Eric Wolford with UK offensive line commit Darrin Strey.
I have never quite got the fascination that Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has with offensive line coach Eric Wolford other than they are both from Youngstown, Ohio.
Wolford is old school with his coaching style and has worked at 10 different schools since 1995, including Kentucky and South Carolina twice.
He came to Kentucky in 2021 when the Wildcats went 10-3 and then abruptly left after the season to take a job at Alabama. Kentucky coaches were not thrilled with the way he left and from all I was told he never said goodbye to any UK players.
He spent two years at Alabama — and was not a fan favorite. When Nick Saban retired, Wolford was not retained on the Alabama staff and in a very surprising move, Stoops fired UK offensive line coach Zach Yenser a few weeks after giving him a raise/contract extension and brought back Wolford.
Kentucky’s offensive line play left a lot to be desired in last week’s 31-6 loss to South Carolina. Pass protection was lacking against South Carolina’s edge rushers and the offensive line had several penalties. Starters Jager Burton and Gerald Mincey both suffered injuries.
Despite the criticism of the offensive line, Stoops doubled down on Wolford at Monday’s press conference.
“I have unbelievable confidence in Coach Wolf,” Stoops said. “Especially the way he recruits, the way he coaches, and we just gotta continue to build that up over three, four years.”
I don’t remember Wolford leaving a loaded offensive line behind when he left UK for Alabama. Instead, he stuck with a small, set lineup his one year at UK and left an inexperienced offensive line behind for the 2022 season.
This year UK returned three starters and added two transfer starters for Wolford to mold but even Stoops admitted Monday no one on the offensive line graded highly against South Carolina.
“It’s not for lack of effort all the time, some of it is things that I preach all the time, we have to just be mentally on point, 100 percent of the time and that’s what we have to get back to this week, just making sure we have a game plan that they can execute and operate and hold everybody accountable to do that,” Stoops said.
Well, maybe everyone except Wolford since Stoops gave him a huge vote of confidence.
8 Responses
This has been Stoops biggest problem. He recruits assistants who see the game the same way he does and call the game the same way he would. In essence, he hires Yes Men who will not question his philosophy of the game. Then he backs them even in the face of failure and refuses to make a change until his own job is on the line.
His second biggest problem is that he does not develop players and make them better. He runs limited player rotations which would keep fresh bodies on the field and allow substitutes to get actual game experience. It would also result in fewer injuries and bring in better prepared replacements when injuries do occur.
His third biggest problem is having no clue about how to run a high octane offense. This results in Kentucky having second and third tier talent at the quarterback position since the better quarterbacks are going to the schools where they can shine. Tied to this issue is not being able to develop quarterbacks and offensive linemen. He does a good job with running backs, but that often results in being predictable and one dimensional. The top teams today are doing it through the air and we are getting left behind.
The last problem I see with Stoops is probably his biggest downfall…he plays not to lose instead of playing to win. That seems to indicate a lack of confidence in his team and his coaches.
Stoops is the most overpaid coach in college football. I think he has reached his peak here at Kentucky and things will only yo-yo at best. I hope he will prove me wrong by resurrecting this season. If he doesn’t, then it’s time to make a change, but Barnhart will not fire people. He will let them struggle along until they leave on their own choosing. That means double digit win seasons in football will be few in the foreseeable future.
Clearly philosophy trumps performance when choosing Assistant coaches for Mark Stoops. One thing is certain, however, if Barnhardt allows the football program to atrophy to the same level that he allowed it to fall when the fans stopped filling up Kroger field under Joker Phillips, Football as a program will be done at KY.
This all may be a moot point because of the new lawsuit filed against the NCAA and UM by a few past Michigan players. If they win that suit, football as an enterprise may well be a losing proposition for the majority of schools. Why, because the flood gates will be open at every school for past players to sue and collect damages. When NIL was instituted, I commented on these pages that this would happen.
Good post but why only football? Won’t floodgates be opened by other former players in other sports?
I did see where former players were getting $ going back to 2016. Why are they cutting off there?
Stoops doesn’t seem to recruit players that can run what he wants to run. UK has the makings of a high octane passing game, but Stoops has never been a coach that really wants to play that style of ball. Stoops would rather play smash mouth football and run as much time off the clock as you can. If Stoops could, he would be the Dean Smith 4 corner King of football. Hold that ball and score last.
Wolford hasn’t impressed me at UK or Alabama. The Alabama fans were thrilled he wasn’t retained. Playing favorites with friends is one of the quickest ways to ruin a coaching career or a business. Just doesn’t work because you overlook things from them that you wouldn’t from someone else.
Chjoker was a master at hiring /keeping friends on the payroll. He kept the worst DC in the nation in spite of the ridiculously poor performances.
Stoops hiring back someone who literally ran away in the dark is pathetic!
Hiring the OC in 2022 was the start of the unraveling & downfall of the Stoops era. The “complex” schemes on offense were supposed to confuse the opponent, but instead confused everyone on offense. Players could not run routes and were confused where to go & when to go & what to do.
If Stoops had been alert and on top of the game of FB, he would have recognized it was a mistake hiring that complex OC and should have sent him packing before Spring Training was over. Surely he saw some of the problems in August. It only took 1 game for some fans to see the problem and only a few games for 9% of the fans to see the problem, but Stoops stood by and watched UK offense unravel game after game, until it was too late to stop the damage. By bowl time, Stoop made the mistake even worse by giving Marrow (a great recruiter but definitely NOT an OC !!!) the 1 game interim job of making sure the UK FB program really stunk before the end of the calendar year.
UK has never recovered from those ridiculous schemes which rattled and baffled UK FB. 2023 was just more of the same befuddled running of passing routes & more of the absence of cornerbacks worth a plug nickel.
The SC game is just the continuation of the massive decline and total collapse of UK FB. Other than the DL, a few LBs and less than a handful of offensive players, the UK clubhouse is filled with LOSERS. They have been coddled into thinking they are really good and that they will magically perform the way the inept coaches tell them they will.
UK FB began to fold after Liam Coen left UK the 1st time. He left because of the control freak HC who is clueless about offense!!!
Coen AND his family were excited to return to UK, but the collapse of the offense and collapse of the clubhouse/ locker room was already too far gone for recovery. There was no longer any desire as a whole team to win.
Coen left a 2nd time because whatever deal was agreed upon between he & Stoops regarding letting the OC coach without a DC (Stoops) interfering and locking down the offense.
The first sign of major issues with the UK offense was when the very 1st OC did not produce an offense similar to the offenses he had historically produced & the choice of a pseudo-QB who could not pass beyond 5 yards to be the starter.
UK losing to WKU was the 1st sign that Stoops was not HC material. He is basically illiterate regarding offense!!!
The very first offensive play this season we had to call timeout because nobody knew what they were doing.
I have supported Stoops from the beginning. I want to continue that support that I am still clinging to find confidence in the future. At least for the moment, this is where I am.
However, Little Baron’s summary of the events of the last few seasons appears very solid, and I find nothing to rebut his analysis or conclusion. I can attest that LB has mentioned to me about the significance of that WKU loss shortly after it occurred, and many times since, including his mention in his post. I can also attest that LB’s Big Blue Credentials are deep, long-established, and unwavering.
He, as do I, want UK football to be a national competitor, which by definition means being one of the top tier teams in the SEC nearly every season. Rick Pitino once said that if you fish in the final four pond often enough, you will catch the big fish. Therefore, perennial members of the SEC’s top tier are in the group with legitimate aims on a national championship.
My hesitation on backing away from my support for Stoops is my long standing belief that the job of transforming the UK football program from the ashes that Stoops inherited to a perennial member of the SEC’s top tier requires at least 20 to 25 years, and he is about 12 years into the process. If Stoops is capable of completing this program over the next 8 to 12 years, I believe it will be worth the patience today to get the job done.
It is clear that the issues that LB identifies all speak to why Stoops is not capable of completing the job, in which case, it is time for him to hang up his whistle, and for UK to find the right man to move this program from this point to the obvious goal.
I would agree with you Professor except the evidence over the past 5 years demonstrates that Coach Stoops is drinking his own koolaid. I think he actually believes that he is making KY football better and refuses that accept the fact that he is a defensive coordinator at heart and needs help with offense. The big tell was when he interfered and had the team go for it on 4th and one on his own 30 when he could easily see that the O line wasn’t getting it done. That early in the game, no OC would make that call because the downside far out-weighed that up side.
I have been waiting 3 score and 16 years for KY to have a decent football team. Maybe my grand children will see that day.