Two paths lie ahead for Stoops

Two paths are set before Mark Stoops. Will he be remembered as more Rich Brooks or Joker Phillips?

Those are the two paths. Here's where things stood with Stoops' two predecessors at the same point in their careers in Lexington.

Brooks' path was narrow, to use timeless literary imagery. Not many coaches before him, at least immediately before him, had gone down that path. That path? Success. Resilience. Longevity. A story with a happy ending and fond memories.

Joker's path was wide. The path that most Kentucky coaches have gone down over the years. His journey started with more bright moments than many journeys made by coaches in Lexington before him, but when it crashed - it really crashed.

The Brooks path at Kentucky is hard and that's why he's so fondly remembered. It's hard anywhere. His path was building from scratch, suffering through losing seasons, blowout defeats and negative columns, a fan base calling for his dismissal and questioning the wisdom of Mitch Barnhart's decision to hire him in the first place. Then, improbably, against all odds, Brooks' program rose from the ashes to defeat the the likes of Georgia (twice), Auburn on the road, Clemson, Florida State and No. 1 LSU.

Joker's path reached the point that Stoops is at -- roughly 38 games in (he coached 37 games at Kentucky -- but that's where it ended. He didn't get as long as Brooks did because Brooks inherited a program ravaged by probation. Phillips inherited a program on a run of bowl games. That's easy to understand.

Stoops will have more opportunity to salvage his operation, at a similar point, than Phillips had. The season is still young, Stoops is under contract and he's got a very large buyout. He's all but guaranteed the remainder of this year. After this year? That's a mystery.

If Stoops is to ultimately tread the path forged by Brooks it will have to start Saturday against New Mexico State.

Louisville thrashed Kentucky 59-28 at the start of the 2006 season. That 2006 season was universally regarded as a pivotal time in Brooks' career at Kentucky. By that point not a lot of fans or pundits believed that Brooks would make it at Kentucky for much longer.

After that defeat at the hands of the Cardinals, Brooks told the media in the postgame:

"Well it was one of your worst nightmares. We did not play as physical as Louisville, we responded with some plays on defense and some plays on offense and they obviously took it to us. They are a very good football team. I felt we would match up a little bit better. One of our biggest disappointments was our inability to slow their running game down. They just crushed us with their running game. We played way to soft on defense particularly on the perimeter. We didn't get a lot of snaps, we couldn't get Louisville off the field."I am disappointed obviously that we didn't show up, that we didn't put it all together."

He didn't have any answers either. He didn't have any better answers or more satisfactory responses than Stoops had after Kentucky's loss to Southern Miss or Florida.

Phillips' comments after his last game, his 37th, at Kentucky, were a bit different. That was his last game and he knew it. His words were more about expressing gratitude to his players and those who had supported him throughout his time in Lexington. But if you peruse his postgame comments from games in 2012 it was much the same that you just read from Brooks, post-Louisville, or Stoops after the games against Southern Miss or Florida over the last two weeks.

While many fans have either made up their minds for or against Stoops, the reality is that Stoops and this team still hold their destiny, and the program's immediate destiny, in their hands. The story hasn't been written yet. The outcome isn't predetermined.

We're about to find out what Stoops' legacy will be and what path he'll go down.