Do the Kentucky Wildcats realize how crucial December 29th really is?
By Paul Jordan
Dec 2, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats Athletic director Mitch Barnhart spoke to reporters during a press conference introducing Mark Stoops as the new football coach at Kentucky in the Nutter Field House. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
I know that over the course of the frustrating football season, a lot of anger was cast at UK AD Mitch Barnhart. However, Barnhart kept to his word and opened up the football wallet for Mark Stoops and given him the funds to put together an impressive staff and Larry Vaught points out that Barnhart deserves credit for the contracts given to the coordinators:
"But what is most impressive is that Barnhart and UK spared no expense for coordinators Neal Brown and D.J. Eliot. Brown, a Boyle County High School graduate, had been offensive coordinator at Texas Tech the last three years and had built an impressive resume with his own version of the Air Raid offense. He was a quick target to hire for Stoops, but other schools also had some interest in Brown. That’s why he was interested in having a three-year contract, something not many schools give coordinators, as well as a raise over his previous salary which was already higher than what previous UK offensive coordinator Randy Sanders made ($338,000). Eliot, the former defensive line coach at Florida State where Stoops was the defensive coordinator, will also make $500,000 — or $162,000 more than Rick Minter made last year. Like Brown, he gets a three-year deal that will expire on June 30, 2016. That’s the same time Brown’s deal will expire. Both coaches will get one month’s salary for an SEC East title and/or invitation to a non-BCS bowl game with a payout less than $2.5 million. They will get one and a half months’ salary for a non-BCS bowl game with a payout of $2.5 million or more. If UK wins a SEC and/or gets a BCS bowl invitation, they get two months’ salary. Those bonuses likely will be included for each UK assistant coach. Brown and Eliot now have salaries on par with what top coordinators in the SEC is paid — and that signals a big step forward for UK. Barnhart wasn’t afraid to give both coaches attractive salaries or guarantee three years. He has to believe if he’s paying Stoops $2.2 million per year for five years, he has to have confidence that the coordinators Stoops wanted will be vital to turning the program around and that giving them a three-year deal instead of two years is smart business rather than a gamble."
Yes, more voting for your Monday and this one, I REALLY want to win. EA Sports has opened up voting for the cover of the next edition of the NCAA Football game and what better way for Kentucky to make a national splash than to be on the cover of the game? Seriously … ALL the recruits play this game 24/7 and if you like to talk to football recruits on twitter and a lot of you do, consider this the ultimate task a fan can do for their school. So go vote here.
Early voting shows Kentucky as a surprising second place team to Alabama in the “A-M” teams, so we are beating teams like Florida, LSU, and yes, Louisville. Last check showed Kentucky beating Louisville 928-73. But it’s not Louisville we are chasing, it’s Alabama. So go vote and let’s give Mark Stoops a huge recruiting boost by putting the Cats on the cover of NCAA Football!!