Kentucky quarterback Ryan Mossakowski is transferring from Kentucky. LEX 18 has a good article on his transfer. It's pretty much for the reasons you would expect, and if Phillips and Sanders were actually surprised that he decided to leave, they really need to pay more attention.
More after the jump.
I fretted about this possibility back during the Akron game, and now it comes disappointingly from concern to reality. I think almost everybody commented on the fact that Mossakowski got zero snaps during the BBVA Compass Bowl, and certainly Ken expressed his disappointment in the postmortem, as many have in the comments.
I don't know what Phillips thought Mossakowski was. He was one of the top-ranked quarterbacks out of high school, and if Phillips thought he was going to play a backup role to Morgan Newton, and sit on the bench for two more years for a chance at one year of starting, then he needs somebody to remind him where he is coaching. This is not Tennessee, and we do not get to put Rivals 4* quarterbacks on the bench for three seasons. It just doesn't work that way, and never has.
Some people may not recognize it for what it is, but this is a giant negative for Phillips, possibly even bigger than the losing season we just suffered through. Mossakowski was seen by many Kentucky fans, rightly or wrongly, as the guy most likely to make an impact. But Phillips never gave him a chance, and sent a clear signal to Mossakowski in the BBVA Compass Bowl that he was the backup for the foreseeable future, and absolutely nobody should be surprised at his transfer.
If Phillips has some high-profile misses on National Signing Day, he could wind up one more disappointing season away from the hot seat, and that's quite an amazing feat for a guy who took over a program in good shape just last year.