After three straight losses, Kentucky football is at a point they haven’t been in quite some time. They’re all but eliminated from bowl contention, and fans have mostly decided the season is over.
It has been a frustrating year, and one that has fans feeling some anger over the direction of the program. Many are ready to move on from Mark Stoops as head coach.
These are the reasons that USA TODAY Sports analyst Dan Wolken has Kentucky football atop the misery index rankings this week.
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Wolken correctly points out that Stoops is one of the ten highest paid coaches in college football, and fans expect more after all this time. Wolken says:
He makes $9 million a year and is among the 10 highest-paid coaches in the country, largely because he’s turned down multiple opportunities to leave. You’d probably stay too for that kind of contract, the theory being that life will be good if you win seven or eight games. Unlike most fan bases in the SEC, Kentucky fans are never going to expect a national championship in football.
It’s an interesting situation with Kentucky football. Few people believe a national championship is on the horizon, but sometimes a staleness sets in, especially when the standards set aren’t being met.
Wolken add:
Stoops can be forgiven for a bad season, which this clearly has become. But after a dozen years, it’s easy to lose a fan base’s enthusiasm for struggling to make minor bowl games and losses to South Carolina, Vanderbilt and a bad Auburn team.
Kentucky will try to close the season strong, and maybe Stoops can win some of the fanbase back. Right now, however, Wildcats fans are certainly pretty miserable.