Kentucky Wildcats' associate head coach Vince Marrow jumped on the radio yesterday to talk about Kentucky football. It was an interview that was not well-received, as Big Blue Nation is growing tired of the narratives that Mark Stoops and the rest of the coaching staff continue to spin after mediocre to bad seasons, year after year. The narrative that continues to make Kentucky fans gag is the "it's only one bad season."
It's partly because Kentucky fans are curious if they honestly think that they are that stupid to believe that, or maybe it's simply because they are tired of that being the drum that keeps getting beaten. Not just his year but other years. Kentucky fans aren't buying it, and one fan on X quickly exposed Vince Marrow's tweets to show that he has been promising improvements back to at least 2019.
— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) December 3, 2024
Some pointed out that the final one was about basketball, but that date is irrelevant anyway because he already owns the reality that this year is bad. As you can see, the "we will get this fixed" narrative goes back at least to 2019, maybe further. Now, Mark Stoops is promising a rebuild in year 13. It's insane that they expect Big Blue Nation to continue to buy it. Then again, what else are they supposed to say when they simply are going to keep collecting their huge checks with the job security of a buyout that Kentucky can't afford to pay?
It is more than just one bad season.
Kentucky has been regressing statistically since 2021. It's not simply this year; actually, 2024 shows that they are nearing the bottom of the regression started in 2021. Kentucky had just come off a 10-win season, and Stoops signed a big contract extension. It's gone south since then. We dug more into that regression in this article, but I will clip an important quote from that article. It was in the middle of the season, and yet, we could see the 4-9 result.
"In 2022, Kentucky football went 7-6 but a sad 3-5 in the SEC schedule. The only SEC win at home was against Mississippi State. It's fine if that's one bad season. But then, in 2023, things continued the same trajectory with another 7-6 season and another 3-5 finish in the SEC. Once again, they only won one SEC game at home against Florida. Now we are in the midst of a 2024 season in which five wins feels like it would be a miracle, six wins feels impossible, and seven wins is absolutely insane. This could easily be a 4-9 season. There will be ZERO SEC home wins this year, no matter what happens the rest of the way."Wildcat Blue Nation
Sorry, Vince and Mark. We aren't buying your narrative that it's only one bad season. It's a trajectory back to the bottom.