The House of Blue

Been asking for this for a while now from other people. Maybe I can get a good answer from you. Why Mike Leach? What makes you have confidence in the guy? I know he did pretty good at Texas Tech, but he really mostly just won 7-9 games there. That is with Texas talent and in a weaker conference. So what makes you so confident that he can come to UK, recruit good talent despite not having the Texas recruiting base and then help us to win 7-9 games in the stronger SEC?

I understand that his offense is high powered and fun, but I am just not a fan of a long term gimmick offense in the SEC. I just don't think it will work. It might work for a few years, but once people catch on to it then we'll be back to getting killed by UT, etc. I know Leach was fun when he was here, but the SEC has gotten much stronger and we wouldn't be getting those easy wins over Vandy, Miss. State, and even LSU, like we were when he was here before. It is going to be much tougher and I am just not sold on the guy. So, I plead to you... sell the guy to me. Convince me otherwise...

My thoughts on Leach are he runs the kind of wide open offense kids want to come and play in, he also has a reputation for winning and being in close games, sure he lost most of his games with Texas but he lost them 44-34 while going balls to the wall for a win and slinging it around. I would prefer to lose like that than watch Randy Sanders call another joke play and lose meekly!

I don't think Leach's offense is a gimmick, it produced for quite a few years with different QBs and different WRs, everyone said it would go downhill once Crabtree went to the NFL, some kid I can't remember the name of stepped up and started having 200 yard games! (I might need to check that stat so correct me if you want to go digging and im wrong)

Also Leach has an interesting personality and is well known among recruits, he's a coach people have heard of. I bet a lot of kids don't even know who Joker is until they ask, that wouldn;t be the case with Leach! Do you not think we could get behind a coach who's going to go for it every time rather than one who supports play calling like a pansy that flat gets us beat?!

Thats my shot, let me know if you're convinced ;)

That's just it though. Leach's offense is a gimmick. You said yourself that his offense makes kids want to come play for him. You didn't say his offense will win a championship or help us to win more games. His offense consists of throwing the ball 40-60 times a game which tends to put points in the board, but it also leaves the defense on the field forever.....meaning that you get scored on a lot.

His offense worked in the Big12 which most would agrees has on average lesser defenses than the SEC....would it work as well?

If the offense were to change it would be more beneficial to go with a spread which can be fairly balanced running/throwing. It's designed to get the ball in the hands of playmakers and to minimize the deficiencies in the o-line. You could argue that Leach's offense does the same, but he doesn't run the ball enough to be balanced.

Ask yourself this: If Leach's offense is so great, why don't more teams run it? And of the teams that do run similar styles (Houston, etc) how many are in the biggest conferences? Now ask yourself why that is?

Full disclosure: I don't find Leach's style of play all that appealing. If I were to build a perfect team it would be like Bama or Michigan of old. Solid defense and an offense that is 60/40 run to pass ratio. Still, despite my bias it doesn't change the fact that Leach's offense would likely not be as effective as a spread.

I find it strange how fickle peoples memories are. Pease was our OC under Morriss and people complained about how conservative he was in comparison to Dumme.

Leach is a good OC, but a terrible HC. Can anyone else remember a "head Case" of a Head coach that did well at a Texas school before coming to UK. Leach and Billy G are cut from the same cloth.

Malzahn has accomplished nothing without Cam Newton under center. Look at his O with Chris Todd and Mitch Mustain. This year AU QB Trotter is only averaging right at 200 yards passing a game.

Leach: Most on here would argue that 8.4 wins in the Big12 calculates to 6-7 wins in the SEC. He also had to play Baylor, Iowa St, Kansas, and K St. All of which would have major trouble in the SEC.

My first calls would be Kirby Smart and John Chavis.

I can understand why people like Leach and I wouldn't mind him here if we really didn't have any other option, but so many people seem to want him as their first choice. Every time a coaching change comes around Leach is brought up as though he is our savior. I just don't get that. Like I said, he won 8-9 games in the Big 12, but the Big 12 is an easier league than the SEC. They don't play the same style of football that the SEC does and that might mean an average of a few more losses. That means we only win 6-7 games each year. That might be better than the road we're heading down now, but that kind of record certainly isn't what I'd want out of my number 1 pick for head coach.

As far as the defense thing goes... in 2008, Leach's best year ever, his defense gave up 362 points. To put that into perspective, Kentucky's defense gave up 369 points in a much tougher league last season. So, his defense would come to Kentucky and do largely the same if not worse than our defense now. That doesn't lead me to believe that we'd be pulling off 8-9 win seasons under Leach.

I don't know though, maybe the Leach fans are right, but I just don't understand why so many people want him as their number 1 choice when there are guys just as exciting out there.

Of course, any talk of any future HCs are premature, but I will say this.
We can get a better coach than you think we can because the relative meager success we have enjoyed over recent years have elevated the status of the program in the eyes of fans, recruits and coaches.
We cant get the level of coach like we have on the BB team but there is one out there somewhere and he might be an assistant that is competent and hungry and would gladly take the UK program and take it to the next level.
MSU, VU, Arkansas, UT, are some schools that have chosen their new HC well. I believe even Houston Nutt is a very good coach and Mississippi will improve and I believe is recruiting fairly good. These schools are passing us up or will in the near future.
So our AD should be pressed to go out and get us the very best HC he can get and fans should demand it the next time we have a need and we should not promote from within as Brooks so fondly touts, because it is not working out real good for us.

Actually after thinking about it a little and being realistic about it maybe Gary Patterson would be a damn good choice. Apparently he's a hell of a coach. He's a tough minded coach and always puts together good offenses and defenses. Fast D's at that which would be great in the SEC. Plus he has his finger on the pulse of the prospects in Texas that get passed up by Oklahoma and Texas. Pretty sure he could assemble a staff that could recruit the South. If you could just lock down the mid level prospects in Texas, Georgia, Miami and get the top kids from Kentucky you could build a hell of a program. Would it still be damn tough to get more than 2-3 SEC wins though. HELL YES!!

I'm sorry my friend... I just REFUSE to think like that. WE MUST AIM HIGHER! If South Carolina can do it (they went balls to the walls after Steve Spurrier)... then we (UK), damn sure CAN do it as well. It would be foolish to not even try.

We need a name brand. A guy whose already been in recruits living room either by his SEC recuiting efforts or via NFL broadcast on Sundays. My short lust (list):

1). John Chavis
2). Urban Meyer
3). John Gruden
4). Rob Ryan
5). Jeff Fischer
6). Gus Malzahn
7). Bill Cowher
8). Tony Dungy
9). Kirby Smart
10).Brian Billick
11).Scott Linnehan
12).Mike Leach
13).Gary Peterson
14).Jimmy Johnson
15).Josh McDaniels

^ anyone associated with Bill Parcells' coaching tree gets my vote. As a Giants fan in the 80s and 90s it was a great feeling that you always had a chance in every game (regardless of personnel) because you had the best coach in the league.

Coaching in football is everything. It is abundantly clear Joker will not be successful. There is no Coach alive who can reverse negative momentum that they themselves caused.... Historically, I can't think of a coach who did a career 180, can you?

Cobby,I have to disagree with you also and go along with Jawjacker..We must reach higher
and not think that a great coach wont come...Go for the gold...

And I still will take a pass on Malzahn...Apparently I dont impress as easily as some here and that is ok..we are just giving opinions....I would gladly take the TCU coach though...He is a dandy I think..

I am not even going to speculate on a head coach because I don't see Joker being forced out before the end of the 2013 season. However, I would like to see us make a run at Brent Peace as OC for 2012.

What about Butch Davis UK fans?