Where to begin?

This will be multiple thoughts. No high horse. As few “I told you so as possible” and will surely echo some of the sentiments and thoughts that my esteemed friends here on this board have already voiced.

Let’s start with talent. At no time, and in no way, did any Kentucky fan I know of suggest that UK had more talent than Florida. I, and others, asserted that we had more talent at our wide receiver positions, and that was, and is, true. However, talent had little to do with what happened on the 26th.

Coaching: As bad as I have ever seen it. To be blunt, because it’s so fresh, I’m wont to call it the worst I’ve seen, but the truth is I’ve seen this program get humiliated so many times in the last 15 years that common sense tells me this can’t be any worse than those many others.

Joker Phillips: You are, without doubt, the worst play caller in the SEC. I’ve said it for years. The simple fact is that the shining moments in your career have come only because you had NFL quality players who could throw, catch, and run their way out of your philosophy. Sure, sure, some will say that’s obvious, but it really isn’t. You call games with three degrees of incompetence that I am going to eloquently describe, so that readers can fully understand why my label is fairly placed.

Your first level of incompetence begins with your own personnel. Regardless of the lack of ability of your own personnel, nor where the better strengths of your team lie, you want and impose a ‘throw first’ philosophy that consistently leaves your team in long yardage situations. You have had one, exactly ONE quarterback in your entire coaching experience who was good enough to make some of the toughest throws, a guy who holds the record for throws without an interception, and yet you somehow think that YOUR genius is what made that happen. That somehow, if you keep calling the plays that that ONE guy could perform, they will be performed by any other player you put in that position. As Ron White famously said, “You can’t fix stupid”. You have a weak and inexperienced Receiver corps. You have a Quarterback who has never been, and will likely never be, a game winner. You admit your tight ends aren’t as productive. Then, you have the fastest running backs that UK has ever had in it’s history. With all that, you still don’t run. You have DECADES of SEC and NCAA football statistics that clearly show that the team with the better running game wins over %70 of games, and yet you still think throw first.

Perhaps you will one day be proved to be genius in your play calling, but I somehow deeply suspect that that day will come when a player appears who is NFL caliber, and not because your philosophy or insights to the game sharpen. And, I suspect that day will fade just as quickly when the next guy, who likely will not be as gifted, takes over.

YOU should know your team better than anyone else. YOU should be able to decipher where your strengths lie. My only question now is, when you are head coach, and a new OC takes over, will you be able to tolerate the fact that he will almost certainly be a a more savvy, and intelligent coach than you are? Will you be able to let him shine to the harassment of your own tenure?

Your second level of incompetence is in knowing the fundamentals of football. You simply have displayed an indifference to the fundamentals of winning football. It does not, will not, can not, be any simpler than this: Teams that run the ball win more games than those that don’t. It’s been true for more years than all the coaching staff on the side line have been alive, combined. It can only be willful spite that could describe the manner with which you seem to think that these rules will suddenly be bent and rewritten because of your dedication to a pro style offense, that hasn’t produced a single .500 or better conference record in your tenure.

Your play calling consistently leaves this team in third and long situations that expose our passers to blitz packages that, when coupled with the fact that we already need 7+ yards to continue a drive, make it a continual uphill battle four our teams to have to perform individual feats of athleticism to succeed. All of this when better play calling could simplify the needed play, and reduce pressure, allow for possible running solutions, and simply generally increase our chances for success.

The Last area of coaching that you display incompetence in, may be the worst. You have no idea of the strategy to defeat an opponent. Last night was as clear cut an example of that, as ever could be. To use a well understood analogy, it’s a lot like a pressing basketball team. When you KNOW you are playing a pressing team, the last thing you should do, when you KNOW their talents in the open floor exceed your own, is play THEIR game with them. To his credit, this is why Tubby Smith consistently played the Pitino teams closer than even his talent should have allowed. He reduced possessions. Used the shot clock. Made you defend. It would be very fair to describe this Florida Football team to that 96 UK team. And you came out and tried to run with that team. You took quick shots. You let your worst players take any shot that looked open. You lost, as predictably as rain in the rain forest. And, to make matters worse, you even had a complete scout film of how to affect the game, from LAME KIFFIN. Think about this Joker, Kiffin showed more intelligence and tactical ability in his third game at UT than you did, with all your experience at UK (most of it bad, that you fail to learn from).

AND, I’d like to take this time to exonerate Rich Brooks, a bit. I don’t know if any of you folks caught this in the game, there was a video capture of Rich on the sidelines, and he and Joker were having an exchange. I hope someone can pull this up, but I am all most certain, I could CLEARLY read Rich’s lips as he appeared to say, “Run the football. Get first downs!” If someone TVoed or DVRed this, it was in the third Quarter. Immediately, the camera cut to the shot of Joker in the booth, and he replied with a word that starts with “F and then the words “Run” or “Running it” No imagination, here folks. I’m serious. If ANYONE can pull this up, it’s clearly an exchange between coaches. I’m a lot more certain about what Rich said. It was clear, but take a good look at what Joker said immediately and tell me what you think.