Rich Brooks: Resolute Man About Town
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Much has been written and said over the last four days about the sometimes tumultuous seven-year tenure of newly retired Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks. Most of the commentary has been complimentary of Brooks, citing the many "firsts" the program accomplished under his leadership. And although the Wildcats' achievements over the last four years have been, at times, spectacular, I'll leave the "Rich Brooks Seven-Year Review" to others. Instead, I'll focus on the personality characteristics Brooks possesses, which enabled him to fight through the din created by those who wished to see him hang the "Gone Fishin Forever" sign on his office door ... many years ago.
And oh, I might castigate a few folks along the way.
The Problem with the Matter
For most of us, criticism comes unwanted, unwelcome, and many times, unheeded, especially when the critic clearly has no clue, concept, or solid foundation upon which to base his/her evaluation. In Rich Brooks' case, making matters nearly untenable through his first few years on the job, was the public platform available for various short-sighted scribes in which to criticize that which they didn't understand. Adding fuel to the inferno of discontent, the "experts" speaking and writing via the newspaper, radio, or Internet, were oftentimes experienced, seasoned professionals, and lack an excuse when it comes to the vitriol they perpetuated among a fan base unknowing of the situation at hand.
Rich Brooks, through his first three-and-a-half years as head coach of the UK football team, steadfastly endured the miss-applied printed word of those who called for his termination. All the while, stirring the bee hive of discontent even further, some sports journalists went so far as to conduct polls to gauge the UK fan base's interest in impending replacements for the belittled head coach. Brooks, though, instead of loudly crying foul, as some head coaches are wont to do, simply hardened his resolve, and continued the business of implementing his game-plan. A game-plan short on the impossible immediate fix, and long on long-term success.
Coaches less confident in their ability than Brooks would have disassembled the tent, and returned from that which they came, especially a coach in the twilight of his career, but Brooks believed. He believed in himself, his assistants, and the future of Kentucky football. He believed with enough conviction for you, me, and the remaining UK football faithful. And for that, I say, thank you coach Brooks.
The Only Thing That Matters
As a long-time Kentucky football fan, one who has witnessed years of bad luck, hard luck, and no luck at all, the program's resurrection at the hands of Rich Brooks and his very able assistants is, quite frankly, not something I thought I would ever witness. I realize the 'Cats are currently in the infant stage of rebirth, but it's the first time in nearly 60 years, 60 YEARS, that the football program has been able to maintain some semblance of competence over an extended period of time. Simply put, regardless of competition, the 'Cats have more consistently looked like a winner, as opposed to consistently looking like an out-manned outfit. Furthermore, the team has continuously accomplished that standard for four straight years.
For that, Rich Brooks and Mitch Barnhart are to be commended: Brooks for his steadfast ability to do his job in the face of three years of constant scrutiny and criticism, and Barnhart for having the confidence necessary in his hiring decision to ignore the doomsday scenarios painted by those with pens and a platform.
For Those Unhappy Few
For those still unsatisfied with the direction of the football program, and those who cite the negatives related to the Brooks tenure, I have this advice -- Remember where Brooks started from. He took over a program in the throws of probation, greatly reduced scholarships, and a team which had lost to graduation several outstanding seniors, especially on the defensive side of the football. Adding to the dilemma, Brooks' early UK squads were bereft of that which is held dear by all coaches in the SEC ... speed.
Now, seven years later, we've been witness to the construction of a football program worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as other SEC schools. We've been witness to four bowl games, one upset of the No. 1 team in the country, and more program "firsts" than should be allowed by law, to go along with a gaggle of NFL players who call UK their home.
And was this foundation construction completed via the shortcut, aka, NCAA violations? No. Has the foundation construction been completed by a coach no one would want to break bread with in his/her home? No. Rather, we've had the great fortune of watching a man with class, dignity, and sound character rebuild that which had been absent for lo these many years. Brooks has always been easy to root for, because we see in him that which we strive to be.
The Lesson Learned
Short-sighted criticism, especially in today's microwave, 24-hour news cycle world, has become much too prevalent, especially in the realm of sports. The resulting problem is that many times those charged with making the termination decisions succumb to the pressure brought by those who endow, write, and put fannies in seats. Leaving the fans to, instead of witnessing history, suffer through yet another coaching change ... yet another regime challenged with starting over.
And although many of those who cast stones in the general direction of Brooks and his staff have since recanted their earlier testimony, the question remains; Was a lesson learned? Did we learn not to prematurely judge a man and his efforts? Did we learn that sometimes, being out of the loop means being out of touch with the reality of the thing? Did we learn patience?
I suppose no one has the answers to those questions. So the best I can offer to those in possession of the power to alter opinions, is to urge them to please tread lightly, as the one you are emasculating just might be the builder of great things.
Happy Birthday
A very happy birthday to my father-in-law, Joe Morehead. He's 29 ... again!
To read Tru's excellent Georgia game post-mortem, please scroll down the front page.
UPDATE: Former U of L and Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Summers will be joining the Wildcats' football staff, becoming new head coach Joker Phillips' first hire. The Lexington native got his start in coaching at UK under Fran Curci in 1979. Summers is married to Joe B. Hall's daughter.
Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!
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First off, let me start with the injuries report.....
I probably paraphrased that…..lol
Great post Ken. I can add nothing but a recommendation. :-)
Well, maybe I too can wish Joe a Happy, Happy Birthday !!!
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
I never understood the disgruntlement over Brooks
I’m not really a football guy. I watch, I cheer for UK, but I don’t really pay much attention to it outside of games. That said, I could never understand what people had to complain about in the early part of Brooks’ career at UK. I mean, prior to Brooks taking over the UK football tradition was basically Bear Bryant and the random 6/7 win season now and again – what did people honestly expect him to be able to do with a probation-chained team? And even after probation ended it was going to take a while to reverse that inertia and get enough players to actually have a chance to win some games.
Good piece Ken, and the Rich Brooks Era should serve as Exhibit A as to why you give coaches much more than 2-3 years before you even begin to start contemplating the possibility of maybe thinking about getting a new coach.
3 > 2, except for very large values of 2.
Theanks JLev
I have to say, and I try not to pat myself on the back too much, but I never left Brooks’ side. Like you, I never understood why sportswriters, who should know better, didn’t realize the rebuilding job Brooks undertook was massive, and was going to take time.
It may have stemmed from the fact that many fans hated the hire from the outset, and many writers were extremely leery of Brooks’ ability to reinvigorate a moribund college football porgram.
by Ken Howlett on Jan 10, 2010 12:14 AM EST up reply actions
The year of "Should have been"...
I hate it that Papa left after this year, especially since I think he was a bit snake-bitten this season… I know that injuries are part of the game, but we had some key hurts this year and I really think they affected the team more than has been admitted to…
Jarmon – Know that wasn’t an injury, but we lost him for the year and hey, he’s good enough to play in the NFL!
Lindley – Lost our All-American corner for what, 4 games??
Maxwell – Out the Bowl game… Think he would have made a difference??
Hartline – What team recovers from the loss of their QB, regardless of how good/bad you think he is??
Enjoy your fishin’ Mr Brooks, we’ll miss ya!!
If your wings don't sweep....
Very good column, Ken.
There’s something that Kentucky fans that expect better than they’re getting right can learn from the Gamecocks. It takes a lot to move up in the SEC. In the East, we have to jump Florida (perennial top five), Georgia (consistently hovering around top 25, often in the mix for a title), and Tennessee (struggling now but very talented). And of course the two of us have to deal with each other and Vandy. It’s not easy. I can say as a Gamecock that we’ve felt we’ve been on the verge of breaking through for several years now, but it’s tough, tough, tough for programs like ours. We’ve had top 10 recruiting classes under two HOF coaches, but to no fruition.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
Keep fighting the good fight, 'Cats. One day, one of us will win an SEC title.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 9, 2010 11:18 PM EST up reply actions
Thanks G Man
We appreciate you stopping by.
We’ve been talking for quite a while about how tough it is to make progress in the toughest division of college football. It’ll take time, and maybe a bit of luck, but it can be done.
Good luck this BB season.
by Ken Howlett on Jan 10, 2010 12:09 AM EST up reply actions
"Top 10 recruting classes under 2 HOF coaches"
now that is saying something to the situation as a whole. Even 2 top 10 classes in 10 seasons is not enough to change everything to fix the problems…….it takes consistent improvement in all areas to compete for a title in the SEC.
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
The thing with recruiting is that...
Even though we’ve had a couple of top 10 classes and generally don’t finish outside of the top 25, UGA and Tennessee almost always finish in the top 10 and rarely lower than 15. The Gators (and Alabama and LSU in the West) are then on an even higher plane, generally filling their commitment lists with nothing but four- and five-star, nationally recruited prospects. Some of those numbers are a sham, as it’s well-known that recruiting services will bump recruits up just by virtue of their signing with a name-brand school. Still, the difference is telling, and it doesn’t exist to the same extent in the other conferences. It makes it hard to move up.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 10, 2010 4:42 PM EST up reply actions
League is out of balance to say the least......conferences are balanced ok I guess
but with LSU and Bama on one side, and Florida, UT, and Georgia on the other…..its like climbing MT Rushmore to find out you still have to go up Kilimanjaro when youre done
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
Good points Ken, but you know I'm going to differ!
Ken, you have listed several positive comments about Brooks and of course, I’m going to point out some things you might want to consider.
First the bowl games. It takes six wins to get to a bowl game. The addition of the 12 game gave Brooks the ability to schedule an extra game. Of course it gave everyone else the same ability to do so. That contributed to the number of bowls we have now,34, and next year there will be at least two more added. The more games you play, and especially outside the conference the bettrer chance to get to the sixth and seventh win.
Since the addition of the 12th game we have of course, filled it wth a ‘win game. Each year we have gone to a bowl we olayed at least one and when Western was in transition, I/2 of a Division AA school which we got to count as a Division A game. That season we won six, with none of the wins coming against a team with a winning record. That is the year of the imfamous ’’tickled to death’ statement made by both Barnhart and Brooks in Knoxville after losing to Tennessee.
The best team Brooks had, in my opinion was the Woodson crew. By his own admission he revealed that most of that team was recruited by Guy Morriss’ group. He did add Tamme late. Brooks was hired in late December and would have had a difficult time to get a staff together and make a difference in the recruiting for the fall.
If you wish go back and look at the archives of football records at the UK site and notice that Jerry Claiborne, who came in after a scandal ridden Fran Curci tenture, lost every game his first year. if the current standards we have today, in Brooks time of 34 bowl games and with the same possibility to play a 12th game against a ‘win’ team his Cat’s would have been eligible for SEVEN bowls. Of course he didn’t have that opportunity but again what a difference that 12th game would have made.
Woodson’s senior year I believe was his high point in SEC wins. He won four.
Bill Curry in 1993 won four also but we love to bash him. He beat LSU, OLE Miss, Mississippi and South Carolina.
If you go back to the archieves also you might want to notice neither Claiborne of Curry played a Division AA school during the tenture at Kentucky.
You might also notice that both of the coaches played LSU every year they were at Lexington. Not until later did the make the sixth SEC game a rotating one among the WEST teams. All three coaches have the good fortunes to play Miss State every year.
When Claiborne went to his first bowl ther wss a total of 16 that year. The year Curry went there were 18.
I don’t think Brooks was a bad coach. But I don’t think altered the UK program as much as others think.
In closing, if you wish, go to Rival.com and look at the rankings for the recruting in the SEC.
If you look at the average number of stars for the teams in the conference, not the number sign but were the clsss ranks you will find UK is last in the listings.
We/ve been to four bowls and we have heard how much that is going to improve our recruiting. When’s it going to start?
We didn’t have to go back 60 years to find Claiborne’s record.
I accept you findings and I still have an opposing opinion. That’s what makes these boards interesting and fun.
I wish Brooks a long live and hope he and his family enjoy his retirement.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Your comment
“If you look at the average number of stars for the teams in the conference, not the number sign but were the clsss ranks you will find UK is last in the listings.” is precisely what makes Brooks accomplishments stand out. He had the ability to find the players passed over by the big name teams and develop them into competitors. We most likely will never be able to take top recruits away from Florida, Tennessee, and the like. Coach Brooks took us to the level from which Joker gets to build. Here’s hoping he takes us to bigger and better accomplishments.
Interesting you bring up Claiborne
The similarities between Claiborne and Brooks are striking. Both coaches were brought in to “clean up the program” after NCAA penalties from the previous coach, both coaches had extensive head coaching experience before being hired at the twilight of their career, Claiborne was 41-46-3 while Brooks was 39-46, both coaches retired after finishing their last year a game over .500 and both ended with the respect of the fan base for their honest, driven work in reestablishing the integrity of the program.
I agree with your assessment of the importance of the 12th game in achieving bowl eligibility for Claiborne’s teams but you must also consider the times in which each coach ran the team. When Claiborne was coaching at UK, football was not the national pastime (read $$) that it has become today. Perennial powerhouses had been dominating football for years, held the attention of fans and the low number of bowls reflected that perception. You could easily find division I teams to beat without delving into Division II because so few institutions dedicated the resources to winning football. The return didn’t justify the investment when so few bowls were available, television contracts were paltry and athletic infrastructures were spartan by today’s standard (# seats, luxury suites, practice facilities, etc.).
Fast forward to present day and you have MBAs running athletic departments, huge budgets, TV contracts, athletic company money, baby boomer alumni money and multimillion dollar facilities. Sports is much more a business and the competition has gotten cut-throat. Could Claiborne have done what Brooks has done or done better? We’ll never know. Their successes were both good for their era but can’t really be directly compared anymore than you can directly compare atheletes from different eras.
I don't think Ken mentioned any other
coaches in this very nice piece. He was talking about Rich Brooks and what he inherited and how he turned the program around. Paris, you live in Florida and you see that crappy schedule they play out of conference every year. They do play FL State and we play UL. I understood the hiring of Brooks because I have hired a lot of people in my day and I have had to fire quite a few also. Nobody really wanted the job and Barnhart felt comfortable with him because he knew what he was getting. A steady, experienced, and a guy that wouldn’t cheat. I hung with Brooks but will admit after UK got embarrassed by LSU that it wasn’t working out. Well, we know the rest of the story and Brooks certainly didn’t deserve to be fired with his record since that game. The guy can coach and it is a shame he never got to coach a team that has a big budget like most of the SEC teams have.
I think Coach Brooks
- gave stability and strong leadership to the head coaching position
- conducted himself as a man of character, and a true professional
- presided over some of our school’s most exciting football victories
- instituted a feeling of “consistency” in our program
- is leaving the program in better shape than he found it
However, Paris’ points about the bowls are absolutely valid.
Even with the “Daily Double” of (1) a ridiculously high number of bowls and (2) an extra “buy win” on the schedule, we are still on the outer edge of the post season- with UK fans now being able to drive to Nashville in their sleep. Throw the UofL game back into play, and we may soon be pushed off the outer edges, even.
We just simply do not have a program that is in a position to take advantage of any wiggle room, however narrow, towards moving up in league play. The other programs are just too big. And too good. And have too much money to spend. Sort of like us in basketball.
The proof of that? Take a coach like Brooks, a man who I definitely admire for what he accomplished here (see the bullet list above), and then take a look at his career record against each of the SEC teams not named ‘Vanderbilt’.
Given the commitment of resources that UK either has, or is willing to spend, Coach Brooks clearly did an admirable job and gave the program its money’s worth.
I wish him a very, very happy retirement.
by Sonic on Jan 10, 2010 6:23 AM EST reply actions
Summers New Cat OL Coach
Joe B. Hall’s son-in-law (Summers probably tires of hearing that) returns to the Commonwealth. Does that portend a change in offense scheme?
"Learn(ing) without thinking begets ignorance. Think(ing) without learning is dangerous."
-Confucius
He's got a tough job in front of him...
We lose 4 out of the 5 O-line starters, right?? And they will be key to any success we have next year!
If your wings don't sweep....
To be fair to those that wanted Brooks canned
The performance of the UK team during Brooks’s first couple years was AWFUL at times. In particular, I’m thinking of that football abortion we showed against Ohio University when they spanked us at home – no SEC team, no matter how bereft of talent, should lose to a middling MAC team like that. So while in hindsight it seems clear that Brooks was doing it the “right way,” there was precious little evidence to support that earlier in his tenure. I would posit that the majority of teams playing like UK did early in Brooks’s reign do not all of a sudden turn it around like we did – rather, they sink further and further into the muck.
Kudos to Barnhart for sticking by his man and seeing what others could not, but it’s a little unfair to criticize (in retrospect) those that were going by the only evidence available – what they saw on the field.
It's time. . .
That is
the problem with fans and in this case the sportswriters. All they see and care about is instant gratification. In football it takes 2 to 3 years to begin to turn a team around, unlike basketball which can turn on a dime (16 and 0 case in point). Unfair to criticize the criticizers? Now that is a double standard!!!!!
interesting, notice strength of schedule
1 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 80.48 81.07 ( 1) TEAMS= 12 80.87 ( 1)
FINAL College Football 2009 through games of 2010 January 7 Thursday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here
HOME ADVANTAGE= 3.31 RATING W L SCHEDL VS top 10 | VS top 30 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR
1 Alabama A = 100.25 14 0 77.28( 2) 3 0 | 7 0 | 103.11 1 | 97.87 1
2 Florida A = 95.75 13 1 75.39( 15) 1 1 | 4 1 | 96.44 2 | 94.68 2
13 LSU A = 84.22 9 4 76.64( 5) 0 3 | 3 4 | 83.74 14 | 84.21 13
18 Arkansas A = 82.49 8 5 75.93( 12) 0 2 | 1 5 | 81.60 19 | 82.93 19
19 Mississippi A = 82.38 9 4 72.47( 46) 0 1 | 2 2 | 81.63 18 | 82.68 20
26 Georgia A = 80.08 8 5 76.22( 7) 0 1 | 3 2 | 80.32 24 | 79.38 29
27 Auburn A = 79.43 8 5 75.22( 17) 0 1 | 1 4 | 80.38 22 | 78.09 33
36 Tennessee A = 77.96 7 6 74.80( 21) 0 3 | 1 5 | 76.03 44 | 79.62 27
43 South Carolina A = 76.43 7 6 76.92( 4) 0 2 | 2 5 | 76.75 41 | 75.66 48
45 Mississippi State A = 76.04 5 7 78.52( 1) 0 2 | 1 6 | 75.89 45 | 75.72 47
47 Kentucky A = 75.35 7 6 73.38( 35) 0 2 | 2 3 | 74.25 50 | 76.02 44
104 Vanderbilt A = 62.47 2 10 74.89( 20) 0 1 | 0 5 | 59.95 114 | 64.59 95
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
we will find out soon enough......
“And although many of those who cast stones in the general direction of Brooks and his staff have since recanted their earlier testimony, the question remains; Was a lesson learned? Did we learn not to prematurely judge a man and his efforts? Did we learn that sometimes, being out of the loop means being out of touch with the reality of the thing? Did we learn patience?”
….with Joker. How long does he get? Not as long a leash as Brooks? Bit longer? Bout as long as Gillispie if it can be proved he’s a detriment to the U? What stones are laying around and how close to to them are we? It’s going to be amusing to watch this the next few years. Nice job as always Ken.
I have kleptomania,
but when it gets bad,
I take something for it.
Joker will have a really long "reality of the matter" leash
.
If Joker were to be given a “performance” leash it would be:
- overall leash: reasonably long. He is a new coach, after all.
- conference leash: very long. This hasn’t changed in 1,000 years.
- U of L leash: not long. Most observes would say that Brooks has left Joker with a stronger hand than Krag left Strong. If we start a bowl drought, and Strong is beating Joker regularly, this will be a problem for him. But ultimately, how big?
But the “reality of the matter” leash is:
- reality leash: very long. Dr. Todd is not going to go out and spend money on a higher watts football coach. He will be content with Joker.
I think Joker is in for the long haul at UK. And vice versa.
by Sonic on Jan 10, 2010 1:39 PM EST up reply actions
If Strong beats UK regularly
that means he is going to win a lot of games in the Big East. If those are his results we will not have to worry about him for long. UL is strictly a stepping stone job for him and for anybody for that matter.
I absolutely disagree with this
.
Louisville had more first downs and total yards, and almost beat us this year…. and they only won ONE game in the Big East.
Improving enough to turn the tables on the series with us, and improving enough to “win a lot of games in the Big East” are not the same thing.
I do agree that the Louisville job is just a stepping stone. There is no doubt about that.
by Sonic on Jan 10, 2010 2:03 PM EST up reply actions
We were far superior to UL in football this year
as we are far superior to GA in basketball. I recall yesterdays game being a little close for comfort. We were not better than GA this year in football but we beat them and the same probably goes for Auburn. Arkansas was inferior in football to UF but for some bad calls in UF’s favor UF won. One game does not tell the true story.
I have said it before that I do
not have high hopes for next season considering the loss of the many lineman on both sides of the ball plus the linebackers. Football and especially the SEC is won in the trenches and any running back struggles without an offensive lineman. The loss of all of the offensive line is going to make it hard on the QB as well. The second year of Jokers tenure should tell the story. I believe Joker gets three years to show that he can have more wins than losses and hopefully by then the powers to be find dome money to upgrade our football situation.
Terrell Combs Comes Home To UK
Former Bryan Station star leaves Gophers for Cats. Will help DL in future.
"Learn(ing) without thinking begets ignorance. Think(ing) without learning is dangerous."
-Confucius
We're not ready to play the other major conferences yet
I just checked the final standings and rankings for Kentucky’s three ‘buy’ wins next season.
Akron (MAC) 137
Western Kentucky (Sunbelt) 182
Charleston Southern (AA) 187
I see we are talking about playing schools from the Big 10, Big !2, and so on.
Wouldn’t that mess up Barnhart’s formula to respecfibiliy and bowl eligibiliy?
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Guy Morris?
While there was some haters vis a vie the hiring of Coach Brooks, the real astonishment was that they did not just pay Guy Morris, who had a relative measure of success, and seemed to have everything headed in the right direction. In hindsight that was a good move, but at the time , I could not understand why they just didn’t pay Guy Morris and move on.
"Ignorance, I can fix, stupidity, well that's another matter!"-82nd Airborne NCO
I was in the camp that wanted Morriss to stay,
but of course it’s not unusual for new AD’s to want to get their own guy.
Me too.
In fact I caught barnhart in Fayetteville at the UK/Ark basketball game after it happened and unloaded on him. If I had it to do over I would really unload.
nice point
I don’t know it to be the reason, but I’m sure someone on here will say they do, but most athletic directors what to have their hirings in place. There may have been other reasons for Morriss leaving, but I agree with you, the results of his second year looked favorable.
Barnhart hired Brooks so he was going to ride that horse as long as he could. He OK’d the coach in waiting with Phillips because Brooks brought the idea to him.
Then there is the Gillispie hiring. But since I don’t claim to know anything about Basketball I leave that hiring to the ‘experts’ , aka AllBlueCat, to explain.Please tell us.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
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