Mark Stoops goes off about another disappointing season; Admits changes could be made

The Kentucky Wildcats ended another football season in about as disappointing fashion as possible, and Mark Stoops shares your frustration.

During an interview Tuesday afternoon with local media about the state of the football program, Stoops said he was "pissed off" about how his team once again came within a win of making it to a bowl game.

But while Stoops may share your disappointment, he does not share your doubt as to whether this program will reach unprecedented heights under his watch.

"I absolutely firmly know that we can build a winner here and that we will and that our time will come," Stoops said, via Jen Smith of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Nobody is more pissed off when you see bad football on the field than me. I know very clearly what good football looks like. I’ve seen it up close and personal for a long time. We’re going to get that done here."

The good news is Stoops said Kentucky hit a "home run" this past weekend as they hosted 15 football recruits, one of which being new commitment Jordan Bonner. Say what you will about Stoops as a coach, but his ability to sell his vision of Kentucky football is as good as any coach this program has had in quite some time.

But it's hard to see this program taking the next step with the current staff in place. You simply don't regress as much as Kentucky has in two straight seasons without needing some kind of staff changes, whether that's rearranging the staff and/or re-designating responsibilities.

Something has to change, and Stoops admitted, "Of course. There’s change every year in most programs." However, Stoops wouldn't reveal any moves that could possibly be made, and made it sound as though he's still in the evaluation stage of what to do with his staff.

"I’m not prepared to really talk about that," Stoops said. "I’m never going to just make decisions — I’m dealing with people’s lives. It affects a lot of people in this program and everything we’re doing moving forward. I will do what makes sense and what’s best for this program in my best opinion and not be influenced by anybody else. I think it’s fair to say you have to evaluate everything, and, yes, we’re in the middle of looking into all that."

With college football coaches now being in a dead period for recruiting that lasts until January 13th, this is when we'll start to see an onslaught of coaching changes being made. That will likely include UK, but when is untelling. It could be any minute now, or it may not be until January.

Stoops isn't going to fire guys just for the heck of firing them. If there's not a suitable upgrade on the market, he's not going to risk firing a guy and then ending up with someone who could end up a downgrade.

In other words, have some patience, but know Stoops is trying to make this the kind of program you want.