University of Kentucky Football: What Did The Draft Tell Us?

Randall Cobb taken as the last player in the second round sent a message to UK Football. Or at least it should. Derrick Locke’s back problems aside, it should be telling us a whole lot. We have a lot of folks griping and complaining about money on both sides of this scoreboard thing, but that is not the reason for my concern here. My concern is that we might lose the momentum that the Kentucky Football program has gained over the last few years.

Rich Brooks brought UK Football kicking and screaming into the 21st century. He made tough decisions, made tougher rules, and made UK take a long hard look at football and how the University of Kentucky wants to operate in the SEC. He had to compromise what he really wanted because he understood far better than most of us what it was going to take to change the culture of the University of Kentucky. We are a basketball school after all, and we didn’t want anyone messing with our legacy and rightful place in the NCAA and SEC as the kings of our realm. But Rich did it anyway. And someone needs to keep it going. Joker Phillips has a monumental task ahead of himself even if he had all the funding and support in the world, which he does not.

So why is a scoreboard so important? IT is important because Commonwealth Stadium is NOT Rupp Arena. Commonwealth Stadium has taken a backseat to Rupp since the day it opened. And so has the football program. Since the days of Adolph Rupp and Bear Bryant, football has been the red-headed step-child of the University of Kentucky. The decision was made years ago when Adolph Rupp had just come off of three championship seasons in four years and was king of all things bluegrass. So the Bear went packing off to Texas A & M and we all know where the story goes from there. Football needs more than basketball just to get on equal footing at Kentucky. But alas, that is not going to happen. Mitch Barnhart is trying valiantly to continue the work started under Brooks, and so is Joker. But we need to support them in their efforts. We need to give them the ability to recruit and interact with collegiate hopefuls on the same level as the Florida’s and the Alabama’s. But we cannot do that by half-heartedly piece-mealing Commonwealth Stadium. Mitch knows it, the fans know it, and so do the powers that be. But they are trying anyway. And if we do not at least attempt to support them in their efforts, then we do not deserve to call ourselves Kentucky Wildcat fans.

We have to quit rationalizing the way things are handled at UK. Let’s just start calling things what they are. If we can admit that there is a problem, then maybe we can start working towards a solution. IF we want to see NFL Draft picks playing football at UK, we have to recruit them. IF we want to recruit them, we have to have something to offer that is comparable to other SEC schools. and IF we want to do that, we need to start somewhere. Rich Brooks and Mitch Barnhart did that. And now the work needs to continue under Mitch and Joker’s program. If someone wants to equate all of that to the almighty dollar, then so be it. But there is an underlying tone here that is not only unnecessary, it is flying in the face of trying to be a successful program. Let’s stop that now. Before it gets any worse than it is now.

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans