Brooks leaves the door open, but has one foot out

So, this is how it ends.

Or, at least, that’s what it looks like. We won’t know for sure for a few days, but it sure looks like Rich Brooks has coached his last game in blue. We’ll get a final answer a little after New Year’s, it seems.

Until then, Mitch Barnhart, Joker Phillips, and UK’s players will have to sweat it out like the rest of us. And they probably won’t know any more than we do as we wait on Brooks’ final decision.

My feeling is that Brooks is gone. He’s one of the most honest guys in the coaching profession, so if he says he’s probably done, he’s probably done. I don’t know what it would take for him to come back or what it is that is keeping him from making the decision tonight, but I’m sure he’ll do what’s right by him and what’s right by the program.

It’s the second time he’ll leave the program in the hands of a chosen successor (he picked Mike Bellotti when he left Oregon), and if the first time is any indication, he has good taste in coaches. Heck, he practically recommended himself for the UK job when Mitch Barnhart asked him for help hiring a coach after Guy Morriss bolted. That pick turned out OK too.

But if he does come back, expect a fire under the team. Brooks wants to compete for SEC titles – badly. Next year, Florida figures to take a step back, Georgia may or may not rebound, and Tennessee will still be young. There’s a reason he left the door open. There’s still work to be done in Lexington. Work Brooks started, and work he has a realistic chance at finishing.

But that’s next year. For now, we’ll have to sweat out next week.