By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

For the Wildcats players, they aren’t so fortunate to have that close of a connection to instant success. However, even within their own league, recent history shows that ships can quickly be righted, even a seemingly sinking one like Kentucky.

While the overused coaching cliché along the lines of “it’s not a five-year plan, it’s a five-minute plan” is hyperbole, reality is that there is no grace period in the modern era of major college football.

Four new coaches in the SEC will experience that for the first time this fall, including Kentucky’s Mark Stoops. Despite taking over a team that has won just four conference games in the last three seasons, Stoops understands that expectations, even in basketball-crazed Lexington, are to immediately make the Wildcats more competitive.

“The people are starving to have a good football program,” Stoops said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “I’m excited about the opportunity we have at Kentucky. I’m very encouraged by what we have seen so far.”

While the task is an arduous one, Stoops doesn’t have to look far to find inspiration. 14 years ago, Stoops’ older brother Bob took over an Oklahoma program that had fallen on hard times during the ‘90s, finishing 5-6 in 1998.

In his first season, Bob Stoops guided the Sooners to a 7-4 record and an Independence Bowl berth (the Sooners lost to Ole Miss in the last college football game of the 20th century). A year later, Oklahoma was the national champion, completing a perfect 13-0 2000 season. Mark Stoops believes being around that type of success while cutting his teeth in the coaching profession will pay dividends as a head coach.

“It helps – as a young coach, watching the way he conducts his program, the core of who he is, and how to run his program is going to help me,” Stoops said.

While that quick of a turnaround can’t be expected at Kentucky, Stoops has the ideal model for taking a program from the bottom of its league to the pinnacle of college football.

“We talk often. It’s a great resource to have him.”

For the Wildcats players, they aren’t so fortunate to have that close of a connection to instant success. However, even within their own league, recent history shows that ships can quickly be righted, even a seemingly sinking one like Kentucky.

Vanderbilt went from 2-10 in 2010, the same record as the 2012 Wildcats, to a bowl game in 2011. A year ago, Ole Miss repeated that feat, going one step further by winning its bowl game to finish 7-6. Both came on the heels of hiring young, energetic coaches in James Franklin and Hugh Freeze respectively.

Senior linebacker Avery Williamson believes Stoops has the passion and fire to mimic the accomplishments of Franklin and Freeze.

“He took the fanbase by storm,” Williamson said of his head coach. “I was really shocked by what Vanderbilt did. Kudos to them. I feel like it adds a little bit of inspiration for us. We’ve got a lot of confidence in that locker room.”

Williamson is part of an experienced front seven that returns all but one starter on the defensive line, including senior defensive tackle Donte Rumph. For Rumph, he expects Stoops’ defensive background to have a significant impact on the Wildcats front seven.

“It’s kind of weird to have your head coach sit in on your defensive meetings,” Rumph said. “It’s an honor. We’re just trying to embrace what he has to offer.”

Within his own family, Stoops has also seen the other end of a restoration project. His brother, Mike, who took over at Arizona in 2004, suffered four straight losing seasons before finally getting those Wildcats to a bowl in 2008. Halfway through the 2011 season, Mike was gone, now back at Oklahoma with Bob.

Patience is a virtue, no more so than in SEC football. If Kentucky has three more losing seasons, there will be a different coach representing the Wildcats at 2016 SEC Media Days. Stoops recognizes the pressure, having lived through it vicariously through his brothers.

While success may not happen overnight, there is at least a blueprint for Stoops to follow, designed by a man he’s known his entire life.