The House of Blue

Good young talent coming into this program across the board. He just has to tread water and survive this season.

i feel like this is where Mitch needs to step in, if it starts getting rocky this year which it will Mitch needs to publicly reassure the recruits about Joker's status and that he will be retained.

the talent is no doubt on the up tick and this years class seems to be of the same mold, i hope it works out for CJP, i know i am pulling for him.

I agree bro. I think it would take a massive disaster such as 2-4 wins or maybe numerous blow outs like last year to prevent Joker from getting a shot at seeing this young talent mature

I think you've got your shades down by the of your nose. So you're partly looking through blue shades. We've got some damn good player in these last couple of classes but we need more to compete for a title in the East which would definitely SHOCK THE WORLD. We still need a big time Wideout, a damn good Center and some great ILB's in this 2013 class.

That's exactly what I've been saying since the end of last season. The only way Joker and staff don't return for 2013 is if the wheels completely fall off. Folks can howl at the moon all they want but it will do no good. Get on board or get out of the way!

Amen!

Evidently people are getting out of the way in record numbers. It is up to Joker to show he can coach a team. He has always been an effective recruiter but his teams have not been well prepared and his game coaching mostly bad. He did figure out how to limit Randall Cobb's touches in order not to tire him out. If this team looks like the last one it will be hard for these coaches to keep their jobs. Call it howling if you want.

If you're going to blast someone for being one sided you might want to also mention Jokers shortcomings to be taken seriously. Ex: Vandy, Pitt, WKU, ect... There are plenty of examples for the LOD to jump on Joker for. Just like there are reasons for the Sunshine pumpers to support Joker. Reality is typically in the middle.

IMO, the situation is this, Joker appears to be recruiting better players. But a good chunk of fans, my self included, have some questions about his ability to lead an SEC team. We as fans will not know the truth until we actually win or continue to lose SEC ball games this year and next with said players or coaches.

Since the positives and negatives of Joker's tenure are being pointed out there is something everyone needs to keep in mind. Joker is just going into his 3rd year as a head coach and coaches in the single toughest conference in the country. That isn't an easy way to cut your teeth as a young head coach.

That isn't an excuse just a fact. Also, before anyone brings it up, yes Joker has been a coach for a long time but there is a HUGE difference in being an assistant and being the big dog, it's gonna take time and there will be growing pains in the progress. The key is to keep bringing in better recruits because the fact remains better players make better coaches.

Good post and this is how I feel. It takes time, and frankly this is something most of us didn't think about ahead of time (myself included). Growing pains have already been evident, but the positives have been pretty good too.

It just really pisses me off when people type without thinking, and show a complete lack of perspective, even when multiple people are placing it right at their feet.

Well I guess your right, the reasons don't matter, but I hardly believe that it's "put up or shut up" time, as you are indicating. I seem to remember MUCH more heat flying in Brooks' direction (complete w/T-shirts and bumper stickers!), and nothing was really on the upswing (definitely not recruiting), and Mitch stayed the course. Not saying he won't go in another direction, but IMO it will take a season worse than last year to make him do it. I certainly don't think with the way recruiting is improving, that he will jepordize it.

Another thing, Brooks failed to capitalize on his own success when he failed to get better players to take a look at UK after our mild success on the field. Things were not setup for Joker great personel wise, that much is for sure. That being said, his first year team could have performed better. Now he has HIS coaches and beginning next year, most of the players starting will be HIS guys, so we will have a much more accurate look at what he can do at his best NEXT year, and if I recognize this, I think Mitch does too. That is only my opinion though, so we shall see.

As I said earlier, there have been highs and lows so far to the Joker regime, but given the circumstances, I think it's too early to pass judgement on his capabilities one way or the other.

UGA (Richt), UF (Muschamp), MSU (Mullen) and Vandy (Franklin) readily come to mind as SEC schools who have done just that in recent years.