Don’t look for decision on Phillips until end of season

The future of Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips has been a hot topic during most of the season. It only intensified following a 33-10 loss to Southeastern Conference newcomer Missouri last weekend in Columbia, Mo.
Declining attendance, coupled with a 1-8 record has Kentucky football followers questioning his ability to lead the program. Unlike his predecessor, Phillips inherited a program that had made four straight bowl appearances and unprecedented postseason streak for the Wildcats. Phillips did guide Kentucky to a bowl game in his first season as head coach, but a steady decline has since followed.
Many fans in Big Blue Nation want Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart to pull the plug on Phillips with three games remaining in the regular season. During his tenure at Kentucky, Barnhart has displayed patience when it comes to firing a coach or deciding against renewing a contract. It’s just isn’t Barnhart’s nature to let a coach go while the season is in session.
He didn’t dismiss Billy Gillispie until Kentucky lost in the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament during the 2008-09 campaign.
Barnhart won’t make a decision on Phillips’ future until the season finale on Nov. 24 at Tennessee. Barnhart is likely already considering his options if he is leaning toward a change at the end of the season.
If Barnhart decides to start over, his list of candidates should include an experienced and seasoned coach rather than an up-and-coming newcomer.
Someone with the stature of former coach Rich Brooks would bring experience and leadership. Among that list of candidates includes former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer and Duke coach David Cutcliffe.
Fulmer won a national championship with the Volunteers in 1998 and Cutcliffe has transformed the Blue Devils into a contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both have coached in the Southeastern Conference, but Fulmer has been out of coaching long enough to recharge his batteries.
It will be interesting to see what happens once the off-season begins in less than a month. Either Phillips will return or a coaching search will be in full swing.