Kentucky Football: Where is your glass?

My family moved to Kentucky from Pennsylvania when I was two, and I have called the Bluegrass State my home for the last 20+ years. But family values being what they were, my family continued to watch football, and years of gaining family friends and marriages led me to become a fan of the flagship program in the state. But when you combine the two, you come up with a disparaging realization; the Kentucky football program has caused a lot of pain through the years. Being fortunate enough to be a college student for the start and flourish of the Rich Brooks era meant I was in the middle of the frenzy culminating in the 2007 season. But being there also meant I was there for the worst of the times; the beginning of the millennium when we all felt the abandonment of Guy Morris bolting from UK like a embarrassing prom date, and then the dark times of NCAA punishments. The 2002 season, including the Bluegrass Miracle of LSU infamy, was the first experience as a season ticketholder, although I’m sure many of you go much farther back than that. I’ve been following Kentucky football for much longer than that, and although some details of the Claiborne regime escape me, I an still remember the hope and annual disappointment that accompanied it.

Randall Cobb twitters aside, being a pessimist and a realist makes it damn hard to be a UK fan. We’ve been let down so many times it would make a Buffalo Bill fan raise their eyebrow, and it leads to a sort of dark optimism even when we have success. But where is the program going, seriously? Is five straight bowls not enough? Should we be expecting more every year? Let’s examine the program by decade and discuss their relative success for the time, as well as the number of players sent to the NFL (this is used as a measuring stick of the talent within the program

1980’s
Total W-L: 51-69-3 (three ties! We didn’t lose!)
Winning percentage: 41%
Players sent to the NFL: George Adams (RB), Oliver Burnett (DT), Dermonti Dawson (C), Joe Dumbauld (DE), Don Fielder (DE), John Grimsley (LB), Russell Hairston (WR), Carwell Gardner (DE) (Linebacker U? How about D-End U?), Cam Jacobs (LB), Mark Higgs (RB), Ivy Joe Hunter (TB), Joker Phillips (WR), nine others.

1990’s
Total W-L: 54-69 (no more ties!)
Winning percentage: 43%
Players sent to the NFL: Chuck Bradley (DT), Jeff Brady (LB), Melvin Johnson (FS), Tim Couch (QB), Marty Moore (LB), Todd Perry (G), Reggie Rusk (FS), Dean Wells (LB), Moe WIlliams (RB), Craig Yeast (WR), four others.

2000’s
Total W-L: 50-70 (3 games left)
Winning percentage: 42%
Players sent to the NFL: Keenan Burton (WR), Steve Johnson (WR), Chris Demaree (DE), Dennis Johnson (DE), Quentin McCord (WR), Marlon McCree (DB), Myron Pryor (DT), Artose Pinner (RB), Jacob Tamme (TE), five others.

Looking at the progression of our program through these years, one thing could be gleaned from this; we haven’t gotten much better. The success seen in the 80’s was marred by a 0-10-1 season, and we had more talent go pro that decade than any other. The point is, we haven’t been a powerhouse in my lifetime and to expect the Cats to rise to Alabama levels just because we have made a few solid wins is simply pipe-dreaming. We are in the SEC. Even in a year where the offense and defense come out swinging, the probability that all the other teams in the SEC will have down years and lose to us is very low. So enjoy the good wins folks, and move past the losses. The glass is only as full as you perceive it to be.

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