With Mark Stoops gone and the winter recruiting window closing fast, Kentucky will have to move at lightning speed to find a new coach.
But speed can lead to mistakes. Remember Rich Scangarello? He was a late hire after the Liam Coen exit, and that disaster set the offense back two years. We cannot let that happen again with the head coaching job.
Here are the names Kentucky needs to delete from the contact list immediately.
1. Dan Mullen
It didn't work at Florida, and I don't want to hear the excuses. If you can't do better than a losing season in Gainesville with all those resources, chances are you won't do much better in Lexington. The game has changed, and his success at Mississippi State feels like a lifetime ago. Winning 10 games at UNLV is nice, but the Mountain West is not the SEC.
2. Tim Beck (Vanderbilt OC)
To be clear, not the Coastal Carolina Tim Beck who was just fired. We are talking about Vanderbilt's OC. Yes, they were good this year, but let's be real: A lot of that success was based on Diego Pavia making magic out of nothing. You cannot bank on having a Pavia on your roster every year as an offensive philosophy. Plus, he is 61 years old, three years older than Mark Stoops. We need youth, not another veteran nearing retirement.
3. Mike Gundy
He may be a man, and he may be 57, but his tenure at Oklahoma State ended poorly due to similar issues as Stoops: stagnation. We don't need a retread at this point in time, especially one coming off a 4-11 disaster the last 2 years.
4. Kyle Whittingham
He is Mark Stoops in a different polo shirt. Ultra-conservative, defense-first, methodical offense. That is the exact opposite of where Kentucky needs to go. We need energy. We need points. We need fun. Whittingham is a great coach, but he is the wrong fit for a fanbase desperate for a new identity.
5. Brian Kelly
Do we really need to explain this one? He was fired by LSU despite a massive buyout for under performing. There is no reason to really try that here at Kentucky.
Did we miss anyone? Did we get one wrong, let us know. Micah 7:7.