrespect to the Commodores who came to play, but losing a game like this at home is just inexcusable.
There was a time when six-win and bowl-eligible seasons were celebrated. However, this program has reached a level where that is no longer good enough. For that, Mark Stoops deserves a lot of credit. With that being said, the Wildcats were expected to be serious contenders this season for the SEC East with the likes of Georgia and Tennessee.
So with that, it is fair to say and also fair for fans to feel that this season has been a major disappointment. Sure, theoretically speaking, eight regular wins are still on the table and this conversation can change.
However, with the Bulldogs coming up and Louisville being far from a lock, eight wins seem unlikely and even seven wins feel difficult. With this, there is a hard reality that the big blue nation must face. Kentucky football is at a crossroads, which leads to one question. Where do the Wildcats go from here?
Let’s start with the defense. Although Brad White’s unit struggled yesterday, let’s be real. Brad White’s unit has carried this team all season long and has done so at a high level. The defense has been the one unit you could hang your hat on all season long. This unit is not the problem.
Special teams have been a disaster. Long snapping has been an issue throughout the year and has affected the kicking game in a major way. Kicker Mark Ruffalo has been pretty solid throughout his career as a Wildcat. His issues go back to long snapping and timing. Maybe it is time to finally consider hiring a full-time and dedicated special teams coach.
Without a doubt, however, there is one elephant in the room that must be corrected before this program can ever make the long-awaited jump and become serious contenders. The offense has to come up to snuff if Kentucky ever wants to make real noise in the SEC. Of course, this falls back on the offensive coordinator, however, at this point, it may go even deeper than that.
It is almost a certainty at this point that offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello will be let go at the end of the season. Though it is not fact as of this moment, it is the most likely scenario. With that, it is also time that head coach Mark Stoops begins to consider that his offensive philosophy requires some soul-searching of its own.
This is a conversation all in itself and with a lot to unpack, so where do we begin? Let’s start with Stoops himself. The face of the program has been Mark Stoops for quite a while now and what he has done for this program has been nothing short of amazing. With that, there has been more rumbling of Stoops actually looking elsewhere than maybe in any prior season. Many think that Stoops has peaked in Lexington, however, that is not a fact but rather a speculation. No one knows for sure and won’t until seasons end, however, It is still more likely than not that Stoops will still be calling the shots for Kentucky football for the foreseeable future, as he should be.
With that assumption, the question remains, where does the offense go from here? That is where we come back to Mark Stoops and his philosophy of what an offense should look like. Things have changed dramatically in the SEC during Stoops’s tenure. Ground and pound offense teamed with good defense used to be enough to compete at a high level. However, the SEC has evolved over that time period. For example, there used to be a time when the Air Raid offense couldn’t work in the SEC, at least at a highly competitive level. However, that narrative has changed and it is no longer the case.
Now, does this mean that Mark Stoops needs to bring the Air Raid back to Lexington? Not necessarily, however, it doesn’t mean he should automatically dismiss it either. The biggest thing here is that in order for Kentucky to compete at the highest level, the Wildcats need to be able to be explosive and multi-dimensional on offense. The running game still has its place, that is not up for debate, although returning to a power-gap blocking scheme should be. However, an explosive passing attack is what is going to put the ball in the end zone consistently.
Stoops needs to find an offensive coordinator that he can trust. He needs a play-caller that he can turn that side of the ball over to in complete confidence, and respectfully, he needs to stay out of the way. You have heard of the old saying, offense sells tickets? Explosive offense also sells to recruits and that is something that is vastly important right now. Not just in the future, but to current recruits and players already on the roster as well.
Speaking of recruiting, NIL is a priority and let no one change your mind on that. With a major NIL announcement set to be made this week, reportedly, losing to Vandy makes for some bad timing. It is going to be hard to ask for money for a program coming off the worst loss in the Stoops era. However, it is a sale you have to find a way to make. Simply put, the future of any success for this program relies on a proper NIL program. There is no future without it.
It is a dark time in Lexington as of the time of this writing, however, it doesn’t have to be the end. Kentucky football needs a big bounceback in a major way. That being said, all is not lost. However, there is a lot of work to be done to get back on the right track. So buckle up big blue nation, even though this season isn’t over yet, this may be the biggest and most important off-season in the history of Kentucky football.
Larry Spicer will produce a weekly column covering both the University of Kentucky Basketball and Football programs for the L4 Security 13th Region Media Network. He is a resident of Corbin, and is married with two daughters. He is a communications major at Eastern Kentucky University and has covered football from the NFL to College since 2017.
